Orange dresses and other bright-colored outfits are on the cutting edge of fashion right now. While not everyone’s brave enough to wear an orange dress (let alone different orange outfits), knowing what color shoes to wear with an orange dress is half the battle. If you can accessorize your orange dress with attractive shoes, jewelry, and other add-ons, you’ve already turned this otherwise-outlandish color into a fashion statement.
In this guide, we’ll teach you all about what color shoes to wear with an orange dress, as well as what environments specific ensembles might be appropriate for.
The Orange Dress
An orange dress is a statement in and of itself. While not every orange dress has to be an over-the-top statement, when we hear “orange dress,” that’s typically what we think of. Orange dresses can come in many more subtle shades, too, such as:
- Tangerine
- Peach
- Russet
- Amber
- Scarlet
Add those many shades to the other colors, patterns, and styles that orange dresses can come in, and you have a truly incredible lineup of dresses to choose from. While an orange dress isn’t appropriate for every occasion, it’s still incredibly versatile and fashion-forward.
What Color Shoes to Wear with an Orange Dress
Even though orange dresses can look a bit bright and overpowering sometimes, they’re versatile enough to match with several different colors of shoes. Since orange is closely related to brown, it goes exceptionally well with many earth-tones, but those aren’t all the colors that orange can match with. We’ll go over these matches in the sections below.
White Shoes with an Orange Dress
White shoes are a very versatile wardrobe option that goes with many dress colors, and orange is no exception. White shoes can complement virtually any shade of orange, especially lighter colors like peach. However, white pairs equally well with darker, more saturated colors, such as rust and amber.
While white shoes look excellent with an orange dress, be very careful not to add too many shades of white to your orange ensemble. If you pair too much orange and white together, you can end up looking a bit like a cream popsicle rather than a trendsetter.
Keep an eye out for patterns in orange dresses, too. Floral designs and prints, fun fruit themes, and even something as simple as gingham checks can make the difference between an overwhelming orange dress and a cute one. If your orange dress already works on an orange and white theme, don’t hesitate to go with white shoes, as these will play up the patterns in your dress exquisitely well.
Black Shoes with an Orange Dress
Believe it or not, orange dresses are one of the few colors that you need to be very cautious about wearing black with. Many people say that black goes with everything, but this isn’t always the case for orange! If you throw on an orange and black outfit without thinking about it, you may end up looking more like you’re getting ready for Halloween than an office party!
That’s not to say that all shades of orange can’t go with black. As long as your tone of orange is far enough from classic “Halloween” orange, you should be safe to wear black shoes. However, we still recommend adding in some other colors to your outfit, such as white, navy, or an earth-tone to distract from any Halloween influences.
If you do have a bright orange dress, you can sometimes get away with wearing black shoes if you keep other black accessories to a minimum. Avoid wearing black boots and a black cardigan with an orange dress, for example, as this could end up contrasting a bit too much.
Navy Shoes with an Orange Dress
If you’re wondering what color shoes to wear with an orange dress anytime, navy is your best bet! If you don’t think you can make black work with your orange dress, try wearing navy instead. This pairing looks so good because orange and blue are opposite each other on the color wheel, meaning that they’re complimentary colors.
While regular shades of blue can also look good with orange, especially for fun, casual outfits, pairing bright blue or turquoise with orange can be a bit too bright for some situations. Navy blue, on the other hand, is muted, but still complementary. It’s appropriate for any setting that an orange dress is also suitable for. Whether or not an orange dress is appropriate in the first place is up to you to decide, though.
While orange isn’t considered a traditional color for office wear, as long as you work in an environment that allows more bold color choices, it’s possible to make orange look very professional. This is especially true when you bring a pair of navy-blue shoes along for the ride to turn up that professionalism. While formal orange dresses are uncommon, navy shoes are more than capable of dressing those up, too.
