Vans and Dresses – A match made in heaven?
The last thing you’d expect to see on a lady’s feet is a pair of sneakers when it comes to dressy fashion. When we think about what shoes go with a dress, heels and dress shoes would be the first things that come to mind.
But if you are looking for a more comfortable shoe that can still look cute with your outfit.
Wearing Vans with dresses has become more and more popular in recent years; who doesn’t want to look stylish while being comfortable?
It’s also perfect for dance parties or all-day festivals as you can wear these shoes all day without feeling any blisters or pain like you would experience when wearing heels all day long.
But will you break fashion law 101 if you wear Vans with dresses? That is, can you really wear Vans with dresses?
The answer depends on what kind of dress you are wearing, how formal the event is, and if you want to wear socks.
Yes, you can style your Vans with different dresses. If the dress is a maxi dress, it will be more difficult to style it with vans, but if it’s a midi or a mini, then it will be easier.
If your skirt is a maxi skirt, it would be best to wear Vans because they will look good together. If your skirt is an A-line or pencil skirt, any shoe will work well.
With this understanding, you will agree with me that it all boils down to the kind of dress you choose to style your Vans shoe with.
If you give it a second thought, you will see that the most important question is beyond whether or not you can wear Vans with dresses.
The pressing question should be, “what style of dress is suitable for Vans?”
There are different types of dresses and different styles of Vans which means that it might not be appropriate to wear them together, depending on the style and type.
This leads us to the next important aspect of this fashion guide.
10 different dresses to style Vans with
Table of Contents
NWT Gabrielle Mini Dress with Vans Authentic
This is an example of Vans being paired with a mini grown dress which looks very appealing.
The black on black gives a classy attitude with the white design details on the Vans Authentic shoe for a soothing aesthetic effect.
Unlike many other Vans styles, there are just a few selections of dress designs that will go well with Vans’ authentic shoe model.
It is good that this wearer above took a conscious effort to grace this sneaker with a not-too-extravagant but simple approach without sacrificing reasonable fashion sense.
If you have Vans Authentic, you won’t have to ponder which gown or dress will suit the footwear too much. The iconic production line is known to be an incredibly versatile shoe.
As you can see, the handler made it look very easy to wear the Authentic with the black business casual outfit.
Denim Straight Maternity Skirt with Vans oldskool
It is almost impossible to keep things old school while trying to match a trendy dress with your Vans oldskool.
However, Vans lovers have a way of going around it. For example, the handler above has managed to pair the blue jean gown with the van’s oldskool.
However, everything would have been a plain turn-off if other supporting accessories like the matchable handbag and cotton jacket weren’t added for layering.
Vans Old Skool sneakers are hardly worn with dressy fashion like mini skirts, maxi dresses, and the likes. However, nowadays, the iconic side stripe is paired with jean material both in trousers and gowns.
Since the Old Skools are made out of a firm suede and canvas uppers that come in a wide range of color options, it is not a farfetched idea to want to blend it with a jean dress as a female.
But if you have the chance to let the dress idea go, I’ll tell you straight up that Old Skools are best worn with ripped, tight-fitted jeans.
Black Pencil Dress with Vans oldskool
As mentioned earlier, the type of dress you intend to wear with your Vans, no matter the style of the van, matters a lot. But so does color, to an extent.
In the above image, you are looking at a sweet combination of Vans old skool and a long pencil-like dress.
Of course, the body fit of the dress brings out the match of the shoe, coupled with the white line design details of the shoe that improves the overall aesthetics.
But the main lesson one can learn from this outfit idea is that: if you are going to match your Vans with a dress, anything is possible as long as you feel comfortable, and then you are not going against color harmony.
You want to keep it simple and minimal yet classy. Sneaker works for the dress if you find the right kind of dress to pair.
Tiered Gingham Check Dress with Vans oldskool
I spotted this style while going through my feeds at the hour of writing this blog post. As casual as it may look, you can draw a lot of inspiration from this outfit idea when it comes to styling your Vans with a gown.
You can never go wrong with wearing a checked-designed dress on a neutral-colored Vans shoe, as long as you keep it as simple as possible. The importance of going with the right color choice is also proven here.
