Style Hacks: Choose the Best Fall Shoes to Wear with Jeans!

Can your shoes be ruining your outfits? Keep watching to find out. Hello everyone, it's me Serena. So glad to have you with me here today. You know, I think we've all done it. I know I have. You pick out an outfit and you think you've got, you know, a good looking outfit going on and you put it all together and look in the mirror and something just feels off. Well, a lot of the times it may be your shoes or more specifically the pairing of your shoes with your jeans or pants. And since we're going into jeans season and pants, I thought I would do this video. It's been much requested and that is how to pair the right shoes with the right style of jeans. And this also applies to any kind of pants. If it looks good with a boot cut pair of jeans, then it's going to look good with a boot cut pair of pants. So I'm just using jeans, but it applies no matter what kind of pants we're talking about. And while this is not a haul type video, I will have, you know, the sweater I'm wearing and all the different jeans and shoes and all that linked down in the description and in the YouTube shopping links. And for purposes of doing this video, I wanted to keep it pretty simple so you can focus on the jeans and the shoes. So throughout most of this video, I'm wearing this green sweater because it looks good with all different colors and shades of denim. This is a cotton blend sweater from J.Crew that I've picked up this fall. It's so pretty. I love this shade of green and it's just kind of a soft, cozy, oversized sweater. I did size down in it to an extra small. So if you're interested in the sweater, it does come in other colors, but it runs a little bit big and boxy. So if you want it to fit that way, get your normal size. If you want it to be a little bit more fitted like this one, just size down one. Okay, first let's talk about the jeans of the moment and that is wide leg jeans. So I know you're thinking jeans and a sweater that's cozy. You want something warm for your feet, right? So in this first look, I've styled the outfit with these Chelsea boots. Now these are some of my all-time favorite boots. I've had these for several years now. They're by Blondo. They're waterproof and they have a nice lug sole without being too thick and clunky. And the other nice thing about these is the toe. The toe is not a big, wide, rounded toe. It's this little, you know, more of a tapered toe. So it's more streamlined. They're very comfortable and accommodating for a nice, thick, cozy sock. And like I said, these are several years old, but I will find something very similar to link for you. So this outfit is okay. You know, there's not anything wrong with it, but I really feel like it could be better. There are some other styles of jeans that are going to go better with this style of booty. And there's some other shoes that are going to go better with these wide leg jeans. So let's try a couple of other styles. So I swapped out the Chelsea boot for a very trendy booty for this fall. And that is a suede pointed toe booty with a kitten heel. Now these are gorgeous. They're from Ann Taylor. I've been wanting like a cognac color pair of booties in suede, and I found these and they are real suede. And that little kitten heel is very doable, very walkable. It's only about an inch and a half, if that, or an inch and a quarter. And it's got that pointed toe that is going to elongate your leg. But with these jeans, this booty isn't quite tall enough for me. Now this is going to vary depending on your own height and inseam. So there is a lot of trial and error in this and trying on and trying different shoes and trying different jeans because we're all different. And yes, that does mean that I have so many jeans and it's because I may have a boot cut or a wide leg pair of jeans and three different inseams depending on what shoes I want to wear with them. And that's just the way it is if you want to get your look right. But back to these booties, they're really pretty. They do have that pointed toe peeking out, but on the front of the foot, there's too much of a break in the jeans. And what I mean by break is when the jean rests on the top of the foot and then that little crease it makes from the excess fabric. A little bit of a break is good, but this has too much of a break giving kind of a rumpled appearance of the jeans. And then in the back, the jeans are practically dragging the floor. And this is just a sloppy look. So we need something with a little bit more heel to make this outfit look its best. So for me, the shoes that worked the best with these particular jeans are these booties. These are from Walmart, but they could be from anywhere, but it's still got sort of a pointed toe. It's a little bit more almond shape. It's not super pointed and it's got a taller heel, but it is this block heel. So it gives some good height and this lifts up the leg of that jean the perfect amount. You still have that slight break in the front on top of the foot. And then in the back, the jean is lifted up off the floor. Now, when you're wearing full length jeans, whether they be bootcut jeans, straight leg jeans, wide leg jeans, you don't want the back of your jean to really be any higher than about an inch off the ground. If it's higher than an inch off the ground, then it starts looking a little bit high water. And I'll show you an example of that in a minute. And I'm not talking about cropped jeans. This is for full length jeans. So this was the sweet spot for me with these wide leg jeans. So here's another pair of full length jeans. This is a pair of bootcut. They're actually the Demi boot from J. Crew. So they don't have a real wide bootcut at the bottom, just a little bit of a flare out, just enough to accommodate a boot. But these are a little bit of a shorter inseam, and they are the perfect length for me to wear some flat shoes with. So in this first look, I am wearing these loafer mules with the jeans. And as far as the length goes, you know, the length of the jeans with these little shoes is perfect. It's not dragging the ground in the back or anything like that. But it's just not a streamlined look. The front of these shoes is a little bit more almond shaped, which isn't bad. But