In fact, navy shoes are appropriate for virtually any type of orange dress. Essentially, navy blue is the “black shoe” of orange dresses, insofar as it goes with almost any choice. Some examples include:
- Long, wavy tangerine dresses
- Short, yellow-orange cocktail dresses
- Skin-tight, russet sheath dresses
- Patterned orange evening gowns
- And more
Green Shoes with an Orange Dress
Green shoes are the most confusing option to pair with an orange dress. For some colors and pairings, wearing orange and green together can make you look like a pumpkin. However, for other shades, orange and green can come together to create an excellent earthy look. However, how are you to know which one is which?
For green, the general rule of thumb is to avoid saturation. Don’t wear green shoes with a bright, pure orange dress. Don’t wear bright green shoes with a dark orange dress, either. However, washed-out, sage-green shoes can work very well for a dark rusty brown dress, and similarly, lime-green shoes can work well for an upbeat yellow-orange look.
As always, the environment that you wear these pairings in is the key. Try not to wear lime-green and yellow-orange to a black-tie event, for example. In the same way, a natural, bohemian-themed russet dress will look too out-of-place at a professional function.
All in all, green shoes can work with an orange dress if you know how to style them properly. However, if you don’t feel confident, we recommend sticking to a more natural color, such as navy.
Read Also: What Color Shoes to Wear with a Blue Dress
Gold Shoes with an Orange Dress
Surprisingly, gold is another of the most versatile colors to pair with an orange dress. Gold integrates well with the deep tones of fall. It brings shine and glamour to orange dresses that they don’t inherently possess.
If you need to style up an orange dress for a formal event, gold shoes and accessories are the way to go. However, if you’re wearing your orange dress anywhere else, such as to work or a party, you may want to stay away from gold. While gold always looks good with orange, the two colors tend to look very formal when paired together.
Additionally, while gold works incredibly well with middle or dark shades of orange, it tends to wash out when paired with any orange-yellow shades. If you have an orange dress that ventures close to yellow territory, you may want to go with silver accessories that will stand out better instead.
Silver Shoes with an Orange Dress
When all else fails, and gold will not work, silver is another excellent go-to color. While it doesn’t match as well with orange as gold does, it balances out any yellow tones that your dress might possess. As a result, instead of washing out next to yellow-orange like gold would, silver brings out the colors further.
Silver will look acceptable with most other shades of orange, so it is wearable with your orange outfit if you prefer it. However, gold will look better with orange in virtually every situation (except for with a yellow-orange dress), so keep this in mind.
Silver is also a less formal color than gold. While silver is still semi-formal, especially with the addition of studs or gems, it’s also flirty, and plenty appropriate for parties and cocktail events. Gold, on the other hand, tends to be more formal and innocent than silver, so while it fits in at formal events, it’s not as well-suited to relaxed events.
Red Shoes with an Orange Dress
While red might not be one of the colors you first think of when accessorizing an orange dress, it actually does this job exceptionally well. Red shoes bring out the color in an orange dress without washing it out too much, and the two colors pair well together to invoke fiery tones.
However, just like with green, we recommend avoiding saturation: stay away from bright red with bright orange. Since these colors are often used together for fast food advertising, you may end up looking a bit cliché in a red and orange outfit.
As long as you avoid classic red, though, you have many other colors to choose from. Red doesn’t just come in red, after all. You can choose colors like:
- Wine-red
- Pinkish-red
- Rose
- Scarlet
- Black-red
Most any color red except for primary red is compatible with orange. Wine-red tends to go well with darker and medium-orange colors, while pink-red and rose tend to go well with light, patterned orange dresses.
Brown Shoes with an Orange Dress
Brown shoes are another fool-proof color to wear with an orange dress. Brown goes with most colors already, but since brown and orange are very close on the color wheel, they tend to go together very well. The one thing to remember with brown shoes is that you should always stay several shades off of your orange dress.
What do we mean by this? Put on your pair of brown shoes with your orange dress. If the boots appear to blend in with the dress at all, they’re too close in shade to wear with that dress. Your brown shoes should always be visually distinct from your orange dress, even if the dress itself isn’t long enough to reach your shoes.
