Ghillie brogues - why the dislike and resentment..?

[Tobus]

When there are various versions available, in both black and brown, soft and flexible or stiff and thick soled, there are surely enough styles to suit most tastes and occasions. Some of the early how-to Highland dress guides suggest that the long laces are prefectly correctly tied around the instep, rather than around the ankle, or can be substituted with more normal short laces.

I do own a pair of vintage ghillie brogues (Keltic - "The Scottish Shoe"), and wear them as you describe with short laces tied over the instep like any other shoe. In my opinion, having the laces ties around the ankle is extremely uncomfortable, impractical, ridiculous, and costumish. There is nothing about lacing around the ankles that makes any sense in today's world.

If indeed the primitive origin of this shoe style was worn in such a manner, it was due to the shoes being made in a very rudimentary fashion from a single bit of deer hide without any additional construction techniques which would allow it to stay on the foot otherwise. I can imagine a primitive Highlander wanting it laced around the ankle so it doesn't completely pull off when he slogs through a bog. Today's shoes are built on a solid, sturdy sole, made from several shaped pieces of leather to fit more correctly to the foot. And we don't typically have to travel through such boggy terrain on a daily basis.

So whatever need there was for lacing up the ankle no longer exists. The style is purely for aesthetics. But it comes at the cost of comfort and practicality. Personally, I must have my shoes tied snugly around my foot to avoid chafing and blistering. Lacing around my ankle would be too loose for the way I want my shoes to fit my feet. And tying them tighter behind the ankle would risk the laces digging in to the back of my ankle, right in the Achilles tendon area. Perhaps it's just the engineer in me, but lacing around the ankle is perhaps the worst possible method to tie a shoe. It fights with the flexure and rotation of the ankle whilst walking and doesn't adequately cinch the shoe over the foot. If I want my footwear to go round my ankle, I'll wear an ankle boot (which I actually prefer, and wear daily).

I'm not necessarily opposed to sacrificing comfort and practicality for aesthetics. But I would have to really like the aesthetics. And with ghillie brogues, I just don't. I admit and agree that they have an established provenance in Highland wear (for both daywear and evening wear, depending on the style). But in my opinion, their existence is an attempt to keep alive a distinct look for no good reason. It's pure costumery. Just as the kilt evolved from a feileadh mor to the small kilt we wear today, it's OK for shoes to evolve to a more practical style.