Male and female fashion may appear drastically different but the basics are pretty much the same. When it comes to dressing up, most men don’t have a clue about what pair of shoes to wear or how to coordinate it with their outfit. If you really want to make a good impression, then you’ll want to memorize these helpful tips to get your dress shoes in order and stay on top of your game.

Dress shoes are meant to look good, not tacky or cheap. If you’re in the market for some new dress shoes, make sure you put your money where your mouth is. Even if that discounted pair of dress shoes looks appealing, if the quality isn’t top notch, then it won’t add to your overall look. Become familiar with the materials used for dress shoes in order to learn how to tell the fake stuff from the real thing. Suede dress shoes are highly popular with men, since they go along with just about any outfit and can minimize the appearance of large feet. Calf-skin is one of the best materials you can find for dress shoes. This type of material is not only durable, it allows your feet to breathe but also has insulation, not to mention a clean shine. Another type of material you can look for in your next pair of dress shoes is cordovan, which is a membrane that comes from the rear of a horse. While it may not sound very snazzy, when used for dress shoes, cordovan is a very durable form of leather and also keeps your feet warm. So if you live in a cold climate, you’ll want to have a few pairs of these. The one material you want to completely avoid is corrected grain leather dress shoes. Shoes made of this material tend to look very plastic and fake, not to mention tacky and has a permanent shine that does not flatter the shoes at all.

In terms of style, you can find men’s dress shoes that are either slip-ons or lace-up. While it’s up to you to figure out which style you prefer, a general rule of thumb is that for informal events, you should opt for slip-on dress shoes and for formal affairs, go for the lace-ups. Along with style and material, you’ll want to choose your men’s dress shoes according to the right color. Of course black is the most basic and super easy to find, while white is often not used so much. Brown dress shoes tend to go with everything so between black and brown, your dress shoe collection will be up to par.

If you’re concerned about your large footsies appearing even larger in dress shoes, then you’ll want to choose your dress shoes according to the toe shape. For example, chisel toe shoes are somewhat squarish in the front but have angled sides and a sloping top. Rounded toe shoes are the most common, with the outside edge more angled than the inside edge, which is almost parallel to your foot. If you want to create the appearance of smaller feet, then you’ll want to look into men’s dress shoes with a square toe shape, but note that this style may make your feet look a little clunky.

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