Ghillie Brogues: just for formal wear

[OC Richard]

I happen to like ghillie brogues, so long as they are very very shiny.
Black tie or semi-formal only.

I'm the opposite, I guess because I'm used to the ones in The Highlanders of Scotland which are rough (suede) tan leather, and look quite rustic.

Ghillies look odd to me when dressed up with buckles and used as Evening Dress shoes. And, at least in the mainstream Highland Dress of the early 20th century, buckles are the sine qua non of Evening Dress footwear. Ordinary Ghillies without buckles definitely look out of place with Evening Dress to me.

So Ghillies are more or less the odd man out; in TCHD it's plain shoes for Day Dress and buckled shoes (usually Mary Janes) for Evening Dress, and so it is in the Army. Ghillies are nowadays, and have long been, the footwear of the civilian piper.

Here are some pipers c1950. The Army fellows and some of the civilians in plain shoes, others wearing Ghillies, one with buckles



A piper c1900 wearing Ghillies