Black shoes with blue suit

[yesitsuptome]

For work. OK or a big no no?

[OCSockOrphanage]

OK, but not your only option. Black patent court shoe for very smart, or grey, or burgundy, or navy. Red or dark tan also possible, if a bit more casual, or nude. Cream or white shoes in summer, if a closed toe formal style. Choose to tone with your top/blouse perhaps?

[yesitsuptome]

Hey thanks OCSock, this was much more helpful than expected. I'm so out of touch with workish clothes these days and need to smarten up pretty fast!

[LynneJones]

Black shoes with blue suit ok but not the other way around. I wore blue courts with a black dress once, no no :)

[LynneJones]

Chipmunk: You could wear natural / nude tights with all combinations of those shoe colours. wearing black or barely black may clash. But the lighter shade would be good

[OCSockOrphanage]

For office work/ court shoes, sheer nude tights are most versatile and look okay on most people. It's worth buying a selection of shades to work out which flatters your skin tone, then just bulk buy them. Charcoal, barely black are good with black, but too heavy with most colours.

[OCSockOrphanage]

But the denier matters; the sheerer the better (and sadly, the more fragile). Wash in a lingerie bag on a short delicate wash and air dry. Always have spares close by!

[yesitsuptome]

Oh I didn't spot your replies OCSock! Really helpful, thanks. Don't suppose you have a favourite brand of tights to recommend do you?

[OCSockOrphanage]

I don't often wear formal suits anymore so mostly buy fancy opaques to match shoes/boots and socks. M&S would be my starting point, or JLP, maybe a selection of brands from TK Maxx. Whatever you get, the more they cost, the better you will like them. (I have a pair of Fogal stockings, that I bought in London once for squillions and have been too mean to wear; I expect to be laid out in them .

The drawer currently contains M&S autograph open toes for cold days requiring sandals and very pale gray Charnos, plus several worn pairs without tags. I have forgotten the name but there was an Italian online brand that had a vast range of good skin shades from very pale to deeply tanned.

For variety's sake... at one stage there was a fashion for ultra fine fishnets which looked great/sheer-ish and wore well, but were very hard to find. Do you have a specialist lingerie shop in your town? That would be where I'd go after the chain stores.

[yesitsuptome]

wow OCsock, so useful!
I have a related question for you: I've got some cropped trousers. do I wear them with bare legs or tights underneath?

[OCSockOrphanage]

That is a hard question... my own ankles have to be bare in ankle grazers, and the thought of tights under trousers of any length brings me out in a rash. Why not try, and see what you like best?

[LynneJones]

yesitsupto me: Have you tried knee highs with cropped trousers?

[yesitsuptome]

Thanks OC. Will try it out.
Since you are here and you are so amazingly helpful, can I ask you another question? I am working towards a capsule work wardrobe. It contains:

1. Plain navy skirt.
   
2. Smart navy jacket (same colour, sort of matching but not from same shop as blue skirt).
   
3. Pale blue smart top.
   
4. Plain cream coloured smart top.
   
5. Blue patterned smart dress.
   
6. Plain navy ankle grazers.
   
7. Bright blue smart cardigan.
   

Does this look sufficient to do very smart through smart casual? The blazer and skirt and trousers would not be exactly matching like a suit, do you think that matters? And I don't have any full length trousers, does it matter? I'm trying to keep it very capsule because of the expense, but wondering if I might be nearly there.
If you have any thoughts, much appreciated!