What to wear with skater shoes

collaborative guest post

Not too long ago, skater shoes were reserved for certain elements of niche counterculture fashions. Over the past decade or so, they’ve escaped this narrow niche, and are now integrated into a wide range of different looks and styles.

As you’ll see from our recommendations below, skater shoes from brands like Vans have become incredibly versatile, and can fit with a broad range of different styles. From baggy jeans to button-up shirts, here’s what you can wear with your skater shoes.

Go baggy

The original way to style skater shoes - synonymous with 90s skater and hip-hop culture - has to a certain extent come back around. People are experimenting with how baggy they can go once more, with jeans, baggy canvas trousers, and oversized hoodies.

You don’t have to try to emulate the 90s again if you don’t want to. You can just use bagginess as a very broad, general concept, and then take it from there. There are so many different styles you can steal from, to create a perfect patchwork piece that’s uniquely yours.

Personalise your style

If there’s one thing to note about skater shoes, it’s that the style they go with is anything but fixed. You can mix and match items as you please, and that also includes making your own, personalised items to bring into your wardrobe. 

Even if you don’t consider yourself a textile and design expert, you can use a service like Screen Textiles to print designs on t-shirts and hoodies for you. Simply send them the design, choose a printing method, and you’ll have the personalised item to wear with your skater shoes in no time at all.

Smart casual

Skate shoes can also absolutely go with slightly smarter looks. If you want to wear them to work, you can absolutely combine them with some chinos or slacks and a plain T-shirt (or even a button-up shirt) and see how it looks. 

Of course, this won’t be suitable in formal environments, but if you just want to look a little smarter while staying nice and comfortable, it can absolutely do the trick. It’s inevitable that some skate shoes will be smarter than others - for example, classic vans will be more suitable for this kind of vibe than some huge, oversized and padded Etnies.

Skirts and dresses

Lastly, if you want a slightly more flowy and summery vibe, you can absolutely wear your skater shoes with skirts and dresses. Whether these are shorter skirts that you’d actually skate in or something a little longer and flowy to keep your legs warm, it’s absolutely worth having a play around and seeing if you can get a look that suits you well.

There really are very few rules when it comes to how you style your skater shoes. Those few rules that do exist really are made to be broken, if you have the guts and think you can pull it off. By having a play around, you should be able to find some combinations that suit you to a T.