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What Color Shoes to Wear with a Black & White Dress | ShoeTease

What Color Shoes to Wear with a Black & White Dress | ShoeTease

I absolutely love the look of black & white: black and white footwear, dresses, outfits, decor…you name it! But what color shoes to wear with black and white dresses you ask?

Whether you’re looking to pair a black & white dress or outfit that has stripes, polka-dots, random black/white color blocking or pattern, it really doesn’t matter.

This guide takes into account & includes all of the above & more. Below are my top 10 favorite shoes colors & patterns to pair with monochrome.

Shoes to Wear with a Black and White Dress

1. Black Shoes, Heels, Boots & Sandals

Collage of 4 women wearing black and white dresses with black shoes.

An easy way to pair black and white dresses with shoes is to opt for black footwear. No big surprise here, as black shoes look great with pretty much any outfit & are an easy go-to choice for black & white outfits.

Opt for a black boot for a more casual shoe & dress pairing, while a minimal sandal, high heeled or not, compliments an evening look.

Purse Color Tip: Any bright color, or a matching black or contrasting white purse will work.

Favorite Black Shoes & Heels:

Sam Edelman
SHOP
Stuart Weitzman
SHOP
Sam Edelman
SHOP

2. White Shoes

Collage of 4 women wearing black and white dresses with white shoes.

White shoes, heels, sneakers or sandals are a great match with these monochrome dresses. Just make sure the white in the heels is the same shade of white in the dress.

Otherwise your outfit will look mismatched to the shoes.

Purse Color Tip: Black, white or a contrast color purse. Or, match it to any prominent metallic in your dress.

Favorite White Shoes & Boots:

Sam Edelman
SHOP
Stuart Weitzman
SHOP
Marc Fisher LTD
SHOP

3. Black & White Shoes

Collage of 5 women wearing black and white dresses with matching shoes.

You wouldn't think off-hand that this pairing would work, but it's my absolute styling favorite! Black & white shoes look fabulous with white and black dresses, jumpsuits or the like.

For optimum impact, aim for more of a black shoe if the outfit has more white in it & vice versa. Black & white shoes also work great with most colorful dresses too.

Favorite Black and White Shoes :

Matisse Gigi
SHOP
Saint Laurent
SHOP
Bandolino
SHOP
ShoeTease Facebook Group block reading: don't know what to wear join our free facebook group for styling and outfit help beside an image of a woman organizing her shoes and another woman standing in a fashionable outfit with jeans.

4. Silver Shoes

Collage of 4 women wearing black and white dresses with silver shoes.

If you're looking something that isn't black, or white or a combination of the two, silver shoes are a great bet. Because the best metallic shoe to pair with a black & white dress is hands-down, a silver one!

It's kind of like the shiny version of white shoes & happens to look amazing on all skin tones. Shoot for mirror metallic silver, which is much more dramatic & striking with black and white dresses. And my personal color shoes to wear with navy! 

Favorite Silver Shoes & Heels:

Schutz
SHOP
Jessica Simpson
SHOP
Stuart Weitzman
SHOP

Bright, colorful shoes look amazing with black and white outfits. To be honest, there isn’t a color that won’t complement them, but the brighter & more saturated the color, the better it will look!

Are you familiar with the color wheel at all? Well, any primary or secondary color will look fantastic & contrast well with black & white.

Keep in mind that bright, colorful shoes are a great way of how to go about adding color to your black & white dress/outfit. But the real question is, what color of shoes are best with these ebony/ivory outfits? Here are a few of my faves:

5. Red & Burgundy Shoes

Collage of 3 women wearing black and white dresses with red shoes.

By far, the most popular color to wear with black & white outfits is red. Blood red, specifically! And you can't blame the prevailing pairing: it looks incredible, with a high contrast!

I mean, there's a reason it's a showstopper (and the chosen color for a stop light & sign!). Find out more outfit options with this bright shoe color on my post about what to wear with red shoes.

Favorite Red Shoes & Heels :

Steve Madden
SHOP
Sam Edelman
SHOP
CL by Laundry
SHOP

6. Bright Green Shoes

How to Wear Colorful Shoes

People don't normally think of adding green shoes to an outfit, but seriously folks, many of you are missing out!

