design term for shoes and boots meant for formal settings or occasions, or designed to evoke an association with them
In cultures with a strong European influence, dress shoes often tend toward:
- stark black or white, rather than other colors, especially earth tones
- gloss rather than matte finishes
- smoothness
- slenderness
- lightness
- denser stitch spacing
- absence of broguing or pinking
- simplicity of form, epitomized by wholecuts, absent toe caps
- shoes rather than boots, and shorter boots rather than taller ones
Some styles, such as court shoes, are mostly made dressy. Purpose-built work boots or outdoor boots almost never are.