Buckle Shoes

[Bugbear]

I'm not sure I know what to ask.
What do I need to know about shiny black shoes with buckles?
I'm not really thinking about shoes with brogueing, and I think I would prefer a buckle across the instep. I don't have a problem with the buckle being lower either, though.


Looking around on the web, I don't find many formal-ish buckle shoes, but there are lots of tuxedo shoes. Any suggestions?
And right now, I only have a pair of shiney black, cap toe bluchers, just for reference.

For some reason, I think the buckle style would go real well with an outfit featuring a jabot...

[Rollo]

"I think the buckle style would go real well with an outfit featuring a jabot..."

I think so !

[Bugbear]

"I think the buckle style would go real well with an outfit featuring a jabot..."

I think so !

At least in my mind...

For some reason they just seem to go together, to me.

I guess Oxfords would look all right.

[Phil]

These are the ones I have which were the usual commercially available ones, although I think they may now be out of production. I still see them on Ebay but for how much longer I don't know -



There is also the "Glenfinnan" type which is made to look like an authentic historic type of 18th century shoe, illustrated here -

http://www.scotweb.co.uk/sr_macfr_glenfinnan

but at nearly £200 are a lot more expensive.

We also have an accomplished "souter" here who showed his workmanship recently and very good it was too. Don't know if he takes commissions but you couls always ask. DWF11 I think he is.

[Bugbear]

Yes, DWFII's thread is actually what lead me to starting this thread.

The second type of shoe, "Glenfinnan," is probably a bit like what I'm thinking of.

I do know where I can get some eighteenth-nineteenth century replica, buckle shoes. I don't know if they are properly shiney, though. I suppose they might be able to be shined up...
That might be going out on a limb a bit, but it is closer to what I have in mind.

I'm thinking of shoes that don't have all the holes in them too.

[Rollo]

Scotweb's models are very nice.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

You can always think outside the box a bit and shop around at some reenactment suppliers, such as James Townsend & Sons.

They have 18th century style buckle shoes for $90.

You have to attach your own buckle (which they also sell, a few different styles from $20 to $50). And these are made in 18th century fashion, which means they are straight lasted (no difference between right and left).

So I doubt they would be quite as comfy as a modern shoe, but they certainly would have an authentic look and the price is much lower than what you'd pay for a buckle brogue at most Highland dress suppliers.

[Bugbear]

You can always think outside the box a bit and shop around at some reenactment suppliers, such as James Townsend & Sons.

They have 18th century style buckle shoes for $90.

You have to attach your own buckle (which they also sell, a few different styles from $20 to $50). And these are made in 18th century fashion, which means they are straight lasted (no difference between right and left).

So I doubt they would be quite as comfy as a modern shoe, but they certainly would have an authentic look and the price is much lower than what you'd pay for a buckle brogue at most Highland dress suppliers.

Thanks for posting that link, Matt.

Actually, those were the shoes I was talking about as the replica shoes. I saw a post that said they were fairly comfortable. I just didn't know if they had an acceptable finnish: glossy.

Perhaps spit shining...

[DWFII]

Thanks for posting that link, Matt.

Actually, those were the shoes I was talking about as the replica shoes. I saw a post that said they were fairly comfortable. I just didn't know if they had an acceptable finnish: glossy.

Perhaps spit shining...

Ted,

I'm going to put a bug in your ear...and anyone else who is following along...

Don't take someone else's endorsement of comfort as scripture. In the first place, our feet are far better able to accommodate themselves to oddly shaped confinements, and uncalled-for insults, when we are young.

Secondly, some people are far more tolerant of what others might call pain...this is known as the pain threshold and in some folks it is set higher than in others. Some people can actually wear...without obvious discomfort...shoes that do not fit their feet in any wise, do it for years, never complain, until one day all the unseen abuse adds up and suddenly the body rebels and they become dern near crippled.

I'm not saying these shoes you are looking at will automatically be uncomfortable. But buying a pair of shoes is not like buying a shirt or even a kilt. If shoes don't fit they can cripple...just as an improper job of shoeing a horse can cripple it.

Oh! and if the period shoes are historically correct they will almost certainly not be glossy.

[Disclaimer: I do not make historically correct shoes but one of my best friends (seen in a couple photos in my picture album here on Xmarks) is the head shoemaker (and head of the shoemaking department) at Colonial Williamsburg...and that's all they do make. I might add that he is also recognized as the foremost authority on the history of shoes in the US. So I take my cure from him. ]

[Bugbear]

Ted,

I'm going to put a bug in your ear...and anyone else who is following along...

Don't take someone else's endorsement of comfort as scripture. In the first place, our feet are far better able to accommodate themselves to oddly shaped confinements, and uncalled-for insults, when we are young.

Secondly, some people are far more tolerant of what others might call pain...this is known as the pain threshold and in some folks it is set higher than in others. Some people can actually wear...without obvious discomfort...shoes that do not fit their feet in any wise, do it for years, never complain, until one day all the unseen abuse adds up and suddenly the body rebels and they become dern near crippled.

I'm not saying these shoes you are looking at will automatically be uncomfortable. But buying a pair of shoes is not like buying a shirt or even a kilt. If shoes don't fit they can cripple...just as an improper job of shoeing a horse can cripple it.

Oh! and if the period shoes are historically correct they will almost certainly not be glossy.

[Disclaimer: I do not make historically correct shoes but one of my best friends (seen in a couple photos in my picture album here on Xmarks) is the head shoemaker (and head of the shoemaking department) at Colonial Williamsburg...and that's all they do make. I might add that he is also recognized as the foremost authority on the history of shoes in the US. So I take my cure from him. ]

I understand what you're saying, DWFII. I've had to wear shoes that didn't fit well,. Thanks.