Apple green like the Nine West pumps I'm wearing above are a great shade that looks smashing with black and white outfits, but also pairs well with a ton of other colors & patterns.

And best of all, green is an unconventional shoe color & a great change to the more ubiquitous pink & red choices. See more amazing green shoes outfits in my dedicated post!

Favorite Green Shoes:

Steve Madden
SHOP
Sam Edelman
SHOP
Naturalizer
SHOP

7. Pink Shoes

Fuchsia & hot pink are fashionista favorites when it comes to matching shoes to black & white dresses (striped black and white dresses in particular!).

But it doesn't mean that other pink hues won't look just as good.

An orangey-pink or salmon, magenta or purpley-pink shades–as long as they are bright & happy–will make your contrasting outfit fashion blog-ready!

Favorite Pink Shoes:

Chinese Laundry
SHOP
Naturalizer
SHOP
Faryl by Farylrobin
SHOP

8. Blue Shoes (Love Cobalt!)

Cobalt is such a trendy color & its ability to creep into high & low fashion looks season after season is a testament to this hue's staying power. It also happens to match &/or contrast well with almost anything!

In pump or sandal form, cobalt shoes look great with black and white dresses & outfits and can easily take you from day to night.

It's also a great alternative to other colors such as red, which might be too racy for certain work environments.

If you're keen on wearing blue shoes with a black and white dress or outfit, other blues that will work well include turquoise, royal blue & a deep baby blue.

Favorite Blue Shoes:

Kenneth Cole
SHOP
Steve Madden
SHOP
Steve Madden
SHOP

9. Orange & Coral Footwear

What Color Shoes to Wear with Black and White Dress

If you want to break out of the simple ruby red mold, why not give orange a chance? A great, unexpected shoe color & coming back with a vengeance within fashion in general is coral.

This is an orange-red hue that beautifully combines with black and white outfits. Take a look at my coral shoes outfit with my white jeans and polkadot top, for more black and white outfit inspo!

Shop Orange Shoes:

Marc Fisher LTD
SHOP
Orange ballerina flat on white background.
Anthropology
SHOP
Sam Edelman
SHOP

Shop Coral Shoes:

Dune London
SHOP
Pelle Moda
SHOP
French Sole
SHOP

10. Yellow, Neon & Mustard Shoes

Yellow, whether an orangey hue, bright sunshine yellow or in-your-face neon looks spectacular with black & white outfits. It's actually a top pairing choice when wearing yellow shoes!

I'm partial to a basic crayola yellow myself, but a mustard shade will also look fab.

Shop Yellow Shoes:

Yellow heeled pump on white background.
Tom Ford
SHOP
Journee Collection
SHOP
J.Renee
SHOP

11. Leopard Print Shoes

What Color Shoes to Wear with Black and White Dress

I was debating whether to include leopard print shoes with black and white outfits, as a styling choice, as this one can easily go in a yay or nay direction VERY fast.

How to wear leopard print shoes with this combo depends on the animal print itself. A larger leopard print with a more prominent contrast to the base color works best. And the less brown & general warmth in the print, the better.

This animal printed footwear looks awesome with black and white striped dresses. I'm just a sucker for a pattern on pattern, what can I say!

See how great these shoes are with the first two looks (even better paired with the first that has the wider striped dress?).

But a smaller leopard, or cheetah printed shoe, however, will feel a little ‘cluttered' with black & white, especially when the print in the dress/outfit is a similar size to the shoe print.

See image on the far right, which doesn't quite right, as the wrap dress is just too busy to mesh well with also busy small dotted animal print.

One simply doesn't compliment the other & just looks a little blah (this, compared to what it might have looked with brilliant green or shimmering silver mirror high heel!).

Favorite Leopard Shoes:

Brown leopard print round toe block heel platform pumps on white background.
Steve Madden
SHOP
Brown leopard print pointed toe block heel boots on white background.
Bandolino
SHOP
Vionic
SHOP

Shoe Colors to Avoid with Black & White Dresses

Some of you by now might be asking yourselves if there's a shoe color that doesn’t look good with black and white dresses.

Since I’m sure you feel as if I’ve mentioned all of them at this point! Well, actually, there are a few that aren’t my first choices.

