Leather colour is often a specific and important criteria when looking to buy new dress shoes. Whilst some require the formality of black shoes, others will will prefer a more versatile brown.
Therefore, we’ve tested and reviewed dozens of dress shoes and used these experiences to put together Best Brown Dress Shoes For Men.:
- Classic Brogue: Allen Edmonds Strandmok
- Blind Brogue: Wolf & Shepherd Senna
- Monkstrap: Johnston & Murphy Fielden
- Derby Shoe: Vince Camuto Hasper
- Wholecut Shoe: Magnanni Montay
- Stylish Brogue: Carlos By Carlos Santana
See anything you like? Use the links above to jump ahead or scroll down to read about them all. We’ll also cover the advantages of brown shoes and why you may consider them over black leather.
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- Style: Brogues
- Formality: Varies
- Pricing: $345 [Buy From Allen Edmonds]
Overview
One of our favourite brogue shoes to date, the Strandmoks from Allen Edmonds exude style and artisanal American craftsmanship. With a Goodyear welt and Dainite soles, they offer both comfort and quality too.
How To Wear
Extremely versatile, these brogues are easier to wear than most in more casual environments. However, they’re also great with tweed business suits for a more rustic look. Nevertheless, they can’t be beaten with chinos and a buttoned down dress shirt.
Alternative Colors
The Strandmoks are only made and sold in brown. However, it’s a stunning colour and our first pick thanks to its distressed calfskin leather, tan welt and rust red Dainite soles. This level of complexity makes them very easier to wear in many different settings.
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- Style: Blind Brogues
- Formality: Business Professional
- Pricing: $365 [Buy From Wolf & Shepherd]
Overview
Looking for an exceptionally comfortable brown dress shoe? Wolf & Shepherd have caused a sensational buzz thanks to their creations. Inspired by athletic shoes, they feature characteristics such as a carbon fibre shank, EVA heel and memory foam footbed.
How To Wear
Unlike the brogues above, these are blind brogues, which means that they don’t have a toe medallion. This renders them somewhat more formal, which means that they’re easier to wear with a business suit.
Alternative Colors
Outside of the mid-brown maple leather, we also highly rate the honey tan. However, whilst there is also a black leather option, we’d recommend that you’d instead opt for the Oxford shoes as they’re more appropriate in this colour.
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- Style: Monkstrap
- Formality: Business Professional
- Pricing: $399 [Buy From Johnston & Murphy]
Overview
Although Johnston & Murphy usually dominates the mid-priced market, they also offer excellent premium shoes. We love their Handcrafted In Italy collection in which you’ll find their Fielden monkstraps.
How To Wear
With a hand-stained and burnished brown leather, these mesmerising monkstraps are a great business casual shoe that can be worn with jeans and a dress shirt. However, we’d also rate them as a fantastic laid-back dress shoe with a business suit.
Alternative Colors
Although we have a particular preference for the cognac brown leather, which has the hand-stained and burnished finish, the black monkstraps are a great formal alternative.
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- Style: Blucher / Derby
- Formality: Business Casual
- Pricing: 180 [Buy Now On Zappos]
Overview
As far as brown dress shoes are concerned, you can’t beat the timeless style of a well-made pair of Derby shoes. Featuring an open-laced throat as opposed to the Oxford’s closed-lace system, they’re a lot more laid back. These Portuguese-made derbies are a great specimen of the style.
How To Wear
Although you can indeed wear these comfortable with more business casual styles, we’re particularly fond of them with a dressed-down business suit that features more natural and earthy tones.
Alternative Colors
Although we have a preference for the mid-brown cognac featured in the photo above, there’s also a brown option that looks pretty good. However, the brown gets our vote thanks to the burnished finish. Meanwhile, there is a black shoe but we find that it doesn’t suit the style quite as well.
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- Style: Wholecut Shoes
- Formality: Business Professional
- Pricing: $435 [Buy Now On Zappos]
Overview
If you’re looking for a classic wholecut shoe, Magnanni offer these beautiful Italian-style specimens. Handmade in Spain, their soft calfskin leather looks and feels great for a truly Continental look.
