Boots are most commonly identified by the fact that they cover up one’s ankle and have a distinctive heel. The heel is sometimes made of different material than the rest of the boot but this does not necessarily have to be the case. Boots are typically made from leather or rubber but can be made of other materials as well. The boot itself was invented for functional reasons but has become popular foot wear for fashion purposes as well. High Top athletic shoes (think Converse) don’t qualify as boots – mainly because they lack the distinctive heel.

Not considered a boot - No heel

The most common use for boots is to protect a larger length of one’s pants against mud/snow/rain – although, the boot can also be used to provide additional support to one’s ankle. There are a number of different types of boots out there but below is a list of some of the common ones:

Gumboots

These are also called Wellington Boots, rubber-boots, wellies, topboots, barnboots, muckboots or rainboots – this type of boot was popularized by the first Duke of Wellington and was then copied by other British aristocracy in the 19th Century.

Waders

These are waist high boots that are usually worn during flood rescue operations, when going fishing, in some sewage operations, etc… i.e. not the sort of thing to wear day to day.

Work Boots

Dr. Martens might have been the most popular type of work boots – mainly known to be an alternative to dress shoes… also a better wear for fall/winter time.

Cowboy Boots

Shoes meant for riding – no laces and typically long heals with a pointed toe and long shaft. More typically worn in Southern portions of the US – i.e. Texas.

More boot types discussed in Part II… available next week!

We’ve written about shoes quite a few times here at SuitUpp… From how to maintain your shoes to a description of the different shoe types you could buy, we’ve covered a variety of topics. What we haven’t talked about yet is how to shine your shoes. While it does feel great to get your shoes shined professionally, we all know it’s not very practical to rely on finding a shoe shining facility whenever you need one and so we’ll take the time to write about what you need to know in this post.

First and foremost, we would strongly recommend that you go out and buy yourself a professional shoe shining kit. Here’s an example of one we found from Kiwi on amazon.com:

For the most part, every shoe shine kit will come with fine haired brushes – usually one for each color (typically brown and black) that are made of horse hair. Shine cloths, daubers (for the application of the polish, a shoe horn, and of course the polish (black and brown). Now if you don’t have a shoe shine kit, don’t worry. You can still do without one by using an old t-shirt or cotton cloth to take the place of the shine cloths (also called chammys or chamois) and you can use any fine haired brush – maybe even a toothbrush – to replace the shine brushes. We’re not necessarily recommending not buying a shoeshine kit, but, if you’re in an emergency situation and you need shined shoes, then you’ll have to improvise as we mentioned.

Here are the steps to take when shining your shoes:

1) Find some newspaper to cover the floor. Cover the area where you will be shining your shoes. You don’t want stains on carpet or even hardwood and so this first step is of utmost importance.

2) Take out shoe any shoe trees if present.

3) If your shoes have laces, take them out too – this will allow for the tongue of the shoe to be polished as well.

4) Now clean off your shoe with a damp cloth to get all dust and other particles that don’t belong off. After this cleansing process, allow for your shoes to dry before proceeding.

5) Now you can use a toothbrush or perhaps the “on-brush” to get the polish onto areas that are hard to reach. Once you’ve reached the hard to reach areas, you can apply the polish elsewhere.

5a) Quick note on types of polish – a wax-type will help waterproof your shoes whereas a cream-type will make your shoes shinier.

6) After applying the polish, let your shoes dry a bit. Once they are dry enough, you can then use the off-brush to start polishing your shoes.

7) After polishing with the brush, you can use your chammy to do some extra polishing.

Let your shoes dry for a bit afterwards and they should have a beautiful shine.

First and foremost, shorts are generally an informal article of clothing. The most common look is to wear shorts with sandals. When wearing sandals, you should generally avoid socks. We did talk about this in a previous article: socks with sandals

But what happens if you don’t want to wear sandals? Can you wear sneakers? Yes, sneakers are also informal and that goes with the shorts. If you are going to wear sneakers, you can definitely wear socks. However, unless you’re out on the field playing soccer, don’t wear the long socks that you pull up high towards your knees. This also holds true regardless of the type of shoes that you’re going to wear. You typically want to go for the athletic low-cut socks. They’re present but they don’t cover up too much. If you think about this from a logical standpoint, it also make sense… the whole point of shorts is to give you more breathing room – long socks don’t quite help you accomplish that

What about hiking boots? Can you wear a pair with your shorts? Sure, if you’re going hiking…. otherwise, doesn’t make too much sense.

The real question is… can you wear formal shoes with shorts? Generally speaking, no. Why? Well, they’re formal and shorts are not. Not to worry, though, there are still options if you want to wear something other than sneakers and sandals. You can wear boat shoes or loafers. We’ve written about boat shoes before: what are boat shoes?

Penny loafers are another option… they’re slip on shoes and you can even skip the socks when you wear them – great option for summer time.

Happy Summer!

(image courtesy of TheShoeBuff)

These shoes will definitely draw attention. Conventionally, you would wear them with a tux to a wedding or some other formal dinner. With this said, you could also wear these shoes with a patterned dark suit and you should be turning heads.

