Quote Originally Posted by FossilHunter View Post
Troglodyte, I think you make a lot of reasonable points.

For myself, there are a few reasons I do not wear ghillies. First, most that are available in the US are rather chunky and inelegant. I would not take issue with fine ghillies like you sometimes see George VI wearing in photos. But with their connection to pipe bands and hire, chunky soles and cheap construction are quite common.

Ghillie brogues are also inexorably linked to the kilt, meaning they cannot be worn with other clothes without appearing eccentric. As an American kilt wearer, I admit that I should probably be used to that by now but it is what it is. On the other hand, I can easily wear oxfords, captoe or brogued, with my suit trousers and cords. I would much prefer one or two pairs of quality shoes that perform double duty to a slew of cheaper pairs filling every niche.

I do agree that the objection to ghillie brogues can be overstated. They obviously have a pedigree as long as some other more respected elements of traditional highland dress. I think the association with bands and hire has damaged their reputation in general but that doesn’t mean they cannot or should not have a place in the discussion of traditional civilian highland dress.
What you say is pretty much what I have come to assume - and that ghillies have an unwanted negative cachet due to association with bands and kilt-hire.

I guess people are fearful that others will draw the wrong conclusions, and judge them badly.

But it seems odd to me, that a shoe style that is uniquely Highland in style and origin, and intended for kilt-wear, is shunned in favour of (and I have seen this often) slip-on loafers and other styles that are not.

Each to their own, and all that, but it does seem a pity that, after hundreds have been spent on kilt, jacket, sporran, hose, etc, the outfit is topped-off (or rather footed) with the shoes already in the wardrobe. But then ghillies are not the only kind of brogue, and brogues are aguably the 'only' shoe for kilt-wear.

Interestingly, I can think of no time of ever hearing anti-ghillie sentiment here in Scotland, with only personal taste or preference being the deciding factor in favour of a closed brogue or ghillie-style. But I would say that ghillies are probably more common in the evening, or when the outfit needs to be dressed-up a bit, which is when the kilt gets worn most often here.

If the long laces are the problem, perhaps we should start a short-lace ghillie-brogue fashion...