since it's a loafer style, it's got this tongue that comes up further on your foot. Plus this one has the horsebit detail. And so the front of my jeans are just kind of getting hung on that horsebit detail or the tongue of the shoe. And when I'm walking, they actually will get tucked down underneath this tongue. And so it's just not a clean look. We can do better. So if you still want to wear flats, because nobody wants to wear shoes with a heel all the time, do we? Something better with this pair of jeans would be these ballet flats. Now these happen to be leopard print, but they can be solid. And these have a pointed toe, which does elongate the foot. And the ballet flats come down farther on the top of the foot. So there's nothing on top for the jeans to get caught in or get hung up in and look messy. So these are just the perfect flat, but you can choose any ballet flat. You just have to be careful with loafers. With loafers, you really need to stick to some sort of ankle length jean, not a super cropped jean, but one that is slightly cropped so that the jeans in front do not touch the top of the loafer, because that's where you into frumpy territory. Okay. So these are boot cut jeans. So let's put them on with a pair of boots. So first I tried these booties. I've had these for a few years. I love them. And they're this tan suede pointed toe boot, and they've got this block heel, but these are not the right boots for these jeans. And why is that? Anybody care to take a guess? Well, the heel is too high. These jeans barely, if even, touch the top of my foot when I'm wearing these boots. And then the jeans in the back, you can see they're a good three inches off the floor. And that is just too high off the floor. It makes the jeans look like they're too short for you. And yes, I know we wear cropped jeans and ankle jeans, but right now we're talking about full length jeans. So if you want a full length jean, these booties are just too tall for this particular inseam of jeans on me. So what works? That's where these kitten heel pointed toe suede booties come in. These happen to have the perfect heel height for me to wear with these boot cut jeans. The back of the jeans is just about an inch off the ground and the front of the jeans touches the top of the bootie. So for this inseam of this pair of boot cut jeans, either the ballet flats or this boot with a little kitten heel and pointed toe is the right choice for me. I keep saying for me because like I said, we're all different. We're all different sizes. We have different length legs. And this is a matter of trial and error. I'm just trying to show you what looks good and what doesn't. And I'm just stressing that this is for me because you can get the same pair of jeans and the same shoes and it might not work for you. Your legs might be shorter than mine or they might be longer than mine. So we're all different and I'm just trying to give you a visual to show you what it should look like so you can try on your own jeans and your own shoes and get the look that's right for you. If you're enjoying today's video and would like to see more videos like this, please give it a thumbs up. That way I know to create more content like this. And if you like it, also share it with a friend. You can hit that share button and send it to someone else who you think can benefit from watching today's video. And if you haven't subscribed, what are you waiting for? It's free. And if you hit the subscribe button and that notification bell, you'll never miss out on any new content I post here on Style with Serena. I decided to change my angle. That white, the white closet doors were just getting too bright. So what about when it's cold out and you want a comfy shoe to keep your feet warm that you can put a sock with and be nice and cozy? Well, nothing beats a chelsea boot and a thick sock. But what style of jeans do you pair with that? So I'm wearing these same chelsea boots that I showed you before and your first thought might be skinny jeans. So I dug out the one pair of skinny jeans that I have in my closet still. Haven't had these on in a while and I put these on. Now with the skinny jeans, the one good thing about it is you can tuck the jeans down into the socks and down into the boots. And so that keeps everything covered. No air can get in there. So that is the plus side for the skinny jeans. But this whole look is just not current and modern for 2024. It's just too tight. The jeans are too tight, too fitted around the knees, too tight around the calves. Now, if you still have super skinny jeans like these in your closet, you might want to keep them and use them to tuck down into tall boots and wear a long sweater. You know, treat them more like leggings because this is just not a current look. So what do you wear when you want to be warm and wear those cozy socks and some chelsea boots in the winter? The best jeans for this type of shoe in this situation is a straight leg jean. These are a pair of straight leg jeans by Good American and they are an ankle straight. So on me, they are a little bit cropped and that looks good with chelsea boots. A jean that is a little bit cropped, it shows off that buckle detail on the boot and it just gives a little bit of breathing room and it keeps the look from being kind of frumpy. Remember how in the first outfit with the wide leg jeans, I put them on with these same chelsea boots, but with the full length jeans, it just looked a little bit clunky and frumpy? By putting these with a slightly cropped pair of jeans, it just gives a more modern look and this is a straight leg. It's not a wide leg, but it's not a skinny leg. It's just a straight leg and this is the way to look modern and current and updated when you wear your cozy socks and chelsea boots and you can show off your socks if you want to. That is okay and this way you're keeping your ankles and your lower legs and feet and everything warm and cozy. Now another pair of jeans that works with chelsea boots and this kind of outfit is the ankle flare style and I know a lot of you feel some kind of way about ankle flare jeans. I know some of you like them like I do and with certain outfits, they can be really cute and in this instance, the ankle flare jeans do look good