These aren’t the type of shoes that you would wear everyday since they do crease and deteriorate quite easily. If you do own a pair of patent leather shoes, you probably want to also invest in a pair of shoe trees:

Shoe trees will help your patent leather shoes last longer, absorb moisture (especially if you have wooden shoe-trees), and maintain their ideal shape. Patent leather is fragile so it can get scraped/scratched; in which case you should take them for professional care. If it does start raining while you’re wearing these shoes, it’s not a big deal since they can get wet. Generally speaking, most people think of “black” patent leather shoes; but, not all patent leather shoes are black. Consider the following pair of shoes from TheShoeBuff:

Consider the following pair of jeans from Diesel:

There are a number of combinations that would work well with this and would ensure enough contrast. Before, we talk about the ideal pair of shoes to wear, let’s talk about what to avoid: everyday sneakers. You know your pair of Nike running shoes? Avoid them. Don’t get us wrong, these are great if you are going for the sporty look. If, however, you want to look fashionable at a night club, make sure to leave them at home.

Now, does this mean that all sneakers are bad? No. Take for example this pair of Puma shoes:

The white color will provide nice contrast. Match this with a stylish white belt:

Pair this all with a nice shirt dress shirt from Banana Republic and you’ll be turning heads:

You could of course, go with a shirt that has French Cuffs and you’ll be more than in style.

With that said, this look may be a bit too risky if you’re not used to turning heads. Not to worry. You could go for a nice pair of Calvin Klein brown leather shoes along with a matching brown belt. Stick with the dress shirt and cuffs and you’ll still be very much in style:

Last, but not least, there is the traditional black leather shoe:

We started with the Puma look (most risky), to the Brown Calvins (fashionable), to the black Calvins (fashionable and conservative). Choose the style that works best for you. When you are choosing your shoes, though, make sure that you put on a pair of darker socks and a belt that matches your shoes. If you have a nice look that you’d like us to write about, send us your pictures, and we’ll be happy to post and write about it!

Generally, people wear white pants starting on Memorial Day (May 31, 2010) and stop on Labor Day (September 6, 2010). With this said, we have to really look at why this rule exists before we follow it. Following rules simply because they exist is foolish. The date range given above almost guarantees decent weather in most North American cities. Wearing white shoes/pants during winter time is discouraged since lighter colors get dirty faster and winter weather expedites this process.

If you live in a warmer climate like Texas, though, as long as it’s sunny and above 70 degrees, then we would say, go for it. Bring out the white. If you’re wearing white shoes, though, make sure to carry along your white belt – that you just have to do.

The lighter the shoe color, the lighter you pant color should be. Take for example, the model who is wearing this Ralph Lauren Brown Sharkskin Suit:

As you can see, he has light brown shoes that go with his sharkskin brown pants. If you were to wear light-brown or off-white pants, then light brown pants would go very well. The same concept applies to jeans as well. If you are wearing darker color jeans, go with dark brown shoes. If you’re wearing light colored jeans, then go with light brown shoes. While doing this, don’t forget the golden rule with shoes… your belt has to match

So to conclude:

1) If you’re going to buy only one pair of brown shoes, go with dark brown (matches more pant colors)

2) Lighter colored pants go with lighter colored shoes

3) Your belt must match your shoes

So, what are boat shoes anyway? Well, as the name suggests, they were originally invented to be worn on a boat. In 1935, Paul Sperry noticed how his dog was able to easily run on wet surfaces and so he came up with the idea of a siping, which has since then become a standard in boat shoes. A siping is simply a pattern of cuts on the soles of the shoes designed to improve traction. Other than that, boat shoes are generally water resistant, made of leather and have rubber soles. The soles can be dark or white and are non-marking for good reason (most people don’t want marks on their boat deck ).

Some tend to confuse loafers and boat shoes. If you need a rule of thumb for the purpose of distinction, boat shoes are more sporty and loafers are more formal. If you’re planning on wearing shorts and a t-shirt, then go for boat shoes (choosing loafers in this case would be horrific, but of course). Also, if you want to be part of the cool crowd, if you’re wearing boat shoes, make sure to skip the socks. Really, leave them at home. Socks, you can do with loafers but not with boat shoes.

Great question. For our readers, if you’re not familiar with MK2 shirts, check out the following picture:

As a safe bet, with this outfit, you can wear a nice medium to dark brown pear of loafers or semi-dressy shoes. This would definitely go with what you’re wearing. Brown shoes generally go well with jeans so depending on the color of your trousers, you can go with light brown to dark brown. For ideas, check out the following pair of Gucci Loafers:

If you want to go more casual, you can even wear slip-on white Pumas:

Thanks again for your questions and keep them coming! Submit your fashion Questions Here.

The answer is that you can wear light brown or even white dress shoes depending on the color of suit and whether the occasion is formal or more casual (white for casual and light brown for formal). As you can see in the picture above, our SuitUpp model is wearing light brown shoes (for a more formal look). If you have another color suit and are trying to decide what type of shoes to wear, consider this guide on what type of shoes to wear (another blog post from us).