Sneaker Style: What to Wear for Fall 2017

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For Fall 2017, you’ve got to be bold to be beautiful. The season’s fashions for clothing and footwear incorporate traditional materials like leather with unusual colors like neon yellow. For men and women alike, sneakers this season put the fun in functional. This article will discuss some of the trends for this season’s footwear and help you choose the right style for your look.

Women’s Styles

Women’s styles this fall aim to catch the eye with interesting textures, brazen color combinations and traditional patterns and materials given a fresh turn.

Sneaker stores around the country are stocking shoes that dress up or down, blurring the lines between casual and formal with wedge-heeled sneakers that work as well at the office as they do hanging with the girls. Wedges are on fire for fall 2013, showing up on boots, espadrilles and sneakers. Pair jacked-up denim sneakers with a swishy skirt, or brown suede wedge sneakers with your favorite jeans.

Monochrome looks are hot now, and not just in the traditional fall colors of brown, black and beige. Monochrome sneakers are one tone for all parts of the shoe, including the soles and laces. Emerald green, jewel-tone blue, and slate-colored sneakers look perfect with a long, patterned skirt and matching cropped jacket. While the weather’s still fine, short shorts or mini-minis with same-hue sneakers aren’t too matchy-matchy.

Hate being cold? This season’s boxy outerwear provides warmth and a killer look. But to balance the big shoulders and extra length, you’ll need shoes that complement without distracting. Wedges might work, if they’re slim-lined enough, though remixed classic sneakers with simple lines and a thinner sole will probably balance out your profile better while giving you more versatility in combinations.

If you’ve got a closet needing a splash of color or texture, patterned sneakers are an easy way to update your look in one shopping trip. Camouflage-patterned sneakers, especially wedges, are fun without being flirty, and plaid patterns seem to have made their way to all corners of the wardrobe this season.

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Men’s Styles

Sneakers for men in Fall 2013 bring catwalk materials and colors to everyday footwear. Leather is a hot choice for men and boy’s sneakers, especially in black or dark colors, and lets your sneakers edge over to business casual. Shiny, patent leather makes a statement, but more complex textures and suede mix patterns are also available. Go for an edgier style with leather sneakers with chrome studs on the toe and heel.

Where women’s sneakers found height in wedges, men’s sneakers are aiming for the ankle with high-top and mid-height sneakers. The high tops offered by this season’s designers are bold with blocking in hot colors like red and orange, and often with soles in colors that contrast with the upper part of the shoe.

Men’s sneakers this autumn come accented with highlights in an array of nontraditional colors like mint green, neon orange, lemon yellow and purple, though the main body color of the shoes are often toned-down grays, browns and creams. Fun and surprising combinations like beige uppers with neon yellow soles and stripes will get the most attention this season. Red continues to be a popular sneaker color this fall, while metallic monochrome sneakers — for example, gold, silver and bronze — let your toes twinkle below the hem of your jeans.

The trend of patterned, lace-less slip-on sneakers worn with jeans or casual pant continues, with black and white checks or plaid remaining a solid choice. Other patterns, especially splashes, slashes and drips of primary colors on a solid background, brighten up sneakers of all sorts — from athletic-style sneaks to slip-ons and high-tops.

Boat shoes continue to be popular and the style edges into the sneaker arena with designs incorporating matching soles and laces and contrasting uppers. The wearing of light-colored shoes with dark laces has made its mark in cities across the U.S. Try dark brown laces with cream-colored canvas sneakers, or black laces on orange, red or green athletic-style sneakers.

Black wedge sneakers from Flickr’s Creative Commons by Idhren

About the Author: Jill Rahm is a street-fashion photographer with a special love for footwear. She enjoys documenting street styles in both her native Chicago and other cities around the United States.