I bought some burgundy suede ankle boots to wear with a maroon wrap dress in October ’21. I wore them out for the first and only time to a work Christmas party at a restaurant in Leeds. All night, I looked like someone had poured an entire vat of wine all over me and left me to dry. My friend Priya snapped one photo of me outside the bar. She stared at it. Stared at me.
Said, “you’ve gone full curtain.” Full curtain. Priya has haunted me for the past three years and she was entirely right to. I thought tonal dressing – matching shade to shade – was chic. It’s not chic. It will burn your silhouette. In bad restaurant lighting, I actually disappeared into the velvet booth I was sitting in front of. A stranger leaned over to ask if she could get me a chair. I did not need someone to get me a chair. I needed to stop wearing one colour from collarbone to ankle.
That was when I started taking this seriously rather than assuming maroon was one of those colours like brown or grey that just vibe check itself. It doesn’t. Maroon is harder than black. Harder than navy, because it shifts depending on what fabric you’re wearing it in, what lighting you’re in, whether it leans more true burgundy or closer to oxblood or that brownish purple some shops stupidly label “maroon” when it justwhel come in burgundy, I swear. Now I have, and I actually counted for this section, eleven pairs of shoes in my flat that I either bought or repurposed knowing fully and specifically that I’d wear them with a maroon dress. ELEVEN. My boyfriend Dave asked why our hallway looks like half of a shoe shop was murdered in our flat. Because half of a shoe shop would know more about what shoes go with a maroon dress than I did!
After years of trying everything from whites that read purple to yellows that looked mustard and everything in-between learn (okay and repeat some of the same mistakes), I can tell you with certainty there isn’t one “right” shoe for your maroon dress, there are five options depending on what you’re wearing the dress to and what you actually want to wear your dress with. A work event. Wedding guest outfit. Sunday lunch that you just know someone will decide to try and hire you after (we all have this friend). They all call for different shoes and I’ve got the wrong ones for fun enough times to have learned from my mistakes.
Black Shoes, the Answer We All Reach For But No One’s Excited About
Look, black shoes will never, ever let you down. They’re the pan answer. They’re not going to spark compliments, but they also won’t start a scene at the party like wearing head-to-toe maroon probably will. I keep a pair of black patent courts strictly for wearing with my maroon midi from Whistles for occasions that have even the slightest hint of needing to be on the formal side; work dinner, client lunch, my cousin’s engagement party last summer. They balance the dress without trying to out-do it. It doesn’t matter how deep or rich your shade of maroon is, it has enough tonal depth that it doesn’t need shoes shouting over it to be noticed.
Where I went wrong with black for two years? Thinking that any old black shoe would work. They won’t. Pairing a scuffed black ballet flat with your favourite maroon dress will make you look like you got dressed in the basement with only half your clothes and gave up halfway through. Stick to shoes with either some shine (patent) or structure to them. A leather boot, a heel with a block or skinny shape works best where I fell into this trap? When I showed up to a wake last winter wearing a very tired pair of black suede flats. Flat black shoes can undo all the richness of a shade like maroon if they don’t have some presence of their own. Trust me. My flats at that wake looked like something my Nan would’ve worn. Not the look you’re going for, not even for a funeral.
Black ankle boots are where I’ve found the most success with my maroon dress this winter. Chunky heel or flat, a rounded toe works better than anything pointy. I’ve been living in a pair with my favourite maroon knit dress from Sézane that I bought in yes, 2021, and refuse to let retire any time soon. When my friend Callum, who will notice anything I wear 25% of the time at maximum, said “that looks like you tried” thank you very much Callum, I know black wins purely because your maroon dress wins. It’s bright enough of a colour that it doesn’t need anything competing for attention on your feet.
Metallic Gold and Bronze Shoes for When You Want Your Dress to Feel Fancy
I spent years refusing to wear gold shoes because I thought it was a “New Years only” trend. Fun fact: no one told me that. I made that rule up and then for years put shoes into that stupid category and ignored them all summer long. Don’t make my mistakes. Metallic gold shoes with a maroon dress work. Not gold, shimmering lemon? You get the idea. Bronze and gold function differently with red family colours than black does. Instead of grounding the look, they elevate it. Maroon is already a darker, richer colour, but it has quite a bit of red and brown underneath that the right shoe can bring to the surface. A pair of bronze strappy sandals or gold block heels will draw that warmth out rather than dunking your whole outfit into something a little funeral-esque.
I love a pair of bronze block heels I picked up from Office before a wedding in Kent. They were actually my fourth pair of shoes that day. I’d left it until the Thursday before an Saturday wedding to buy shoes and had struck out with two white pairs (too bridal), beige (too old lady) and blue suede (you get the idea) before these rescued me. But with my trust maroon slip dress, they looked expensive. Coordinated. Like I’d bought them as a set instead of everything fromrent, excuse me, whenever. If.
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My initial mistake with gold shoes and bright metallic was going too shiny, too gold tone, too look-at-my-feet with a dress that was already quite floaty and flowing. A sparkly gold heel loses its wow factor when paired with a dress that’s already got movement for days. Go matte with your metallics. Bronze is much softer than gold and reads warmer and closer to a neutral than an actual metallic, which works better if your dress has any shine factor at all. My sister Ellie borrowed my bronze heels to wear with her own maroon dress at a christening last month and text me afterwards saying “why did nobody tell me this before?”. Ellie, girl I told you before. Don’t @ me.