Of course, taste & style is relative, but the following are definitely not on my top 10 list for black and white outfits! These include:

  • Dark purple shoes
  • Almost-black navy shoes
  • Pastel shoes, especially very pale ones – look to similar, but not quite right with the white)
  • Gold shoes – it's not disastrous, but the warmer tone doesn't do B&W justice
  • Brown shoes – too similar to the black of the outfit to complement or contrast
  • Nude, off-white or beige shoes – makes a bold monochrome look boring. See below:
What to Wear with a Black and White Dress

Now, it’s not that these colors look TERRIBLE, but being so dark (or light!), they won’t contrast well enough to liven up the outfit, nor will your shoes “pop”, so to speak.

Most of all, you don't want people guessing if that beige shoe is white or not, or if that dark navy pump is a faded black that you're trying to match with the outfit.

I mean, the above shoe colors don't look bad, but they’ll just look a little, “meh”, if you know what I mean. This is a shoe blog after all and we're looking to make a bit of a statement with our footwear 😉

Final Words on What Color Shoes to Wear with a Black and White Dress

While I (hopefully!) still have your attention, you can take shoe & outfit style guide as way to accessorize black & white outfits, not just with your heels, but with your purses, jewelry, hats etc.

Just remember when pairing these monochrome looks with one bright accessory, such as shoes, you’ll be best off to go neutral (black/white/beige) with the rest.

Conversely, you can choose to pair that bright accessory with another color that contrasts & enhances the other one.

Sunshine yellow with hot pink or green or turquoise with orange & so on. You can some examples of these in the images pictured above.

So if next time you're wondering what color shoes to wear with a black and white dress, come back to this page & get re-inspired 🙂

ShoeTease Facebook Group block reading: don't know what to wear join our free facebook group for styling and outfit help beside an image of a woman organizing her shoes and another woman standing in a fashionable outfit with jeans.

xo ShoeTease

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Cherice

Friday 6th of May 2022

Hey. Loved this article. I’m heading to a wedding and wearing a black and off white champagne polka dot dress. I’ve got bright/apple green shoes. Help! What colour lipstick, would red be suitable? Many thanks

ShoeTease

Monday 9th of May 2022

For me, red lips are a classic, so I think they pair well with everything! That being said, it's really hard to say without knowing what the dress looks like. When in doubt, try the outfit on with the red lipstick and see if it suits it!

Deborah Cawley

Wednesday 22nd of September 2021

Hi, I am going to a wedding. I have a dress to ankle length, black and white floral (actually the Mylene Klass - Next) I am only 5ft so i think i need a good high shoe and bag to match

ShoeTease

Wednesday 22nd of September 2021

Yes, heels would work well. You'd do well with a platform sandal such as this one and a small black structured bag. You can have fun with color, silver metallics or stick to black accessories too.

Mia

Wednesday 23rd of November 2016

Where could we find shoes like the apple green nine west you are wearing here online?

ShoeTease

Thursday 24th of November 2016

Hi Mia, It depends where in the world you are wanting to shop! Some suggestions, below:

These are similar (and believe it's INTL shipping): https://bit.ly/2fJryGp These are Nine West styles (buy in US) in the same green, just different heel heights: https://bit.ly/2glj8J4 and https://bit.ly/2glrSie Nine West, slightly different style, same colour (buy in CAN):

Hope this helps! xo Cristina

Joan

Tuesday 8th of November 2016

Is it okay to wear a black and white dress with a maroon shoes for a formal occasion.

ShoeTease

Monday 14th of November 2016

It's not "not" ok, but brighter colors tend to look better with black and white outfits, because of the contrast they create. However, if you already have a maroon shoe that's not too dark in color that you'd like to wear, go for it! You won't be breaking any rules and will definitely be more original than opting for simple black shoes :) Have fun at your event! xo Cristina

vanessa

Saturday 8th of October 2016

hi i will like to know what colour shoe i can put on with a yellow dress thanks

ShoeTease

Saturday 8th of October 2016

Hi Vanessa, Yellow dresses look great with black, white & black and white shoes. If you'd like to add some color to your outfit, bright hues such as hot pink, coral red & cobalt blue look fabulous with yellow. If you're thinking metallics, silver & bronze are my faves. I'd avoid beige & gold shoes, as they'll look washed out next to the yellow. Hope this helps! xo Cristina

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