Fort Belvedere has christened this model of trousers the “Stancliffe,” evocative of a stately English manor house secluded amongst verdant trees and rolling hills, redolent with a life of ease, sport, and gentlemanly pursuits. 

Like a strong snifter of spirits to warm you on a cold day, these cognac trousers are a rich brown with strong warm undertones. They are ideal for the fall and are suited to most cool and cold weather occasions, where they promise to warm things up no matter how they are styled. 

How to Pair Cognac Corduroys with Shoes & Socks 

While browns are extremely versatile in Classic menswear, the warm tone of these trousers will be best served paired with other warm tones for the most visually pleasing effect; be wary of an overreliance on similarly-toned browns, as the look can seem muddy.  

Almost any red sock will appear especially striking with these trousers: you can integrate other colors that appear in the outfit by pairing them with red in the socks, such as or . Other warm tones like , , and represent another ideal avenue for adding color. 

Similar to red, browns will also pair well with these trousers and can be used to introduce colors that appear in the rest of the outfit, like these or : just be sure that the additional color provides sufficient contrast.  

Most cool colors, however, will have a somewhat jarring effect against the warmth of the brown and should therefore be employed sparingly.       

Footwear Colors

For footwear, most conventional shoe tones and colors will be perfectly acceptable, but avoid cool-toned leathers, like blues or slate grays, and blacks: they will appear jarring.  

Warm-toned leathers, however, will appear very striking and elegant with these trousers: decadent oxblood, maroon, and similar shades have great potential.     

Boots Corduroys = Winner!

Boots, especially boots with contrast elements like suede, are always an excellent companion to corduroy because of the intersection of transitional-weather seasonality and unexpected texture. Again, emphasizing warm-toned options will be especially elegant. 

Summer Shoes Corduroys = Faux Pas

In general, be wary of pairing corduroy with hot-weather footwear. As a rule of thumb, the fabric is simply too heavy for use with any style of shoe with which you might wear no-show socks.

Maintaining the emphasis on red typical of these warm-brown trousers, let’s start with , worn with deep claret oxfords. The simple addition of an unobtrusive light blue shirt completes the ensemble.         

To emphasize warm tones, we could also try an off-white shirt with a for unexpected visual interest. Reddish-brown loafers with socks provide the finishing touch. 

For a fall fling, consider a textured dark navy blazer set off by a and off-white shirt: our picks up these colors beautifully. Finish the look off with cognac slip-ons worn with and a .     

In general, the weight of corduroy requires a certain balance between your upper and lower half which is easily accomplished by layering. The simple addition of a sport coat will go far in making an outfit with corduroy look exceptional: focus in particular on textured fabrics, such as tweed, that will contrast while harmonizing with the cords of the trousers. Be wary, however, of hot-weather textured fabrics like seersucker, which is too seasonally incongruous to wear with corduroy.

You can achieve a similar effect with knitwear, such as a tennis sweater in the warmer months or cardigan in the cooler: add a during colder weather to ensure that your upper half is as insulated as your lower.