Matching shoes with your handbag

[lpaigenyc]

I need some help from you fashion conscience ladies!
I'm love fashion for the most part but I have never been able to feel entirely comfortable wearing non matching shoes and handbags.
The problem is that I just fell in love with a chocolate brown handbag but I almost always wear black shoes or boots, is this a fashion no-no or is it okay? And also, just to make it harder, I always wear white gold or silver jewelry and the hangbag has brass hardware, I need help!

 

[Marie Lee]

I wouldn't let any of this bother you. I am not an expert, but I read and watch tv, ever see, "What not to wear"? Stacey (a fashion expert) says never match your shoes and bags. Heidi Klum (a fashion expert) on Project Runway always says "Don't be matchy matchy" In magazines, like In Style, mostly not matchy, but some times they do. Kate Middleton and Victoria Beckman are looked at for style, and they do both ways, so, like most things, do what you like, have fun "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff"

 

[lpaigenyc]

Thanks Marie Lee! I'm no expert either, but it's funny how even though the whole non match used to be a fashion faux pas (like white shoes after labor day), It's surprising how little there is about it on the Internet! When I googled it there was very little and what there was was dated back to 2008 and such!
I've seen What Not to Wear sometimes. I like it! I love the 'don't be matchy matchy!
the purse is a rich deep chocolate brown and I really love it!

 

[poopsie]

It would bother me..........but then again I am OCD and don't even like to mix metals/hardwares.

 

[tiggycat]

I remember a long time ago it was the fashion to match your shoes and bag to your clothes (example if you wore a green dress you had green shoes and bag).

All of my shoes (even trainers) are black. I have plain black, black/white/gray print and light/dark brown print bags and don't think any of my bags look 'wrong' with my shoes.

 

[sedatedrainbow]

It would bother me..........but then again I am OCD and don't even like to mix metals/hardwares.

yah, i'm a little ocd with that stuff too. sometimes I have no choice and need to mix metals/hardwares and it really bothers me.

I gues you can match in more subtle ways. diff shades of the same colour. sometimes matching the opposite of the outfit/purse colour on the glorious colour wheel can be appropriate. It also depends on your outfit too.

 

[BgaHolic]

I'm a What Not to Wear guru too and it is true! The new millennium is anything goes. Most of my boots and shoes are black. Now that I think of it though, when I am wearing my brown bag as an accent, I do tend to wear my brown boots. As far as the jewelry, this has been asked before and I was never aware of it until reading the question but almost all my bags (black and brown) have brass accent with the exception of my BV and I wear both sterling and gold jewelry regardless of the brass accents on my bag.

My answer to you is, wear what makes you feel good and most comfortable.

 

[lorihmatthews]

My mother and grandmothers used to always match their shoes to their bags. When I was a lot younger I used to as well, but now I like to mix things up more.

 

[jxwilliams]

Yes, I love What Not To Wear! I always hear them saying that accessories, shoes, and bags should "go" and not be so matchy matchy. But for whatever reason, I feel funny with a black bag and brown boots...not the other way around. I guess we all have our quirks.

 

[doreenjoy]

I think it's very old fashioned to match bags and shoes.

 

[nygrl]

I think it's very old fashioned to match bags and shoes.

I agree! My mom almost always matches her bags and shoes, but I actually do the opposite. I try my hardest to never match my bags and shoes because I don't want to look matchy-matchy. But it's really anything goes these days.

 

[Jennifer_C]

Yep - there's been a definite fashion shift from this generation and the previous. Now it's that they should "go" as opposed to "match". The only colors I match are black and brown (because I have so many shoes in that color) but otherwise I avoid matching them. It would look too "matchy matchy"

 

[poopsie]

It isn't a matter of being fashion forward......I know that it is acceptable to mix. It would just bother me to no end knowing that my accessories didn't coordinate . It really is something that I wish I could get over......it would make life so much simpler! I quit wearing jewelery so there was one less thing to switch out (white vs gold metals) when I am getting ready for work. Coordinating bag, wallet, shoes and shades is already too much.

 

[carolinaw]

I don't pay any attention to match shoes and bags, but do the bags and clothing match because my shoes are not colorful, easy to match any bag, seldom care that.

 

[NagaJolokia]

I don't pay attention. I usually don't match my shoes to my handbag b/c I really have a tiny variety of shoes (can almost count them on one hand) to begin with, but I sometimes do, which is inadvertent. At the annual company holiday party, I wore patent leather A.J. Valenci gray boots with a gray Michael Rome patchwork handbag and hadn't noticed I matched them until during the party.