What to wear with those colorful new shoes?

The August 2012 issue of InStyle Magazine posted this reader question: "What do I wear with my colorful new shoes?"

I LOVE colorful. I will throw colors together and not think twice. I always get from friends or other people, "How did you think to put that together" or " I wouldn't have thought to put that together" or, "I like those shoes, but I wouldn't know what to wear with them". For me, I'm random, that's how I think to put colors together...I don't have any other explanation, that's just how I roll. But, I thought I'd share this article (or my rendition of the article) by shopping my closet and using my colorful shoes as examples. Hopefully it inspires you to make a colorful purchase, or get more wear out of those colorful shoes that you purchased and didn't think you had anything else to wear with them. (See "Outfitters" coming soon) Don't be afraid to experiment with color!!!!!

1. When wearing a pattern, like the skirt below, my first thought was to pair an Indigo shoe with the skirt. It is a dominant color in the skirt, and it is somewhat of a "neutral" color (blue). My second thought was to pair this skirt with a nude shoe to tone down the colorful-ness of the skirt. But I have this great, bold Pink shoe, an unlikely contender for color, and paired it with the skirt. Its easy to pick a blue or a nude, but sometimes going for the more challenging color brings a whole new perspective to the skirt. The shoe is a a canvas, hot pink shoe with a gold plated bottom near the toe on the platform. The shoe was purchased on shoedazzle.com.

    
2. Monochromatic ::Definition-having one color, having tones of one color:: for my example, i chose a pair of tights, but of you don't have tights of a similar hue of your colorful shoe, a skinny jean can give you a similar effect. Monochromatic pairings can elongate your legs (great for me being 5'4") and unify your look when matched with a neutral top half. My shoe is a Purple suede Jessica Simpson shoe and a similar shade of purple tights from Target.

3. Coordinating accessories with neutrals: Yes, your shoes are accessories!! When pulling a look together, think of them that way. Pairing your shoes with, lets say a bag, can revamp a simple, everyday outfit. I paired a simple black dress with a Red ankle boot and matched them with a yellow bag, a primary color pairing. The boot was purchased from Bare Feet Shoes (In VA).

4. Bold colors and Denim: Pretty self explanatory. Any of these shoes can be paired with Denim, take advantage of that! This is a green shoedazzle.com wedge that was a past #shoeswithaview and featured in my "Wedges" blog (look to the right if you missed it!)

5. Black and White: This is overall the easiest way to incorporate your bold shoe into your wardrobe. You can mix black and white like I did in my example, or go all black, or all white. Pairing your bold with a black and white showcases the shoe. My indigo shoe is a Blue suede shoe from Nine West.

6. Additional pop of color: Just because I like to incorporate color into everything I wear. This is what I wore today at work, and How i incorporated 2 different concepts, pairing primary colors (skirt and shoes) and incorporating colors into black and white. Again, these are the same Nine West Blue suede shoes above.