So I went to the Essendon DFO on a mission to find shoes for my nice red dress. I had taken everyone's advice on EB about what colour shoes to pick - and I decided to go natural/nude just because I thought it looked nice and it is not ever a combination I've ever tried to pull off.
Oh, what a horror day it was. Everything I tried on was either too high, too small, too large or just plain ugly. But I did find one pair that I quite liked and out of desperation I bought them thinking 'I"ll never find my dream pair, may as well go with these'.

So, honest opinions please because quite frankly, I don't know what to think of them with my red dress. This photo washes them out a little more than they actually are, the colour is not white or pearl, but more a natural sand kind of colour maybe? I dunno, I'm terrible at describing colours.

I'm feeling a bit depressed about my poor fashion judgement, so if people think black would look better, I'll definitately take those suggestions on board.

So, DH took a photo for me. This is 'the look'. I cut my face out of it because I just feel blergh. I think this dress makes me look awful at the moment, but anyway.
As mentioned in above post, shoes are not white even though they look it, they're a sandy colour.

I think it looks good.

I have a red dress very similar and I wear nude/sand patents to make my short legs look longer.

You look fantastic, and the shoes are great. I don't think I would go black.

I'm not really a fan of white shoes, but they seemed to be somewhat popular in years gone by, so with some vintage-inspired dresses, I think they're not too bad. I think the cut of your dress allows for a more 50s/60s look, so I think the shoes are appropriate. Actually, I think if you added a string of pearls, you'd look like quite classic and elegant.

ETA - not saying you don't look elegant without them btw... lol. I think it looks quite nice as is.

I like it.I couldn't pull off that dress like you do.

I like it. If you accessorize with pearls and/or curls, it could be a lovely vintage look.

i love the dress and the shoes match it well.

I think you look lovely in the dress and the shoes suit really well. Enjoy the occasion.

I think you look fantastic, that dress is really nice and the shoes match it great

Love it! And love those shoes!

I like it.

I think it's a great combination.
That dress is conservative enough that I think you NEED simple unembellished shoes. Those fit the bill perfectly.
I'd team it with a single strand of pearls or a very simple pendant and hair either in a chignon or loose curls.

What brand are the shoes? I like them, and it is a great dress too. You look lovely

Love it! That dress looks fantastic and the shoes are perfect Agree that pearls would top it off nicely.

I found the shoes in the Guess shop - phew, I'm so glad the comments here are positive because I was feeling like I'd made an awful fashion faux pas (as usual!) You guys have made my night! My hair is curly naturally so I thought I would leave it loose, but just tease my fringe a fraction and then pin it back and let the curls do the rest. I am also going to look for a red hair piece, but it cannot find one, had planned to wear a string of pearls.
What colour jacket/cardiagn would people suggest I take just in case it cools off of an evening?

Great choice! I'd wear a little jacket or wrap in either a red to match the dress or a light colour to match the shoes.

I like the shoes, but I still think orange would have been better.

You look great! I can't believe you don't think you look good in that dress.

I think the dress and shoes look great together!

Great shoes! & fab dress! You look great!

I was going to suggest a 'sand' coloured wrap to tie it all together. And the PPs suggestion of a string of pearls is a great idea.

Definitely a wrap.

Only wear the pearls if you want that particular look. Otherwise you could wear some nice bracelets and earings.

Give the red hair piece a miss though.

I think you have done really well and not even close to a fasion faux pas. Looks much better with those shoes than black.

I like it also!

Looks good, I would not do the red hair piece though and I would probably just pin your hair up in a messy updo rather than leave it down with a pinned back fringe. A messy updo with a few loose curls hanging down would look nicer in my opinion and simple pearl earing and a pearl necklace would look lovely or yes ditch the pearl look and just wear some nice earings ... keep the accessories to a minimal as you dont want to take away from the lovely red dress

I love that dress! Where did you get it from?

Those shoes are lovely, and the dres/shoe combination is stunning! You should hive yourself more credit...

I found it in this funny little random shop at the old Spencer St DFO in Melbourne - this shop had lots of mismatched items in it, just really sort of random, throw it together stuff IYKWIM? They had several patterns to this same dress - some with retro circles, others were vintage floral. The dress actually has two oversized pockets at the front of it which I also love - somewhere to put my hip flask lol. Thanks for the positive feedback guys, I'm feeling much happier today about my choice.