Wondering what kind of shoes to wear with a lace wedding gown? I have been doing similar research for my own wedding and here’s what I’ve found out.
To find the perfect shoes to wear with your lace wedding dress, try to follow these guidelines:
1. Choose shoes with smooth material that won’t rip your dress.
2. For color, find a shoe that matches an approximation of your skin tone. This looks really beautiful and classy with lace.
3. For choosing the height of the shoes, it’s going to depend on the length of the dress, wedding venue, and the personality of the bride.
4. Keep it simple. Your lace dress is “show-stopper” enough.
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Near the end of this post, I’ll also talk about what color shoes are best to wear with an ivory lace wedding dress, something that is also difficult to figure out!
1. Choose shoes with smooth materials and fabrics
Avoid buying shoes with jewels, studs, glitter, clasps, or buckles that could easily rip the delicate fabric of your lace dress. Some brides like big gems, bows, or buckles on their shoes but you’re tempting fate wearing these with a long lace dress.
You don’t want to trip your way down the aisle because your dress caught a shoe buckle, or hear that horrible scraping sound every time you take a step and the glitter on your shoes rubs against your dress.
Instead, choose a smooth fabric such as leather or suede, without any outer decorations. A good style for this might be a classic pump or ballerina flat (found on Amazon, if you don’t want to wear heels). The smoothness of the shoe also allows the eye to stay focused on the complexity of the lace dress, without taking away from its beauty.
Sandals look beautiful but the problem is the buckle on the straps. If you’re able to find a pair of sandals without a buckle, such as slip ons, go for it. Or if your dress is short and you don’t have to worry about the buckle catching the train, you’ll be fine.
2. For color, find a shoe that matches an approximation of your skin tone
Either a neutral color (like black, white, or brown) or even better – a color that is around the same as your skin tone – looks really beautiful and classy with lace.
This is because a skin-tone shoe doesn’t distract from the beauty of your intricate lace dress and allows the dress to shine on its own. Think of it like a classy way of being barefoot.
If you can be actually barefoot (like, if you’re having a beach wedding for instance), that would also work for a lace wedding dress! It’s so beautiful on its own that you don’t even need shoes! 🙂
3. For height of the shoes, it depends on the length of the dress, wedding venue, and the personality of the bride
Length of the dress
If you’re wearing a short lace wedding dress, you have a bit more freedom as to what will look good with it. Many different kinds of shoes look great with short lace dresses, so try on some different options.
But try to stick with a solid color at least, preferably a neutral, but something like a royal blue could be awesome. Something solid avoids the look getting “too busy” and taking away from the lace.
Wedding venue
The wedding venue will also limit your shoe choices, at least if you want comfort. Don’t opt for stilettos if you’re having a garden or beach wedding, obviously. Sandals might be ideal for an outdoor wedding, but again – having sandals with buckles can be dangerous for your long lace dress!
Personality and preferences of the bride
Finally, it’s important to honor and stay true to your personality. Lace dresses come in all different forms. They can be long and intricate, in which case a classic pump might work best. They can be short and sweet, which might suit a ballerina flat. They can be short and funky, in which case a fun wedge or bold statement shoe such as these found on Amazon (single color preferably) might do best.
Some brides love high heels and feel comfortable in them. If that’s the case for you, go for it. Lace dresses and high heels work well together. Consider having a back up pair of ballerina flats for the reception in case your feet start to hurt or get tired.
If you’re not super comfortable in heels (like me), you might prefer to wear smooth ballerina flats, such as this pair on Amazon, with your dress. Also think about neutral wedges, which can add a really cool edge to a lace wedding dress (especially a short dress).
4. Keep it simple – Your lace dress is “show-stopper” enough
Just to reiterate: You don’t need really busy, patterned, colorful shoes for a lace wedding dress and they actually serve to make your dress less impactful. When it comes to choosing shoes to wear with a lace wedding gown, less is more! KEEP IT SIMPLE!
If you’re interested in exploring neutral heels like the ones discussed and pictured in this article, you can check out Nine West nude heel prices on Amazon.
Colors to wear with an ivory lace dress
For some reason an ivory dress specifically can be hard to match shoes for. I don’t know why because honestly, ivory lace matches everything.
Maybe that’s the problem: there are too many choices.
I would say that the above style guidelines still apply for ivory but that we can go into a bit more depth in terms of what colors work well.
If you can find a gold pair of shoes such as this pair on Amazon, that isn’t a rough-glittery that will rub your dress and catch on it, gold looks amaaaziing with ivory. Gold sandals or pumps really elevate the look of an already beautiful ivory lace wedding dress.
Dark colors look really gorgeous in contrast with ivory, such as navy blue, dark green, and deep burgundy. They create this super classy aesthetic that just oozes maturity and sexiness I think.
It’s a totally different look but pastel colors also look really beautiful with ivory, such as light blue or light pink. My cousin Casey said once to me that she hates pastel colors because “they aren’t living up to their full potential” which still makes me laugh, and I think about it way more than is normal… BUT after all these years, it hasn’t changed my mind. Pastel is pretty and classic!
