I don’t know about you, but in the last year or two, I’ve become completely and totally obsessed with wearing wide-leg trousers to the point where I now can’t imagine what I wore before them. Whatever it was, the skinny-trouser era is well and truly over for me, and as I take on my 30s, smarter, looser trousers have been there to welcome me with open arms. I promise it’s not just because they’re a huge trend right now—although, that helps given there’s now a lot more choice on the market. Mostly, it’s because they’re comfy and cool and make me feel incredibly polished every time I wear them. They work for work, for the pub, for date nights, for relaxed weekend brunches—you name it, and I’ll wear wide-leg trousers for it.
The only downfall with discovering a whole new trouser shape that you love is having to then figure out what shoes to wear with them. It reminds me of when skinny jeans kicked bootcuts out in my late teens, and I had to adopt Stan Smiths and ballet flats, sharpish. Wide-leg trousers, though, are luckily a little more versatile. Although, they might at first seem like a difficult trouser to pair the right shoes with, as long as you have the number for a good tailor (or you’re taller than my petite 5’2”), you’ve actually got a wealth of options to choose from—especially as we head into a new autumn season.
In my expert opinion (and handily demonstrated by the stylish influencers below), wide-leg trousers look great with loafers (chunky or classic), boots (lots of them), heels (especially pointed-toe styles) and even trainers—all classic autumnal shoe styles. So if you’ve been struggling with finding loose-trouser outfit ideas and knowing what footwear to wear with them, keep scrolling to see and shop the six best autumn shoes that always go well with wide-legs.