It all boils down to making the dress you have work for you. So, the dress could not be fist-sized and still go well.
The only flaw with these dressing ideas is that you can wear them for casual business engagements.
Everlast Midi Dress with Vans oldskool
Again, two bold neutral colors – it is that can sustain the classic look whenever you style your dress with Vans shoes.
Normally, this gorgeous black dress worn by the handler would have been an icing to the cake with a wedge heel.
But pairing with a pair of Vans oldskool sneakers gives it an I-didn’t-see-this-coming look. This can be worn as a dinner dress.
But the truth is that once Vans sneakers are introduced to your dress outfit, it renders it almost useless for strictly business occasions. Keep that in mind.
Layla Leopard Skirt Dress with Vans slip-on
This is a brilliant example of combining your Vans slip-on with a mini Dress and then matching cardigan for layering.
This particular outfit idea seems to be more appealing since the dress is not too long to cover the footwear. That’s how you want to keep it.
Meanwhile, the Vans slip-on is designed with no laces to get in the way. SO they don’t cause an extra fuss while offering a convenient and easy way to throw some shoes on for the day.
It is a perfect Vans model to go for if you want to wear a dress with a sneaker and still maintain a specific look and style.
Multi-stripped long cotton dress with Vans slip-on
It may look like you can’t wear Vans slip-on shoe with a sock when styling with a dress, but you can beat the odds when it is a long dress.
However, you want to be careful that the dress is not too long to cover the footwear.
While this inspiration can be better off with a better color choice (IMO), it has its unique and statement-making attitude, especially as the handler adds some colorful high calf socks to the extremely casual, simple outfit.
Split-side stretch-knit maxi Dress with Vans oldskool
This total sleek black look for the cold weather is styled with Vans old skool. This outfit idea will pretty much go with any footwear, including converse. Originally, you’d want to match this style with a pair of black heels.
But imagine a Vans slip on these. To advance the already-established modern look, you can sport some no-show ankle socks for a contemporary style.
There are even many Slip-on duplicates out there in the market. Still, almost none of them have been able to replicate this comfortable and revolutionary design to the last letter.
Daneen Plain Outer and black mini dress with Vans Anaheim
Basically, this Vans Anaheim Factory pack was released by Vans to nostalgia for Vans shoes in the 60 – 70s.
This shoe release is called Anaheim Factory because these shoes are made directly at their first factory in Anaheim, California.
Every design element in the Anaheim series was remade in the late 60s and early ’70s.
The style numbers denote the original design prints of the three footwear models – Authentic 44, Old Skool 36, and Sk8-Hi 38.
Because it was the first time it was made, Vans did not use names like authentic, oldskool, and sk8 but instead wore numbers. And in this anaheim series, there is a DX code which means Deluxe.
Autumn Elegant Midi Floral Dress with Vans
Outfit ideas like these give us every reason to believe that styling a dress, especially long gowns, with Vans shoes will make a better statement when matched with a jacket or cardigan.
We have seen the trend across most of the outfit inspiration of Vans with a dress detailed above.
No matter the kind of dress, a similarity among these outfits is that they keep it less complicated by using bold neutral colors that blend with the aesthetics of the Vans shoe model.
Conclusion
Vans are one of the most popular shoe brands in the world. They are different types of Vans that you can make your choice from. But, Vans are not just shoes, they are also clothes!
Generally speaking, wearing sneakers with a dress can be tricky, but it is not impossible.
If you consider yourself a fan of Vans, you should understand the importance.
Bottom line, If your dress is casual or has a pattern, you might be able to wear Vans without issues.
However, if the dress is more formal or has an intricate design, I do not recommend it because Vans normally have a clean and sleek aesthetic that won’t go well with the style of such a formal look.
The best thing about Vans is that they can be worn with anything. In the above article, we’ve touched on some of the best pieces of clothing combo to wear Vans with.
I hope you find this article helpful!
P.S: feel free to share images of how you style your dress with any Vans design, and you also specify the event or occasion you wore the style for. I’d be in the comments.
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