Should Your Bag Match Your Shoes?

While you might have heard that matching your shoes with your bag is a faux pa – well, we are here to tell you that this is not necessarily true. After all, fashion is all about what you make it.

Should Your Bag Match Your Shoes

A lot of people have second thoughts about being ‘matchy-matchy’ when it comes to an outfit, however, the great thing about having style is feeling confident enough to wear what you like.

In fact, style and fashion would not be a thing if everyone wore the exact same outfits. If you are still mulling the question “Should your bag match your shoes?”, you have come to the right place.

Here we shall discuss matching certain colors and styles, and why doing so is absolutely fine, no matter what some people might say.

Should You Match Bag And Shoes In An Outfit?

The trend of matching bags and shoes comes and goes.

While one decade might look in disdain at anyone who is co-ordinating their accessories, a different decade of fashionistas might applaud the effort of matching items.

However, generally, matching both your handbag and shoes is not a bad thing. In today’s climate, nobody thinks twice about whether you have decided to match your shoes and handbag together, or not.

It is a personal preference, with some people enjoying co-ordinating their look, while others might not even think twice about it.

Also, being matchy-matchy often has confidence about it. If you are bold enough to take on such a trend, then you are going to ooze a high amount of confidence, whether you are feeling that way or not.

And really that is what a lot of fashion is about. While clothes are often just simple separate items, once put together they can create a stunner of an outfit. 

When Did Matching A Bag With Shoes Begin?

The idea of matching your bag with shoes has been around for over 60 years. Once the Second World War ended in 1945, many women lusted over accessories.

However, once the 1950s rolled around, this desire for accessories died down.

So much so, even handbag sales had begun to decline. One way companies attempted to boost sales was to create a new marketing strategy.

This was in the shape of mixing and matching clothing.

During the 1950s, women were seen matching accessories with their outfits on TV, in newspapers, and in magazines.

This was then taken up by the average woman too.

Huge department stores would place both matching bags and shoes near each other in order for people to see both. This would then lead to lots of sales and a boom in matching clothes with accessories. 

However, years and years later, the shopping habits of people changed. People were not buying matching clothes anymore. Also, fashion vastly changes from decade to decade, meaning styles come and go. 

However, with many people wanting to take influence from retro styles, the matching of the bag with the shoes is seen as stylish as it once was, today. 

As with any fashion trend, some people will love it while others hate it. It is always best to form your own opinion on these things!

Do You Need To Match A Bag With Shoes?

Do You Need To Match A Bag With Shoes

There is absolutely no requirement to match both your handbag and shoes together. It is just a personal preference, and will not make you more or less of a fashionista if you do or don’t partake in the trend.

However, if you do want to match your bag and shoes, then think about colors and patterns.

While you can buy the items from the same brand to make sure they match completely, you can also just find similar colors and styles.

Just remember, there are no rules – and fashion is all about embracing your own identity and having fun at the same time.

How Should You Successfully Match A Patterned Shoe And Bag?

While you can often just match colors with similar colors, it is a little different when it comes to patterns. One of the best ways to match both patterns and prints is by taking the main color and going with it.

For example, if you are wearing a highly patterned coat that has a base color of blue, then wear plain blue shoes or wear a plain blue handbag.

Having said that, more often than not, a person will match prints too. Take animal print for example. You might wear animal print shoes as well as an animal print bag – and that is totally fine.

It all comes down to how much of a wow factor you want when it comes to the overall look of your outfit. If you are worried about print clashing, just use the base color as your go-to in order to match areas of the outfit. 

Is Wearing Silver And Gold Jewelry In The Same Outfit Okay?

Wearing both silver and gold jewelry comes and goes in the fashion world. Often people love to mix different colors, and this includes rose gold and brass too.

However, many people enjoy wearing only one color, be that silver or gold. One of the best ways to grow your jewelry collection is by opting for some basics in the same color.

This way you can wear the same color of jewelry (and this includes watches too and belt buckles), or you can rebel and mix the colors. 

Final Thoughts

It can be difficult to know whether matching your bag with your shoes is seen as a faux pa or not, especially when it is not currently trending (Also check out The Micro Bag: A Useless Trend We Can’t Help But Love). However, fashion is all about finding the styles which are good for you.

Whether that is matching certain colors and patterns to create elegance and interest within your outfit, or choosing to go bold with bright similar colors to create confidence.

To put it simply, matching your bag and shoes is perfectly fine. In fact, go one step ahead and choose patterns instead!

Jessica White
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