5 Shoes to Wear with an Ankle Pant

So many of my Style Shop Denver clients LOVE the idea of an ankle pant, but they have no idea what shoes to wear to pull off this style in a pant. It’s easier to dismiss the style for a tried-and-true full-length pant instead, but if you’ve followed the Style Shop blog for any length of time, you know just how often I recommend ankle pants to my personal styling clients! Watch the video below as part of my “Simplify Your Style” video blog series to learn what FIVE shoe styles you can wear with an ankle pant for all 4 seasons out of the year. Whether it's a heel or flat, you'll have several ideas for shoes to keep you comfortable no matter the season!

[00:03] Hello and WELCOME to the "Simplify Your Style" blog series where I teach you super straightforward ways to create a flattering and functional wardrobe. I'm your stylist, Sandi Mele, and today we're talking about five shoes you can wear with an ankle pant. I get this question a lot from clients - they say, "I love the idea of an ankle pant, but I have no idea what shoes to wear with ankle pants!" Don't worry, I've got you covered. In this video, we're talking about shoes for year-round use - fall, spring, winter, and summer - so you know what to do.

[00:42] Right now, I'm wearing (I'll back up so you can see) an ankle pant that's a medium-length ankle pant. If you missed my video on how to find the right length in an ankle pant, make sure to go back and watch it (click here to watch it!). The first step to wearing the right shoes with your ankle pants is wearing the right length in an ankle pant! This ankle pant is a really versatile length. It's a medium length ankle pant - not super short and not super long - so I have a lot of options for shoes to wear with this length. It's just about two inches above the middle of my ankle bone; if you want to get super specific, I talk about specific lengths in my last video! I measured two inches above the middle of the ankle bone in order to pair the shoes I'm about to show you with these pants. We're now in winter (at the time of this recording!), so the best option for an ankle pant in the winter is a bootie. This is my favorite bootie - it comes up a little bit higher on the ankle, so I'm able to wear this bootie in a lot of ways. I'll go ahead and show you how the ankle pant looks with the bootie!

[01:54] Okay, friends! This is what an ankle pant looks like with a bootie. This particular ankle pant covers the top of the bootie, which is totally fine! If you have a bootie like this one that comes up a little higher on your ankle and the ankle pant covers the bootie, it's perfectly fine. OR you can wear a bootie that sits lower on your ankle with a little bit of skin showing. That's also fine! I wouldn't worry too much about a little skin showing in the fall or winter, even when it's really cold, because you can wear socks with your bootie and stay warm. Next, I'd like to show you a second option for fall and winter - the Oxford heel! This is my favorite. I think it looks so cute with an ankle pant! I've worn socks with my Oxford heels before, and you can also style an Oxford flat in the same way if you're not into wearing heels in the fall and winter. I totally get it! Let me go ahead and show you what an Oxford heel looks like with an ankle pant.

[02:58] Okay, I'm back with the Oxford heel and ankle pant! Hopefully you can see what they look like. The good news is I've had these particular Oxford heels for probably four years and sprayed them down with a weather conditioner when I bought them. They've lasted in the snow and rain and even though a little skin is showing, it's not terribly cold because I can still wear a slip-on sock! You can also style an Oxford flat in the same way. It's the same lace-up style and works really well with a sock (here's a picture of an Oxford heel with a sock!).

[03:47] The third option for fall and winter for a shoe with an ankle pant is a loafer. Unfortunately, I don't have a loafer in my wardrobe, but I'll show you a picture here so you can see it. The fourth option for a shoe and ankle pant is transitioning into spring and summer with a flat. You can do a pointy-toe flat, a ballet flat, or a slip-on mule-style flat. I'll go ahead and put one on so you can see it!

[04:19] Okay, so I now have on a pointy-toe flat, a style you can wear year round! If you have warm days in the fall and winter like we do here in Denver, you can easily get away with a flat and ankle pant even with skin showing in the winter. You know, here in Denver we have 60 degree days in the winter! I believe it's fairly warm today, so I could easily walk out with this flat on even though it's winter. A flat is a great option - you have the choice of different colored styles with your ankle pant in a flat. Next, we're going to talk about a heel! You can wear a regular pump or pointy-toe heel with your ankle pants, also ideal for spring and summer. I wanted to give you guys the option, so I'll go ahead and put those on!

[05:08] Okay, friends! I'm back with a pump style shoe to wear with this pair of ankle pants. This particular shoe is light grey and a round-toe style to wear year-round when it's warm. You'll probably wear this style the most in the spring and summer because your foot is totally exposed and you don't want to wear socks with a heel unless the sock is totally hidden. You'll find you'll pull out your pumps or pointy-toe heels the most in the spring and summer!

[05:35] I hope this video was helpful! I'll go ahead and show you each shoe before we wrap up. Here's the pump, the shoe in the last example. Then I showed you the pointy-toe flat, or ballet flat. I didn't have an example of a loafer, but here's a picture for your reference. We also looked at the Oxford heel (you can also wear an Oxford flat!), and finally, the bootie! The bootie is going to be your go-to in the fall and winter, trust me.

[06:20] I hope this was helpful! I look forward to seeing you in the next video. Have a great rest of your day!