In this warm weather footwear series, I am reviewing our choices when we select a shoe color for our outfits.
Previous posts in the series:
Today we'll continue with the neutral print theme we established in reviewing animal prints but branch out to other types of prints. One category of neutral prints that is very easy to wear in summer contains those prints with white and any other neutral, such as navy, black, grey, brown, or tan. The white lends some lightness to these prints that can work well with the neutrals and accent colors we wear in warm weather. I have two pairs of my own to show today; one is a true summer shoe while the other gets worn more in the late spring/early summer and late summer/early fall transition seasons.
Navy Striped Ballet Flats
I absolutely love the colors, print, style, and nautical vibes from these inexpensive ballet flats purchased at Payless in summer 2015 for $17. They are one of 11 pairs of Payless ballet flats I bought that year, all of which are still in excellent condition! (I wear ballet flats in summer the way that other people wear sandals, which is to say, all the time.) I have worn this pair 40 times for a cost per wear (CPW) of $0.42 and dropping. I haven't worn them as frequently in the last few years because I have been prioritizing newer shoes, but they do come out at least a couple times every summer, and I enjoy them every time. I think I also hesitate to wear any of my collection of Payless flats too often at this point because I would hate to have to replace them (silly, I know!).
The low vamp of ballet shoes makes them easy to wear with pretty much any warm weather clothing, as you'll see in the OOTD I have to share with you. I love navy (and navy + white in summer), so all of these outfits do match the navy shoes to something else in my outfit, but that isn't a necessity! I could easily see wearing them with outfits in which the navy serves as a pop of color, such as with an accent color dress or a column of white. And I think neutral striped shoes are even easier to print mix with than a striped top because it's very simple to put a solid skirt/pants between the shoes and the rest of the outfit (just like with animal print shoes). I was surprised to discover that I don't have any OOTD photos (which start around 2017) that pair the striped flats with a print skirt; that's definitely something I want to do!
Black and White Smoking Slippers
These knit flats from Skechers have a wonderful geometric print that I really enjoy wearing. Because of the smoking slipper/loafer style, I generally wear them with pants, so they are worn in the shoulder seasons rather than the height of summer. (However, a black and white print in a lower vamp style would work extremely well for me for summer wear.) I bought them in fall 2019 for $30; I have worn them 30 times for a CPW of $1. These shoes are a joy to print mix with as well.
When it comes to striped rabbits, the Harlequin breed is the clear choice! This rabbit comes in two varieties: orange with black, brown, blue, or lilac (the Japanese Harlequin) or white with black, brown, blue, or lilac (the Magpie Harlequin). This black Magpie Harlequin shows off the "bar" (half circle of color) and "band" (unbroken circle of color) markings that are characteristic of the breed. You can also see that he has a half white/half black face, which is breed standard. His ears look stubby in this photo because he has them each bent sideways at an angle, but he has traditional long rabbit ears.
Do you own any striped shoes? Any neutral print shoes? Do you like wearing navy in the summer?
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