If the shoe fits, wear it

Cultural  

1. If something belongs or pertains to you, accept it. This proverb first appeared as “if the cap fits,” which may have referred to a fool's cap. The later version has become more common and is associated with the glass slipper in the fairy tale, “Cinderella.”

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if the shoe fits, wear it Idioms  

1. Also, if the cap fits, wear it. If something applies to you, accept it, as in These problems are hard to solve, and most people would need help, so if the shoe fits, wear it! This expression originated as if the cap fits, which alluded to a fool's cap and dates from the early 1700s. Although this version has not died out entirely, shoe today is more common and probably gained currency through the Cinderella fairy tale, in which the prince sought her out by means of the slipper she lost at the ball.

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Example Sentences

“The Nazis did wear armbands, David Hogg wears one. The Nazis were a youth movement, they didn’t want the guns. And so if the shoe fits, wear it,” Mr. Jones said in one of the videos reported by CNN, which is now gone.

From Washington Times

“If the shoe fits, wear it,” Mr. Northam, a neurosurgeon, shot back, adding that his assessment “comes quite close to an accurate diagnosis.”

From New York Times

Jefferson, swaggeringly: "If the shoe fits wear it/ If New York is in debt, why should Virginia bear it?"

From Los Angeles Times

Some online shoe retailers have seen up to every one in three shoes returned "If the shoe fits, wear it," is a simple enough metaphor - but for Jessica Hodkinson, from Daniel Footwear, it is at the root of an uncomfortable problem.

From BBC

Our putting Reebok on the laggard list is as correct as the old adage: If the shoe fits, wear it.

From Time Magazine Archive