Shoe Re-Do: Shoes to wear with a green tea dress

(All items: Topshop}

Four things struck me about this photo:

1. LOVE the dress. Would probably actually BUY the dress, if it weren’t for that pesky shopping ban I keep banging on about.

2. HATE the shoes.

3. Hate the socks with the shoes even more.

4. Surprisingly DON’T hate the combination of bright red shoes and green dress nearly as much as I would’ve thought. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that “red and green should not be seen”, but it IS a combination I’ve always avoided, for fearing of looking like one of Santa’s elves. Maybe it’s time for a re-think?

Here are some shoes I might wear with this dress:

1. Alberto Moretti ‘Arfango’ 

I’ve talked at length about how Other People often look down on outfits with matching colours, but I’m unrepentant in my love of the look, and when I find a perfect colour match, as with these shoes and this dress, I probably won’t be able to resist putting them together at some point.

2. Topshop ‘Grace’ peep toes

The same colour scheme Topshop used, but with a different shoe. In this case, I think red can work because the dress is a teal-ish green, rather than a grass or emerald green, either of which could be a little too festive for some tastes.

3. Blue strappy sandals

I only realised after I’d created this collage that these shoes are now sold out (They’re by Gianvito Rossi), but the principle is the same. These shades of green and blue are two of the easiest shades to “colour block”, I think, and I say that as someone who kinda hates the idea of more than one bold colour per outfit. If I can do it, ANYONE can. I also like the idea of a delicate shoe to go with the very feminine style of the dress: I know some would prefer to go with something much LESS delicate, to offset that, but that’s what personal style is all about.

4. Zara colourblock sandals

I showed you these not long ago. They’re the perfect halfway house between the first shoe on my list and the third, so if you don’t want to be TOO matchy-matchy, but you’re a bit wary of the idea of colour-blocking, the fact that these contain the colour of the dress will make them super-simple to wear, and an easy way to add an extra bit of colour.

As always, these are just how I’d wear this dress, if it were mine. What about you: which shoes would you wear (remember, you don’t have to pick any of the ones shown here!)