Jared's in need of a second pair of shoes for work and he wants to know which color would be best for his work wardrobe.
Q: First of all, I must say I love your website, and the truth is most guys need the kind of advice your website offers. That being said, my question is about shoes. I agree with you that shoes are a very important part of a guys wardrobe, especially his work wardrobe. I have a nice pair  of black captoe oxfords, and am ready to get a second pair of dress shoes. I am interested in either brown or cordovan for something different than black every day. The question is do you recomend one color over the other, is one more suitable to wear with different colored dress pants? If I wear navy dress pants a lot which color would go best, brown or cordovan. I also have a question concerning style. I am inclined to stick with captoe lace up oxfords, but there are some oxfords out there with different designs stitched in to them. Would you recomend looking into something more interesting for something new or should I stick to the good old stand bys? I want something that can go with my style which, which is very classic with some modern influences. i.e. Black, grey, brown, and navy pants, with fitted dress shirts and simple youthful ties (I am only 23).

Lastly are 300 dollar shoes really that much better than 150 dollar shoes. I have the money to afford more expensive shoes, but if the quality doesnt fully justify the price, I see no reason spend that much more. Thanks for any insight you can give me on this small, but very complex detail, I hope you can help me.

A: Jared,

Thanks for the email and we appreciate your kind words.

I'll say this about your first question on shoes: I think that you can go very far with brown shoes, farther than you can with cordovan. The colors for clothing you described with work with either, but I think if you're going with two pair of "dress" shoes, go with rich brown.

Second, I wouldn't get a pair of smooth captoe oxfords in brown. Anything that has a bit of decoration (stitching, perforations, medallions). I might argue for a pair of wingtips, or split-toe blucher, or oxfords with some detailing, would be great. I have a pair of split-toe bluchers in brown that get a lot of wear.

Third, I believe you get what you pay for. That being said, since the suggested retail price is just that, a suggestion, what you pay for has as much to do with perception as anything. However, with wholesale brick and mortar outlets as well as online retailers, you don't necessarily have to pay full price for most shoes anymore. So, are $300 shoes better than $150? It depends on the shoe and what you're buying them for. Allen Edmonds cost more, but you can count on the classic styling and the solid construction. I like Robert Wayne, but I'm not expecting those shoes to last 10 years, structrually or stylistically. For the core pieces of you wardrobe, buy the best quality shoe you can afford. A good shoe store (Johnston & Murphy, Church's) or shoe department (Nordstrom's) will be able to help you answer that question.

Jared, I hope this is helpful and keep coming by the site.,

Brian