"R" wrote in message
m...

Once upon a time all the Navy and Marines wore brown shoes. When the navy
switched to black shoes, to better go with the white, and blue, uniforms,
aviation remained with brown shoes. One of the reasons given and the one
that makes the most sense to me was because aviators in both the Navy and
Marines wore the Marine green uniform, refered to as "Working Green".

Actually the black shoes were first. When green and khaki uniforms were
authorized for aviators in WW1, they had brown shoes to go with them. Just
before WW2 all officers and chiefs were allowed to wear the khaki working
uniform, but with their regular black shoes and brown shoes as an option.
Aviation officers, who also had the winter green uniform and tan overcoat,
were required to have brown shoes. Most non-aviation officers went with the
minimum required kit and wore their black shoes with khaki, and a whole
tradition grew up around it.

--Justin