Choosing the Perfect Statement Shoe Color (Part 2)

10 Outfits vs. 11 Statement Shoes: Analysis and Conclusions

Here's part two of our guide on selecting the ideal statement shoe color. Using my rudimentary Photoshop skills, I experimented by pairing 6 neutral outfits and 4 no-color outfits with various statement (bright) shoe colors.

This week, I'm delving into yellows, greens, blues, and neutrals. This follows up on last week's post. If you missed it, you can catch up by reading Part 1 from last week here. I also summarized the entire analysis and actually found the perfect statement shoe 🙂 Let's dive in!

Yellow

When I began researching for this post, I was convinced that yellow would emerge as the most versatile color. And for good reason – it pairs well with most neutrals (except black) and complements rust, blue, and pink no-color outfits. I appreciate the brightness it adds, akin to a ray of sunshine, to each outfit, while still being subtle enough to match with neutrals and even whites effortlessly. However, after evaluating, I believe there's an even more versatile color, which you'll discover in the next section.

The Greens

The standout color in this analysis? Lime! It's sufficiently yellow to pair with blues and light enough to complement white outfits. Additionally, it harmonizes with greens and isn't so green that it clashes with pink. The shade even works decently with black, perhaps due to its slightly "muted" tone. So, if you're in search of a statement shoe that's versatile and easy to pair, lime undoubtedly takes the crown.

Neon green is notably versatile. While it might be a tad too green for blue, it pairs well with most other colors, including navy. It's certainly a strong contender for the top statement shoe color.

The Irish-inspired Kelly Green pairs surprisingly well with black. While the science behind this pairing remains a mystery to me, its effectiveness might explain its recent surge in popularity on Instagram. If my wardrobe leaned heavily towards black, Kelly Green would be my top pick.

The Blues

The next color up for consideration is a light blue-green, which I personally found unappealing. In my view, it's a challenging color to style effectively. However, given the unpredictable nature of fashion, this distinctiveness might be precisely why some might opt for it as a statement shoe. It's up to individual preference.

As we delve deeper into blues, this slightly bluer shade fares a bit better. It complements browns, but beyond that, its compatibility seems limited. It tends to clash with many outfits, including reliable choices like taupe and gray, though with some effort, it might work.

Baby blue, on the other hand, is quite versatile. It pairs well with blues, grays, taupes, navy, and brown. It also nearly complements white and pink. Given its appealing hue, it might be an excellent choice, especially for those with an abundance of blue and navy in their wardrobe.

The Neutrals

In this analysis, we're seeking the ideal statement shoe, which translates to a standout color. While focusing on that, I also wanted to introduce neutrals for comparison. It's worth noting that I didn't include gold and silver, despite them being strong neutral colors, because I couldn't represent them accurately in Photoshop.

Navy shoes are notably easy to style. They pair well with almost everything, barring perhaps white and taupe. There's a reason neutrals are called neutrals – they effortlessly complement various outfits.

White is undeniably a striking statement color that works with almost all outfits, save for navy and blue. While it's bold, it seamlessly pairs with both black and white, among many other colors. It's a top recommendation for those seeking a less vibrant statement shoe.

Gray is generally easy to style, though it comes in numerous shades. The specific shade I'm referencing pairs decently with various outfits, but it might not elevate the look to the desired extent. Would you agree?

Brown also offers a myriad of shades, and while the one I'm highlighting might not be the ideal, its versatility is evident. It can be paired effortlessly with almost any outfit. While it's a solid choice for a neutral shoe, I'm torn between labeling it as a statement piece or simply a standard shoe.

Conclusions

If you have a lot of brown, gray and taupe in your wardrobe, you can carry almost any statement shoe - almost every bright color works with these outfits, especially with brown.

From neutral colors, navy wardrobe also works with many statement shoes but is a bit more tricky. Purple family is a great addition to navy wardrobe, in addition to red, blue, green and yellow tones - but not so much with pink and orange hues.

Black or white wardrobe is much more tricky. It seems that the statement colors need to be darker for black outfits, and lighter for white outfits, with some exceptions. These exceptions for black outfits are Kelly green - not sure why, but green seems to work with black well and I guess that is the reason for the popularity of this color for a few years on Instagram. The black also works well with the neutrals - white, gray, navy, brown.

The white wardrobe seems to work with the bright yellow hues well, including lime, yellow, and orange too. All the pale items also work well, probably because of their lighter shade. The neutrals seem to work but depending on the hue - e.g. gray and brown have to match it based on their subtle hues, where some of them will work and some won’t. Bright, saturated colors are much more tricky with white and would probably need a third color to balance it out. This is something to consider if you tend towards lighter colors in summer and are considering a statement summer shoe.

No-color colors have been more tricky to style, especially intense colors like Rust. It only worked with the pinkish, red, orange shoe hues that are close in the color family. On the other hand, the pink outfit was much more versatile probably because of the grayish undertones.

What is your statement shoe of choice? Let me know in the comments!