Since brown is such a versatile color, it can go with any shade of orange, too. A light, tan-brown shoe pairs well with a dark, rust-colored dress. Similarly, darker, earth-colored shoes go well with medium and light-orange dresses.
Brown is an excellent shoe choice to go with an orange dress because of your other accessories, too. Other brown accessories, such as leather purses and handbags, leather jewelry, and other brown accessories all work exceptionally well with the ensemble.
Nude Shoes with an Orange Dress
Nude, like black and brown, is a color that goes with virtually anything. Of course, this means that tan, nude, and beige all go exceptionally well with orange, too. Since orange can be a very vibrant color, nude goes all the better with it. This is because nude tends to blend into the background of the wearer’s skin tone. In this way, they don’t detract from whatever color they’re paired with – they blend in instead.
Nude shoes are especially attractive to wear with dresses because they have an even more pronounced elongating effect on the leg. Since they (usually) blend in with your skin tone instead of contrasting with it, they give the illusion that the leg carries on into the shoe, especially when viewed from afar. While some people might not like this effect, especially if they’re looking to show off their shoes, it’s an undeniably compelling result.
Don’t forget that nude comes in several other colors, too. In addition to coming in different skin colors for different individuals, nude shoes also come in:
- Blush
- Beige
- Tan
- Khaki
- Taupe
- Cream
Patterned Shoes with an Orange Dress
Since orange is a very bright color, you’ll have to be careful when pairing it with patterns. However, some shades of orange can look good alongside floral designs, leopard print, and more. The tone of orange makes a huge difference, as does the busyness of the pattern itself.
If the dress you’ve already wearing contains a pattern, resist the urge to wear a patterned shoe with it. Instead, “pull out” one of the colors in the dress pattern, and use that color for your footwear. However, if your dress is unpatterned, you can use the same technique to wear patterned shoes with your dress.
If you’re wearing a dark russet-brown dress, for example, you may be able to pull off something like cheetah print with your shoes. If you’re wearing a peach dress, checkered peach shoes might be more appropriate.
Orange is a fun, vibrant color. As such, as long as you can find a way to make your patterns match with it instead of overwhelming it, you can create a beautiful, playful ensemble with the two of them together.
Purple Shoes with an Orange Dress
Believe it or not, purple shoes, like navy shoes, go incredibly well with orange dresses. However, purple shoes follow the same rules as red and green: try to avoid the brightest, most saturated version of the color. Instead, pair soft magentas, violets, and periwinkles with equally sweet peaches and tangerines. Dark, royal purples can work well with light orange dresses, too, in some situations.
Try not to pair dark orange dresses with dark purple shoes. While this look can work sometimes, it tends to be too much one-note “dark” for general use. Instead, stick to light or medium-tone oranges to go with your purple shoes. Don’t be afraid to experiment with other shades of purple, either, as violet, magenta, and periwinkle are all excellent shade pairings for orange dresses.
Pink Shoes with an Orange Dress
Pink shoes go surprisingly well with orange dresses, despite being so close to orange on the color wheel. However, pink shoes have more restrictions on them than many of our other shoe colors here do. For one, try not to wear pink with dark-colored orange dresses. Secondly, try to only wear pink shoes with orange dresses that already have a slight pink hue to them.
When we say “pink” in this section, we mean a light, rosy pink, not a flashy hot pink. While hot pink has its own time and place to shine, this place is not it. No matter how you use it, hot pink clashes horribly with the orange of any shade (unless the dress uses that color in a pattern successfully).
On the other hand, light, mild shades of pink also bring out softer shades of orange, leaving you with a more subdued, sweet-looking dress in the end. Pink shoes help an orange dress look more innocent, too.
In the end, accessorizing an orange dress correctly is about one of two things: subduing the orange, or bringing it out. Regardless of which technique you try to do, as long as you know the proper colors to use, you’ll be well on your way to showing off your favorite orange dress in no time.