Running shoes are mainly for, you guessed it, running. They’re there to offer support so you don’t injure yourself while you’re running and most people buy them as a practical item of clothing to use when they’re working out. But running shoes can actually be a great fashion choice if you know how to style them properly. Wearing running shoes outside as a fashion item can be risky and if you get it wrong, it can ruin a great outfit, but get it right and it can give you a fresh new look to work with. One of the best ways to wear running shoes is with a jeans and t-shirt combo. It’s the ideal casual outfit if you’re going to be on your feet all day and it’s ideal for traveling, especially if you’re picking outfits for a city break because you’ll look great but you’ll also be comfortable if you’re walking around all day. If you haven’t tried styling your running shoes with a jeans and t-shirt combo yet, here are a few tips to help you get it right.
Get Some New Running Shoes
First off, you don’t want to be wearing the same pair of running shoes that you use for exercising. They’re going to be well worn if you’re running in them regularly and that’s just going to make your outfit look scruffy, so you need to get some new ones for casual wear. You can also get some more interesting ones with better patterns and colors on them, like asics shoes, for example. They come in a lot of different styles and they’re a lot more interesting than a boring white running shoe. Just remember that you don’t want to go overboard and get something too loud, otherwise, the shoes will stick out like a sore thumb and could ruin the outfit.
Show Your Ankles
This is the most important rule when you’re wearing running shoes with jeans because you want to show them off. If your jeans come all the way down, you’re not showing off the shoe and it makes it look like you just chucked a pair of running shoes on in a rush and it wasn’t a deliberate fashion choice. If you just cuff your jeans or cut them off so you’ve got a few inches of ankle between the shoes and the bottom of your jeans, it looks a lot better.
Don’t Wear Socks… or look like you aren’t
Socks don’t look right when you’re wearing running shoes with jeans, so it’s best to just go without. But if the shoes aren’t that comfortable around the ankle or you just don’t like going without socks, you need to get some small trainer socks that will be well hidden. If you’ve got high socks with a cuffed pair of jeans on, it doesn’t look good. I’m a huge fan of Vans’ no-show socks myself. They actually stay up to protect my heel, but you can’t see them!
Be Careful With Light Jeans
Light jeans are ok to pair with running shoes, but only the right pair of running shoes. When you’re wearing darker jeans, you can get away with wearing something that has a bit of a bold design on. They’ll still stand out but they blend better with the rest of the outfit. However, when you’re wearing a pair of light jeans or even white ones, they highlight the shoes even more. If the shoes are too brightly colored or the patterns are too bold, it can look like separate parts of two different outfits that have been smashed together, rather than one coherent look. If you are going to wear lighter jeans with running shoes, make sure to go for something with a plain design in a fairly neutral color.
Dresses And Skirts
As well as the jeans and t-shirt combo, you can also wear running shoes with dresses and skirts, but you’ve got to be careful. When it comes to dresses, you can’t match anything too formal with running shoes because it will just look out of place. Things like summer dresses are ideal for matching with trainers, just make that you pick a fairly plain pair if your dress has a lot of bright colors and heavy patterns on. The length is important as well, especially when it comes to skirts. As a general rule, it doesn’t really work if you have a floor length skirt with a pair of running shoes, you should only match them with a knee length skirt most of the time.
Running shoes can work really well when paired with jeans or a dress, but it can easily go wrong so experiment with some different styles and find one that works for you.
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