Wide leg trousers and jeans are a timeless wardrobe staple. Choosing the right shoes can make wide leg pants super versatile since shoes change how pants look and feel. So, let’s discuss what shoes to wear with wide leg trousers and jeans.
What Shoes To Wear With Wide Leg Trousers
The right shoes can make your outfit feel polished and balanced. Some shoes elongate your legs and create a clean, intentional silhouette while others make your outfit feel casual chic. You can create wide leg trouser outfits that feel intentional by focusing on how your shoes look with your pants.
What Are Wide Leg Trousers
Wide leg trousers are typically designed with a loose, straight fit from the waist or the hips down to the hem. They create a wide silhouette throughout the leg, and can range from structured, tailored styles to soft, flowy styles. Wide leg trousers are work appropriate and wide leg jeans can also be a good work option depending on your office dress code. I love this pair for work since they are a dark wash that more closely resemble trousers.
What Shoes Do You Wear With Wide Leg Trousers
There are so many good shoes to wear with wide leg trousers and jeans! It all depends on where you’re going and your own personal style. I rely a lot on ballet flats, slingbacks, sandals, and low profile sneakers. But, I also keep a pair of block heel sandals that I can wear with the wide leg jeans in my closet!
Ballet flats
Ballet flats are a safe and chic go-to option for work or the weekend. You can wear ballet flats with most any style of wide leg pants, whether you’re wearing palazzo pants or wide leg jeans. I love how they elevate your outfit instantly. Go for a ballet flat with an almond toe shape or even a pointed toe to help elongate your legs with these pants. These woven flats are the most similar to the pair I’m wearing below.
Slingback shoes for transitional seasons
Slingbacks are the perfect shoe to wear with any type of wide leg pants. I love dressing up wide leg jeans with slingbacks with a practical heel. I love these square toe slingbacks for spring, summer, and fall – they’re comfortable but also work appropriate. So, you can wear them for work or the weekend.
These are the slingbacks I’m wearing – they look like a slightly different brown this year.
Low Profile Sneakers
Low profile sneakers are the best sneaker option to wear with wide leg pants. I wore them here for a busy day of errands with my family. These satin style pants are perfectly cropped to wear with this style of low profile sneakers. I would wear this exact outfit on a long travel day too.
This style of shoe won’t add extra bulk to your outfit. I’m wearing my go-to pair, and they come in tons of color options. They’re comfortable and such a good price (they were gifted to me but I’ve worn them a ton and love them). I highly, highly recommend them.
Loafers
Loafers are a classic shoe you’ll have in your closet forever, whether you choose a plain leather pair of something a little more funky like croc loafers. In general, loafers happen to be perfect to wear with cropped wide leg jeans. In fact, you can wear them all year with sock tights. It’s one of my favorite ways to style loafers in the fall, winter, and early spring – like I am below.
Sandals
Sandals are an obvious choice for warm weather. These are my most worn sandals. They look so good with these linen wide leg pants too.
You can easily transform this outfit into a work outfit by tucking in your shirt and wearing slingbacks.
Mary Janes
These raffia Mary Janes are perfect for summer. I loved wearing them throughout our beach trip, including for long travel days. I also wore them on the actual beach and they held up perfectly. While I love how they look with linen trousers or comfortable cotton pants, these will also look nice with slightly cropped wide leg jeans. They’ll bring a little bit of edge to your outfit.
Wide leg linen trousers are everywhere right now. They’re comfortable and easy to style for spring, summer, and even the fall. They also happen to look good with lots of different types of shoes, from Mary Janes to sandals. This is the exact pair of shoes I’m wearing.
Click here to shop this entire outfit.
Mules
While I’m wearing raffia ballet flats in this photo, I found a pair of raffia mules that are absolutely perfect to wear with wide leg pants throughout the warm seasons. I’ve been eyeing them for myself because I absolutely love Margaux shoes.
Mesh Shoes
Mesh shoes are another great option for summer and other warm days. I love how they give you a little more protection than sandals when you’re walking around a city, and they’re typically more comfortable.
A Few More Thoughts on How To Style Wide Leg Trousers With Shoes
Choose Shoes Based On Trouser Length
Sometimes, cropped trousers and full length trousers look good with different shoes. For example, cropped trousers look good with mules since they are a lower profile shoes. They won’t overwhelm your outfit. Mary janes also look nice with slightly cropped wide leg pants so you can see the strap across the foot. Full length trousers look better with a ballet flat or sandals. However, slingbacks look great with both lengths.
If you want more outfits and tips for wide leg jeans, check out my post on wide leg jeans outfit ideas.
Sandals With A Heel Are Perfect for Long Jeans
Wide leg jeans that are full length can still look good on you even if you’re short. They look really chic with sandals with a heel – even if it’s a practical block heel or a kitten heel, which is what I’m wearing here.
Match Your Shoes To Your Occasion
This feels like an obvious tip, but it’s important to match your shoes to your occasion. For example, for work in business casual offices, shoes like slingbacks, ballet flats, loafers, and block heels are appropriate and practical. For casual wear, low profile sneakers, flats, and espadrilles are all go-to options. For evening, I’d go for pointed toe pumps or kitten heels.
If you are looking for more tips on wide leg pants, I’ve written an entire blog post on how to wear wide leg pants. And, be sure to sign up for my newsletter for more style and travel tips. Thanks so much for being here!