How To Wear
In brown, these are remarkably casual yet versatile shoes. They exude a laissez-faire attitude but retain an element of smartness that makes them look and feel great in a business suit. However, you can also wear them with smart casual attire such as with chinos or jeans and a shirt.
Alternative Colors
We’re particularly fond of the mesmerising tones of the tobaco brown patina. However, they’re also available in black. Bear in mind, however, that the black wholecut style is much more formal and gives off an altogether different vibe.
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- Style: Brogues
- Formality: Business Professional
- Pricing: $299 [Buy On Official Site]
Overview
Inspired by Latin styles, this unique quarter brogue offers a unique take on the British classic. With a taller stacked heel are curvaceous toe, they’re particularly stylish for those who don’t want to subscribe to a more conventional and traditional shoe. Additionally, they feature a Goodyear welt and are made in Spain.
How To Wear
Thanks to the quarter brogue design, these shoes feature just as much flair with a tad less ornamentation. Stunning with a suit, they’re also great as business casual footwear, which exudes style and virility.
Alternative Colors
We’re particularly fond of the tan full-grain leather as they feel much more in-line with the design’s original intentions. However, there’s also a black option if you’re so inclined.
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Why Wear Brown Dress Shoes?
Contrarily to black dress shoes, brown leather is often a personal choice and is rarely specifically required when adhering to a dress code.
Whilst black dress shoes are very formal in both style and appearance, brown shoes tend to fluctuate in their formality according to both the style of your dress as well as their design.
Therefore, brown shoes are great to own as something that can be thrown on whenever you feel they’re appropriate. They’re also great as a casual alternative to traditional dress shoes.
After all, they can also be worn with a suit depending on their style. However, since they’re less formal than black shoes, it’s important to keep in mind the context of the occasion.
Finally, brown leather is something that can be found on a plethora of shoes, which can greatly vary in their own level of formality. For instance, they’re the most popular colour for the various types of loafers as well as driving and boat shoes. However, these aren’t traditionally dress shoes.
Brown Dress Shoe Style Formality
Therefore, if you’re looking specifically for dress shoes that happen to be brown, it’s important to bear in mind their particular style. Both colour and shoe design play an important role in deciding the shoe’s formality.
As such, shoes that just happen to be brown won’t necessarily be casual. Conversely, brown shoes that have a dressy style, won’t always be formal. Let’s take a look a typical dress shoe styles and their level of formality:
Casual Dress Shoe Styles
Of course, not all dress shoe styles are strictly casual or formal and there are a lot of factors that come into play. However, here’s a non-exhaustive scale from formal to casual to give you an idea:
- Oxford Shoes: Although they’re traditionally black, brown Oxford shoes aren’t unheard of. However, some circles consider them to be a sartorial contradiction as they should traditionally be a black, formal shoe.
- Brogue Shoes: Featuring a closed-throat lacing system like Oxfords, Brogue shoes are among the most formal brown dress shoes. This is largely thanks to their traditional ornamentation.
- Monkstrap Shoes:Although a very formal shoe style in black, monkstraps become remarkably casual when brown. However, they’re still versatile and suit both suits and casual attire.
- Wholecut Shoes: Like Monkstraps, wholecut shoes are formal when black but become much more casual when brown. Nevertheless, they’re still versatile and can be worn either casually or with a business casual suit.
- Derby Shoes: Also known as Bluchers, Derby Shoes are the most formal casual dress shoe style. Often confused with Oxfords, they feature an open rather than closed-throat lacing system.
Bear in mind that there isn’t one single type of brogue shoe style. In fact, there exist a number of variants such as Longwings and saddle shoes. As they’re less steeped in tradition, they’re often perceived as a more casual alternative, which find themselves between monkstraps and derby shoes.
What Next?
Having now read about the best brown dress shoes for men, consider exploring our related shoe content:
- Best Black Dress Shoes For Men
- Most Comfortable Dress Shoes For Men
- Best Dress Shoes Under $300
- Best Dress Shoes Under $500
- Bespoke Unit Shoe Homepage
"Some great shoe styles. Love the brown shoes listed in this guide."Rating: 5.0 ★★★★★
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