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Adrián González de la Peña/Demand Media

If you have found the perfect purple dress you are now going to want to find the perfect shoes to go with the dress. This is simple enough as long as you follow a few key color and fashion rules. Follow the rules and you will quickly find the perfect complement to your dress.

Style

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Adrián González de la Peña/Demand Media

The style of your dress is important in choosing the perfect shoes to go with it. There are big differences among a formal gown, a short dress, a Gothic-looking denim dress and a flirty tennis dress.

The other consideration is going to be any secondary colors in the dress. You can play up a secondary color in the shoes.

Purple

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Adrián González de la Peña/Demand Media

Of course, the most predictable color choice is going to be purple. To pull this off you will need to have the shoes professionally dyed to match. This is a good choice for all dress styles. It may be a little stiff for casual dresses, but it’s doable.

You can, if your dress is casual, use an entirely different shade of purple for the shoes. The shoes need to be casual and the color difference has to be obvious; it has to look intentional.

Black

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Adrián González de la Peña/Demand Media

Black goes with just about everything. In the case of a purple dress, however, you need to be careful. Black is too harsh for most purple dresses. The best bets are to save this for casual dresses where you are intentionally going for something akin to a Gothic look. In this case you are going to be looking more at boots than shoes, though Mary Janes are acceptable here.

Black is generally more appropriate for winter than summer, but there are no longer any hard rules on the matter.

Silver

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Adrián González de la Peña/Demand Media

Silver is a good choice for formal and semiformal purple dresses. It’s going to be important to spread the silver around by wearing silver jewelry as well. That will tie the look together.

White

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Adrián González de la Peña/Demand Media

White will work with many casual purple dresses. Specifically, you are going to want to go with light canvas tennis shoes. If you can find purple laces that match the dress that would be a great color touch.

You can opt for white sandals but only if the dress is a light purple. If it’s dark or royal purple, you need to make another choice because the contrast will be too great.

White is usually considered more appropriate in summer than during any other season, but that guideline is no longer considered a rule.

Pink

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Adrián González de la Peña/Demand Media

Pink is a possibility, but only for those with a casual-style dress who are accessorizing a great deal with pink. A matching pink belt would help here as well. This is really a look that is going to be difficult for those over 40 to get away with wearing. There is one exception to this: a light-pink sandal paired with a light-purple, almost lilac, dress.