What Color Shoes to Wear With a Gold Dress?

Hi Deborah, 

I bought a lovely gold sheath dress for a Christmas party and wanted to know what color shoes to wear with it. I’m stumped. Thanks, Lisa

Hi Lisa,

This is a tricky one. Any shiny or sparkly metallic dress will command a lot of attention, so you want to be careful to select a shoe that lets the dress remain center stage.

Your shoes should complement, not compete with, your dress. Deciding on the perfect color of shoes to wear with a gold dress will depend on a few things. First,

Wear Gold with Gold

A light gold shoe can look lovely with a gold dress. You get that continuous flow of color from the dress to the shoe, creating a nice, long, lean line. If you are wearing a gold dress with gold shoes, you need to be careful to coordinate the color of gold and the intensity of each.

There are so many shades of gold. Gold dresses range from champagne gold to yellow gold to pinky rose gold. You want a gold shoe with similar looks and feels to blend in.

For example, if your dress is shiny or sparkly gold, go for a less sparkly shoe. If your dress is matte, you can have sparkly gold shoes. It’s nearly impossible to get the exact color shoe as your dress, and you wouldn’t want to anyway.

Go for a gold shoe slightly lighter or darker than your gold dress, which should be fine. A champagne-colored shoe is like a gold shoe but softer. It is an excellent choice!

Nude Shades go with Gold.

Another option is to wear nude or champagne-colored shoes with your gold dress. This creates a subtle look and plays up the dress.

Black Shoes are an Option

Black shoes can work with a gold dress and are a popular choice, but I find they work best if your dress is a deeper, darker shade of gold, even bronze, or if your gold dress has some black like the one above.

Black shoes worn with a light, bright gold dress can be so high in contrast that they look heavy on your feet, ruining the uplifting feel of your gold dress. This is especially true when you have light hair. However, if you have dark hair, sometimes the dark hair and shoes balance each other.

Evening Bag Guidelines

As for your evening bag, don’t be matchy-matchy in all cases. For example, try a gold or black bag if you are wearing nude shoes. You can even carry a similarly colored nude bag with a different finish or texture.  The bottom line is to mix it up in color/finish to look modern.

What Color Shoes to Wear with a Silver Dress?

It’s the same. You can wear black or pewter shoes with a silver dress, and the Navy can also work. I like silver shoes and a silver dress.

Do Colored Shoes Go with a Silver or Gold Dress?

Some women may try to wear jewel-toned shoes, such as emerald green or ruby red, with a silver or gold dress, but I find these colors stand out like a sore thumb and can make you look like an overly decorated Christmas tree. Jewel tones against silver are high contrast, very bright, and loud. They can come across as tacky and not classy, especially if the dress is classic and elegant.

What to Wear with a Bronze or Pewter dress?

Bronze is gold mixed with black.  Pewter is silver combined with black. If you wear a bronze or pewter dress, black shoes will look wonderful because they’ll pick up on the black in the dress and balance the intensity of the dark metallic.  See how striking the dress above looks with black sandals.

Whatever you decide, remember that a little sparkle and shine is better than too much glitz if you want to look elegant and chic over 40.