Velvet navy wide leg trousers - what shoes? Please help a style-free woman in need!

[FirstPastThePostOffice]

It’s for a smart (not quite black tie but close) work event. I can’t wear heels and have wide feet and I honestly have NO idea what to wear! I usually wear Docs or trainers, neither of which are going to work with this. I don’t want to spend a fortune as won’t wear them often. PLEASE HELP!

Thanks 💐

Yes, of course you can wear plain navy trainers. You said yourself that the trousers are long and will cover your shoes.

People that judge your choice of footwear and expect you to wear something uncomfortable for the sake of fitting in with some pointless aesthetic, are not the type of people you need in your life.

I want to be admired for my fabulous personality, not what clothing I choose to wear. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don't know what colour jewellery you wear, but a pair of silver loafers could work. Various places have them at the moment - Clarks, Next, John Lewis - and they seem to vary in levels of chunkiness. Combined with a striking piece of silver jewellery could look great.

I second this. If you mainly wear trainers and DMs then you need some 'evening' trainers or boots in your wardrobe anyway. Silver, gold or glittery.

Well you can wear anything you want as long as it meets the minimum standards of decency but navy trainers at a black tie event will look awful.

And as for judging you by your personality - what clothes a person chooses is part and parcel of their personality.

@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle

🤔 Yep, you’re definitely not going to come close to making my ”people I’d like to be friends with” list. 😂

Good grief - is this really the Style & Beauty topic?

There must be about a billion suitable options. And since the OP has gone to the trouble of buying new ‘dressy’ trousers, we can assume she actually wants to embrace the standard dress code for such an event.

@FirstPastThePostOffice navy trousers really don’t ‘limit’ your choice of shoes. Don’t know what else you’re wearing but your trousers would be fine with bright pink or green or silver / gold / bronze / white / red / whatever colour you like.

You’ve said you don’t want to spend much - but purely for inspiration you could do worse than look through the 14 pages of flat shoes on the Net-a-Porter website - identify a shape you like and look for something similar elsewhere at your preferred price point - new or pre-owned.

https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-gb/shop/shoes/flat-shoes

There really is no need to panic …

Or you could just go straight to Zara.

https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman-shoes-flat-l1269.html

(Obviously I don’t know if the width of your feet prevents you from shopping in mainstream shops?)

Or M&S

I don't like loafers but the pink suede ones might do. The silver pointy ones definitely.

Pink suede loafers
Silver pointy pumps

These look perfect and super comfy!

The M&S pink or silver options linked to above look perfect.

As someone who thinks trainers can be worn in most circumstances, I'm still flummoxed that someone has suggested them for this, particularly the Allbirds ones!

So answers to questions:
Navy blue on top
A ‘statement’ type gold and silver necklace

I’m enjoying the trainers furore 😁
I have talked myself in and out of their appropriateness a million times. The event dress code is ‘smart’ and it’s being held at a five star hotel in London if that helps for context.

I definitely can’t wear heels because when I had the trousers altered I told the dressmaker I wasn’t wearing heels and she fitted them to look perfect with docs (which is what I was wearing that day).

I don’t like ballet flats because they make me feel very heavy/flat footed.

What’s the general feeling on wearing black shoes with navy? It is a very dark navy so I’m hoping I could possibly get away with it? That would open up a lot more choice on the shoe front too. Going to have a look through the links everyone has posted now (except the heels one 😆)

Thanks!

What about something like this? https://www.pavers.co.uk/products/lightweight-lace-up-shoes-wbins36118-322-795?variant=40649246998613&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwudexBhDKARIsAI-GWYXIBZFS4kUwFUFL1GMWV3DF87usbBFuhX6rb9z5FYL3zSaQQipYmc4aAlKUEALw_wcB

Deichmann have loads of glam flat sandals

You can have these if they’d fit you OP. They’re a 7 but smallish sizing so if you’re wide I’d say you’d need to be a 6. They’re Boden, genuinely worn once! Got disheartened trying to sell stuff on eBay so I took them down. They’d look good with your trousers I think. Just a bit more substantial than ballet flats which I know you don’t want.

Anyway, I don’t want anything for them so just let me know.

One way to deal with this scenario when you have feet that can’t tolerate heels and uncomfortable flat shoes (pointed toes are the work of the devil) is to get some black or brown leather brogues that are sort of ´trainers in disguise’ - something with all the tech that normally goes into trainers but smooth leather so it will fit the dress code in these situations. If you go this route, you’re basically looking for nondescript. Something that fits the dress code but will attract zero interest beyond that. You’ll let the clothes do the talking satorially. So if you like the way docs feel then dc marten brogues might work. Or look at orthopedic type brands or clarks or something. Pick something with enough of a nod to fashionable brogues to avoid looking too much like a medical device and then forget about them and concentrate on the rest of your outfit.

https://www.clarks.com/en-gb/orinoco-2-limit/26177777-p
Something like this would work perfectly well, for example. They won’t win prizes for most interesting choice of black tie shoe, but they’d likely work well with velvet navy trousers (depends a hit on what colour you wear on top) and they are formal enough for the dress code.

Wide fitting silver loafers?
https://www.next.co.uk/style/su177811/q99238#q99238

Wide fitting navy loafers?
https://www.next.co.uk/gl21697s5/q02972#q02972
and
https://www.debenhams.com/product/dorothy-perkins-wide-fit-lana-penny-loafers_bqq14585?colour=navy

Wide fitting silver sandals?
https://www.next.co.uk/style/ls247431/q30010#q30010

Wide fitting almost flat glittery navy sandals?
https://www.debenhams.com/product/paradox-london-shimmer-quest-wide-fit-low-heel-sandal_p-53a2679c-a8d0-48b6-a5ef-e94e380f1edd?colour=Navy

Are boots out of the running? Just wondering about some kind of flat, pointy toe boot, perhaps in suede.

I agree with this.

It is always better to be overdressed than underdressed.

And trainers WILL be underdressed and I say that as someone who owns more than ten pairs of trainers so obviously like and wear them almost daily.

Of course if you have recently had bunions/ingrown toenail surgery recently - wear them but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

@FrogTheWarrior ah thanks so much for the offer, unfortunately I’m a size 5 so they wouldn’t work but I really appreciate the thought!

Black can look fine if the navy is very dark. This sort of ballet flat is more forgiving for fat feet (I have fat feet!) and would suit a wide leg.

TheOriginalFrench · Yesterday 09:04
Or you could just go straight to Zara.

https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman-shoes-flat-l1269.html

(Obviously I don’t know if the width of your feet prevents you from shopping in mainstream shops?)

@TheOriginalFrench Thank you for posting this - I've had no success finding clogs/mules that I like which I can easily just slip on - found quite a few options here

Glad to have helped, @meyouandlulutoo. Have you ever looked at:

https://penelopechilvers.com/

Different price point to Zara but you may find something you love.

In fact, although they’re more famous for boots, you might find the shoes of interest, @FirstPastThePostOffice. Apologies - had forgotten them until prompted by mention of clogs! Take a look at the gold, or silver Mary Janes.

https://penelopechilvers.com/eu/shoes

@FirstPastThePostOffice you can wear black with navy but I think a metallic would look nicer.
There are ballet type flats that have a thicker sole so don't look as skimpy... and are more comfortable.