with these chelsea boots. Again, they are just barely cropped their ankle length, so they're showing off that little buckle detail and you just have a little movement and room around the shaft of the boot, which is what you want. If the leg of the jeans is too small and you try to pull it down over the top of the boot, it's just going to look weird. You're going to see the boot through the jeans and it's just the proportion is going to be off, so having a pant leg that's just a little bit bigger and a little bit cropped with this kind of boot keeps the look from being too chunky or frumpy. I usually put out two long form youtube videos per week, but if you would like to see something from me every day, consider following me on instagram, facebook, or pinterest. I'm on all three and I'm stylewithserena there also and the best way to keep up with everything I'm doing on a daily basis and see lots more content than what I show here on youtube is to follow me on the LTK app. That's where you can see all my outfits and I even have a special section toward the top of my LTK shop for youtube outfits, so everything that I have featured on my youtube channel you'll be able to find quickly right there, so you don't have to go back through my videos and try to remember, you know, what video did I see that outfit in. They're all in that folder or that collection on the LTK app, so check it out. It's fun, it's free, and it's an easy way to see everything. You can save items, you can save outfits, and if you like put a heart on something, an individual item, or a whole outfit and something in that outfit goes on sale later, you'll be notified of that. Or if something's out of stock and it comes back in stock, you'll be notified of that as well if you have an account and, you know, put a little heart on it to favorite something. So just consider please follow me on LTK. It's a really neat app with a lot of cool features. Okay, this next issue with jeans or pants revolves around sneakers. Sneakers are super trendy right now and I'm glad because I love for my feet to be comfortable. Who doesn't want to throw on, you know, a cozy sweatshirt or pullover and a pair of jeans and some sneakers? Perfect weekend running around outfit, right? But this is where I see the most people go horribly, horribly wrong with their outfit. And how do they do that? This is the number one mistake. Wearing your gym shoes or running shoes with jeans or your outfit. This kills any outfit. I mean, look, why would anybody do this? I love these shoes. These are my hokas. They're super comfortable. I wear them when I walk. I'll wear them when I go to the gym, but they just kind of look ridiculous when you put them with jeans, you know, the colors and then the thick sole and all that stuff. It's just wrong. It just looks bad. It looks wrong. This is not the way you want to wear jeans with sneakers. No, no, no. And another thing about these jeans with sneakers, I love these jeans. They are the slim straight jeans from J. Crew, but the leg is just a little bit too long. And so it's resting there on the top of the shoe, on the top of the shoelaces. And that can get you into frumpy territory too. Anytime you've got your jeans that are a little bit long and they're puddling on top of your shoes or bunching up around your ankles, that is like the number one frumpy thing I see women do. And I see it nearly every day when I'm out in public. They have on jeans that are a little bit too long and they have on some comfy sneakers. And then those jeans are just all bunched up, creating rolls there around the ankle. And it is just so frumpy and it's the furthest thing from stylish. So how do we fix this? How do we put together an outfit that is stylish but is comfortable? Oh, and this is the only outfit that I changed out my top. Instead of this sweater, I put on this pullover. This is by Varley. I got this from my last trendsetter box. It's from Ever Eve. And this is so comfy and cozy and lightweight at the same time. I just love it. So let's swap out those jeans for these jeans by Cut From The Cloth. These are the Reese ankle straight. So they hit me right at my ankle. So they are just short enough that they're not touching the top of the sneaker. That's the key. You want a little bit of space between the top of the shoe and the bottom of your jeans. Otherwise it's going to look a little bit messy and frumpy. So I swapped out those hokas for a more fashion sneaker. And this is one that I just recently picked up from Nordstrom. I ordered it online. This is by the brand Dolce Vita and it's called the Notice sneaker. And it comes in lots of different colors and even patterns. So this is the gray and it's got the rubber around the bottom like the Adidas shoes that are so popular right now. And then it has all leather and suede uppers. So these are a really nice shoe and they're very supportive and have a lot of cushion which I really appreciate. Now these are a little bit pricey. So if you like the look but want something a little more inexpensive, Walmart and Target have a very similar version of this shoe and I will link those down below. Another option would be a shoe like this. These are actually from Loft and I got these last spring I think. And these are a really cute option for a fashion sneaker too. They are low profile, you know, they're not big and chunky, but they have, you know, the touches that are making them modern and updated for 2024. So I think these are still available and they do come in some different colors. So I will link these for you as well because this would also be a good option. So as you can see, choosing the right shoes to go with all the different denim silhouettes that we have right now is a bit of a challenge. But I hope that today's video has taught you some things, help you know what to look for, and help you to know the right pairings of jeans and shoes and how to know what does look good and what doesn't. And I know that I haven't covered every possible scenario of shoes and denim styles. So if you have any questions specifically about something I did not talk about, please leave me a comment down below. Thanks so much for joining me today. I really appreciate you guys and until I see you in my next video, have a stylish day. Bye!