Possible colors include: Men's dress shoes are most commonly black or brown.
Shoes are usually made with many pieces of leather, and the seams can be decorated in various ways; most revolve around some type of brogueing.
Men's shoes are often categorised by their fastening, and the various possibilities are listed below in roughly descending order of formality.
White Buck shoes are a variant of the oxford that are made of buckskin, and considered the companion to seersucker and other summer suit fabrics.
A monk shoe (also called a monkstrap) has no lacing, and is closed by a strap with a buckle.
The typical loafer has a round toe, and comes in darker colors, such as black or brown.
Taken from the art of ballet, as their name implies, they are flat shoes with a rounded toe, and come in many different colors and patterns.
A minor controversy erupted in 2005 when some members of Northwestern University's national champion women's lacrosse team visited the White House wearing flip-flops.
Following the criticism, their footwear was eventually auctioned off on eBay to raise money for a young cancer patient, Jaclyn Murphy of Hopewell Junction, New York, who was befriended by the team.
[1] There is still a debate over whether this signaled a fundamental change in American culture — many youth feel that flip-flops are more dressy and can be worn in a variety of social contexts, while older generations feel that wearing them at formal occasions signifies laziness and comfort over style.