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Matching your Leather Jacket and Shoes

can black and brown leathers be mixed?

  • yes, absolutely!

    Votes: 30 38.5%
  • no way!

    Votes: 12 15.4%
  • only with certain shades/situations

    Votes: 36 46.2%

  • Total voters
    78

dudewuttheheck

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,422
Forgive me if this has been posted here, but I have never seen this discussed in at least 2 years on this forum. At the very least, I have yet to see a thread for it. This topic has been covered to death over on places like Styleforum and askandy and whatever. However, I have never really seen it discussed in length on a place like this.

What are everyone's thoughts on matching leather jackets and leather shoes/boots?

personally, I would not wear dark brown leather with any black leather at all. They are too close, yet just different enough to make it look wrong.

However, with the belt matching the shoes, I personally love doing lighter brown/tan shoes with darker brown jackets and I even think light brown/tan shoes can work with a black leather jacket.

Just my 2 cents, but I'm wondering what some true jacket aficionados have to say about this.
 

Sloan1874

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Messages
8,427
Location
Glasgow
I try to match tonally, and I will go with tan shoes and a dark brown jacket, but I will wear really dark seal with black, purely because there's a credit card's difference between the two .
 

pawineguy

One Too Many
Messages
1,974
Location
Bucks County, PA
Agree with above, mainly stay in the brown family and typically if I have a black jacket on I'm wearing black boots also, or cordovan. (I don't own a cordovan jacket, but if I did I'd wear it with black boots.)

Browns I mix up, and since I don't have any really dark brown, I've never contemplated the dark brown with black.
 

bretron

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,519
Location
NW
Hardest is a light to mid russet. Anything else I really don't care too damn much

Eg I have absolutely no qualms wearing black boots with a dark seal jacket or vice versa
 
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Seb Lucas

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Messages
7,562
Location
Australia
This came up a few weeks back. I never match anything. I like the look of black and brown. I can't imagine living the sort of life where matching would matter or where there was time for it. But if it makes people feel better then whatever.
 

dudewuttheheck

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Messages
4,422
This came up a few weeks back. I never match anything. I like the look of black and brown. I can't imagine living the sort of life where matching would matter or where there was time for it. But if it makes people feel better then whatever.

haha well said! There are certain color combos that I don't like personally, but I think that intermixing can be done with black and brown. Being super matchy seems to try hard a lot of the time.
 

nick123

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Messages
6,371
Location
California
Black w/brown isn't the easiest on the eyes maybe. There definitely is a way to color coordinate. There are times when I put on an outfit and for whatever reason I just feel it's too hard on the eyes and looks bad. Probably a black jacket with brown shoes (not vice versa).

Even though I haven't worn a jacket recently, I'm currently wearing these black with brown gum sole slip ons. They go with everything!
 
Last edited:

navetsea

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Messages
6,870
Location
East Java
once the color patina-ed I don't care, I mix them all the time, even within "black" it's an umbrella name for different shades of what labelled as black,

when I wear them individually they all look black alright, but when I wear them all together like the outfit I wear right now,
my boots kinda warm fading black, my pants is black, and my jacket is somewhat cool-black/ fading to grey with a hint of green, even the black of my belt is another shade again, once I step out in the sun, I would look like wearing a mismash of muddy dark colors
20150912_093714.jpg
I don't care.
 
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Big J

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2,961
Location
Japan
I use the samples Aero sent me when I was choosing leathers as little swatches when I go shoe shopping, just to make sure the colors match enough. (^_−)−☆
 

dudewuttheheck

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,422
once the color patina-ed I don't care, I mix them all the time, even within "black" it's an umbrella name for different shades of what labelled as black,

when I wear them individually they all look black alright, but when I wear them all together like the outfit I wear right now,
my boots kinda warm fading black, my pants is black, and my jacket is somewhat cool-black/ fading to grey with a hint of green, even the black of my belt is another shade again, once I step out in the sun, I would look like wearing a mismash of muddy dark colors
View attachment 35417
I don't care.

That's a really good point. Even matching black isn't truly matching because there are so many shades of black.
 

Superfluous

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,995
Location
Missing in action
Total matching here. My shoes will always match tonally with my jacket (and belt and watch strap). In other words, if I am wearing a brown jacket, my shoes will be brown to beige; and if I am wearing a black jacket, my shoes will be black to gray. I do not wear brown shoes with a black jacket, nor black shoes with a brown jacket.
 

Dav

One Too Many
Messages
1,706
Location
Somerset, England
This was exactly what started all the trouble in the first place, I bought a pair of brown boots and suddenly felt uncomfortable wearing them with a black leather coat, bought a brown one, the wrong one and here I am today. :)
So no, I don't like mixing brown with black!
 

navetsea

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,870
Location
East Java
it's a mindset, like should the hardware of the jacket matching the buckle of your belt, and your other metallic surface on you including the frame of your glasses, the pen in your pocket, once you decide to register it is a problem, it will linger and troubling you forever :D
 

Blackadder

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,826
Location
China
it's a mindset, like should the hardware of the jacket matching the buckle of your belt, and your other metallic surface on you including the frame of your glasses, the pen in your pocket, once you decide to register it is a problem, it will linger and troubling you forever :D

I do that if I am wearing suits and buckle monk etc. Gold buckles on shoes and belt, gold rim glasses, gold cuff links and gold watch.:D Silver with silver but casual wear, not as particular.
 

WTC

New in Town
Messages
21
Location
United States
I find this conversation fascinating. But, it's because I cannot totally participate. I'm color-blind and have to rely on the "kindness of strangers" to put clothes together. Well, I rely on my Garanimal tags that my wife made to coordinate my things. Here in the US, Garanimals were a line of kids clothes that helped them put outfits together - lions with lions and other carnivores, zebras with zebras; you get the idea.

For me, the value of the leather jackets (and the associated clothes) is more from the feel, texture, and the aura (without getting too philosophical) it all combines to create. I just have to make sure I don't push my wife too far and have her mix-up the tags for the clothes!

This site, and all of your comments, and the experience of you long-time members has been invaluable to me learning more about leather jackets and all of the associated and very cool accessories.
 

Big J

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,961
Location
Japan
TBH, if I didn't have self-imposed little rules like this (seal brown with khaki pants, tan brown with blue jeans!), I'd never be able to rotate my wardrobe, and get a decent amount of wear out of all my jackets and boots. First world problems[huh]
 

I would go out tonight

One of the Regulars
Messages
176
Location
European Union?
We are straying well into Style Forum territory here! I think like most things in life, too much is not good. Textures tones and contrast all play their part. On style forum we would be discussing 'a little sprezz' but my wife puts it more succinctly with 'um, too matchy matchy.' Good advice. To each their own but I do my best not to look like I have planned too much.
 

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