Thursday, May 9

What to Wear to Work With Your Sneakers


You can totally get away with it and rock it. Here’s how to wear sneakers to work so you’ll feel comfortable, stylish, and confident all day.

If you want to make a great impression at the workplace, you’ve got to look the part.

But if you like wearing sneakers, you’ll often find it challenging to stand out at work.

For much of corporate America’s history, wearing sneakers in office was unthinkable.

While it’s still a conservative environment, more workplaces allow employees to express themselves. Now, you can find a way to incorporate sneakers into your outfit.

Read on to learn how to wear sneakers to work.

Find a Great Brand

While sneaker brands are a dime a dozen, you must know they aren’t all equal.

You want to focus first on sneaker brands that offer a minimalist look. Brands such as Nike and Adidas offer this. This is because you’ll want your sneakers to complement your outfit.

In most cases, you don’t want your sneakers to contrast starkly with the rest of your clothes.

All-white or all-black Air Force Ones by Nike is often a great choice. But an even better choice is the classic Adidas sneakers, which remain popular today.

You can shop Adidas brand shoes online to find a great collection of sneakers from this timeless brand.

Now let’s look at some styling options that work with sneakers.

Sneakers With a Suit

Most likely, you’ll have to wear a suit to work regularly. This is when most of us hang up our sneakers and trade them for dress shoes.

But there are still ways for your sneakers to suit this outfit. Let’s say you’re wearing a black or navy blue suit. With this option, you want to stick to all-white sneakers.

But what if you’re wearing a lighter suit? How do you match sneakers with a brown or beige suit?

White sneakers also work well with these suits. But with these suits, you can add a subtle design to your sneakers.

For example, the Adidas Three-Stripe sneakers work well with lighter suits. Choose a darker color that contrasts with the light color of the suit.

Rather than yellow stripes, for instance, choose black stripes.

Sneakers With a Dress

Dresses are perhaps the most stylish and classy option for the workplace. But because dresses are often associated with formality, they’re not often worn with sneakers.

But there are ways for you to complement your dress with sneakers. First, you have to consider the color of your dress. White sneakers work with any color of the dress.

But should your sneakers have any design? In most cases, you should wear plain sneakers.

However, you can wear sneakers with a few subtle colors. This is ideal if you’re wearing a dress with a pattern.

Sneakers With a Skirt

Often, it’s hard to find the right shoes to wear with a skirt. Heels and flats are often interchangeable, while sneakers look out of place.

At least, that’s the notion that’s been long-held! But many different sneaker combinations work well with skirts.

With skirts, you want to wear low-rise sneakers. High-rise sneakers distract from the overall outfit. The sneakers should contrast with your skirt if they’re a different color from your top.

For example, if you’re wearing a white top and a red skirt, you should wear white sneakers. If you wear red sneakers, it will be too distracting even though it matches your skirt!

Suppose your top and skirt are the same color or from a similar color spectrum. You might wear a black skirt and a dark blue top. In this scenario, you want to wear sneakers that match the darker color.

In this example, you’d wear black sneakers to match the skirt. But if the colors were reversed, you’d wear black sneakers to match the top.

Sneakers to Match Designs

Now let’s look at how you can match your sneakers to your clothes’ designs.

You might like wearing plaid jackets if you’re wearing business casual attire. A work outfit with a t-shirt and a plaid jacket is one of the classic styles for warmer climates.

This is also where you can experiment the most with your sneakers. For this work outfit, you want your sneakers to match the bottom part of your outfit.

Let’s say you’re wearing khaki trousers. You want to wear lighter sneakers in this scenario. All-white or tan sneakers are a great option.

If you wear black trousers or a skirt, you can wear black or navy blue sneakers.

You can also wear platform sneakers with business casual attire. While the suit and sneakers look has to be subtle, this look doesn’t have to be.

With this look, you can contrast colors if you wish. If you’re wearing a green jacket, you can wear red sneakers. Not everyone will be able to pull off such a unique look.

But if you have the confidence to do so, you should do it! If your workplace allows business casual attire, they’ll likely allow greater experimentation.

This is also an excellent opportunity to wear canvas sneakers. These sneakers have the built-in athleticism of all sneakers.

However, these sneakers are set apart due to their design. They’re sneakers masquerading as walking shoes.

Best Practices on How to Wear Sneakers to Work

Let’s end with a few best practices for wearing sneakers at the workplace. Follow these so you never make a fashion faux pas:

  • Always check your company’s specific dress code requiring sneakers
  • Make sure your sneakers are always clean (casual doesn’t mean unclassy)
  • Never wear Velcro sneakers stick to laces

That’s it! Following these simple rules will make you stand out at your workplace.

See You at Work

Now you know how to wear sneakers to work and how to make an impression with your outfit.

As a general rule, you want your sneakers to complement your colors. Sometimes, you can contrast if you’re wearing business casual attire.

Make sure you wear minimalist designs from top brands in most cases. Only wear patterned sneakers if you’re wearing patterns in your outfit.

Ready to hit the runway? Check out our other fashion tips on our blog first.

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