Nude and Blush Coloured Shoes that Actually Make Your Legs Look Longer
Another much-maligned shoe, the nude shoe just has the unfortunate aura of purchasing the wrong nude and giving up on ever getting shoes right ever again. I am guilty of the former. Bought a pair of nude shoes in 2018 that were basically plaster colour and matched them with a maroon dress. Looked like I had no shoes at all on. Just ankles that disappeared into flats under harsh light. Nude shoes only work if they’re close to your actual skin tone. Trust me, when they don’t match correctly they make your legs look smaller rather than continue your leg line. They’re the exact opposite of what you’re going for with a knee-length or midi maroon dress. I finally found a pair of nude shoes I actually like and will wear regularly post-maroon dress nightmare and they’re from Nine West. They have a very slight pinkish tone that actually suits my skin tone. Pairing them with the same maroon dress as before? Game changer. They seriously lengthen your legs. There’s no visual break to signal your ankle so your whole silhouette just flows longer, which with most midi and knee-length maroon dresses really does make a difference.
Think of blush as nude’s gentler cousin. It works wonders with maroon dresses that have any sort of lace detailing or delicate fabrics. I wore a blush kitten heel with a maroon lace sleeve dress to a wedding in Bath last summer and my friend’s mother text me afterwards saying “you look like you know what you’re doing”. Want to know what she meant by that? All the shoes. I felt like I knew what I was doing. Nude and blush are easy. They won’t get you compliments from people who actually pay attention, but they also won’t do anything to harm your outfit. Both are seam sneaky workhorses that will link your top and bottom half together without distracting from your dress. They’re perfect for when you want your dress to be the centre of attention.
Tonal Oxblood and Burgundy Shoes, Done Right This Time
Like I said up top, I gave up on wearing shoes in the same colour family as my dress for about two years after the ‘full curtain’ incident. I think it deserves quotes because Priya actually said those words. Terrified I’d ruin some part of my life I loved by approaching colour wrong, I boycotted shoes in anything but black, white, blue and grey with maroon dresses. Then I realised, Priya was right but I was wrong. Tonal shoes don’t have to match exactly. They just…. can’t when you wear maroon.
Look, the problem wasn’t pairing similar colours, it was trying to match identical colours. Same fabric weight, same exact shade, same finish. It all has to match or it falls apart. Literally. I looked like I melted into my own dress that night. Instead, play around with contrast inside the same colour scheme. A deep oxblood boot with a brighter, berry maroon dress. Or my favourite suede burgundy heels with a maroon dress that’s more cotton than satin. If you mix textures and different takes on the same colour, it doesn’t look like one big blob of you dissolving into a dress, it actually looks… put together? I paired a pair of oxblood patent loafers with a brighter, cranberry leaning maroon dress and blazer to a Sunday lunch that turned into a big networking situation unexpectedly and got told I had “good taste in colours” by someone I hadn’t met before all night. If that’s not endorsement, I don’t know what is.
Unexpected Colour Shoes that You Won’t Believe Work but Actually Do
Finally! The section you’ve all been scrolling to so you can Google pictures of “what colour shoes should I wear with a maroon dress” at 11pm the night before you have to wear yours. Ask your friends and family as nicely as possible not to wear identical shoes, you’re going bright green. Emerald green and maroon are not natural partners in the traditional sense, but that doesn’t mean they won’t slay together. As with metallic shoes, brighter colours like forest green and mar add an actual contrast to maroon that navy and black simply can’t because they’re ALSO blue-grey colours. Emerald shoes with a maroon dress also has that bonus of being an unexpected pairing that no one will expect but everyone will subconsciously notice.
I rocked up to my friend’s fortieth in Manchester in emerald green heels and a maroon wrap dress and felt convinced the entire time someone was going to come up to me and ask how I “fessed up to wearing green and red together. No one did. It went completely down. I only wore them because our friend Jodie said “I wouldn’t have thought of that but I like it” and if that’s not the highest compliment from someone who will happily pass comment on your outfit if she doesn’t like it, I don’t know what is.
Because navy’s on the opposite end of the colour wheel to green, it works in a far more subtle way. Pairing navy suede court shoes with a maroon dress actually feels dressier than black but not quite as in-your-face as say, green or yellow. It’s the white girl alternative to brighter tones when you want something against maroon that reads put-together without trying too hard. That said, steer clear of navy with more casual fabrics. Cotton jersey feels far too casual against suede court shoes and just looks cheap, like you got dressed in the wrong house. Trust me, I tried that combo once and spent all night Google Lensing myself to see how my dress matched my shoes.
[Unexpected Colour Shoes]
Final Thoughts
Had you asked me this exact question four years ago, feet still damp from being toilet dunked at the Leeds restaurant, I would have laughed and said “any colour, it’s all just red anyway”. Ugh, I cringe thinking I was that confidently misinformed about something. It does matter. Ask anyone who’s seen my hallway. It does, Priya. Ask her. All of those shoes are because of you. Speaking of which, let’s all raise a glass to Priya. Here’s hoping your curtains aren’t red. Although black might be safer.
So let me answer that question I started this whole debacle with.
What shoes go with a maroon dress? Black for when you need to 110% know it’ll work and not stress about it. Bronze or gold to make your dress feel extra luxe. Nude to make your legs feel longer. Tonal shoes that aren’t TOO similar in shade and finish to your dress to feel like you’ve mastered heads and didn’t just dive into your wardrobe and grab something. Green or navy if you’re bored of playing it safe and want someone at the party to DOUBLE TAKE your feet. Pick a colour that fits your mood and the dress, not the other way around. I promise it’ll be worth the extra thought.
