Ghillie brogues, yes or no?

[duchessofnc]

That picture looks almost like ballet slippers. Not quite but very close.

As muirkirkca has written, the Ghillies are the descendants of the old highland brogues, so it's not possible to find them at Culloden or earlier times.

Ok, Ghillies are no shoes for casual wear, but i like them, because, nobody would wear old highland brogues when he doesn't wear the great kilt. At Culloden only the richer ones have worn shoes with buckles, the poor ones have worn the old highland brogues.

[Bugbear]

Well... If anything this thread has got me thinking about shoes with a kilt.

Last month, I bought a pair of brown, four hole, lace up, leather, dress shoes to go with my brown dressy daywear kilt outfit; the only full kilt outfit I have right now. They very closely match the brown belt for that kilt when not wearing the waistcoat, and also look good with the brown sporran and strap for the outfit. They arent brogues or wing tips; like I posted at the beginning, I don't like wearing those styles of shoes.

I will have to think about what kind of shoes to get when I put together an eveningwear outfit...

I guess if I ever end up at something formal, I would go with the shiney, black buckle shoes.

[Bugbear]

Well, I like wearing the ankle high, lace up boots with a kilt. I have a black pair, so I guess that is all right.

It seems like brogue shoes are almost always wingtip style. Is this ever done on any non-wingtip style shoes?

[DWFII]

Well, I like wearing the ankle high, lace up boots with a kilt. I have a black pair, so I guess that is all right.

It seems like brogue shoes are almost always wingtip style. Is this ever done on any non-wingtip style shoes?

I guess it kind of depends on what you think of as a "wing-tip." If you mean the re-curved toe cap that swings back past the ball joint, then the answer is "yes."

But many brogues are done with just a straight across toe cap. And some oxford variations (with no toe cap at all) have broguing on them...it kind of depends upon the maker. You get a lot of variation and fanciful work from the high end bespoke makers that you might not see in a "off-the-shelf" shoe.

Check out this link for some very nice, high, high end men's bespoke shoes, many of which are not strictly brogues but which have broguing on them:

http://www.gazianogirling.com/samplebg/index.html

There are several pages of thumbnails here...all of which re-size upwards so be aware of the arrows that take you to the next set of images.

[beloitpiper]

Check out this link for some very nice, high, high end men's bespoke shoes, many of which are not strictly brogues but which have broguing on them:

http://www.gazianogirling.com/samplebg/index.html

There are several pages of thumbnails here...all of which re-size upwards so be aware of the arrows that take you to the next set of images.

YEESH! Those are good-looking nowadays? Wow, my foot would never fit into those. And why are they so pointy? They don't even look like shoes...

Like Riverkilt said, why doesn't somebody make a good shoe for my wide Celtic feet?

[Thunderbolt]

YEESH! Those are good-looking nowadays? Wow, my foot would never fit into those. And why are they so pointy? They don't even look like shoes...

Like Riverkilt said, why doesn't somebody make a good shoe for my wide Celtic feet?

I agree. I'm sure that they are very nice, comfortable and expensive. And to someone, I'm sure they look fantastic.

But not to me.

T.

[DWFII]

YEESH! Those are good-looking nowadays? Wow, my foot would never fit into those. And why are they so pointy? They don't even look like shoes...

Like Riverkilt said, why doesn't somebody make a good shoe for my wide Celtic feet?

Well first off, remember that these are "bespoke." That means that they would be made to your foot and your specifications. The fact that they are narrow looking and pointy is simply....first, the maker has chosen the narrow ones to display. That's a common enough practice when photographing shoes or boots. Something about the proportions of a narrow shoe always looks better than a wide shoe. And second, the fashion in Europe these days, in haute couture, is the long narrow square toe. That too will pass. You need to look past those minor and variable details to the workmanship and the styling. Finally, these are more continental in styling than would be found at a West End London maker such as John Lobb, St. James Place. http://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk/main/main.htm

As a bespoke maker myself, I admire Gaziano and Girling quite a bit, but I wouldn't necessarily make shoes with that pointy a toe and certainly not for myself. That said, it bears repeating that a bespoke maker is going to put whatever toe you want on a shoe. I'm making a pair of shoes for a fellow kilt wearer even now that have a wide round toe but it easily could have been a wide square toe to wear with a kilt.

But when you are looking at off-the-rack, you'll never, ever find something to fit your wide feet. And I've yet to see a ghillie brogue offered by a high end bespoke maker...they're most often made (and priced) like a low end Allen Edmonds here in the states.

I guess you get what you pay for...$700+ for a kilt, $150-200 for shoes???!! And you guys with "wide, Celtic" feet?! Tsk!

[beloitpiper]

Well first off, remember that these are "bespoke." That means that they would be made to your foot and your specifications. The fact that they are narrow looking and pointy is simply....first, the maker has chosen the narrow ones to display. That's a common enough practice when photographing shoes or boots. Something about the proportions of a narrow shoe always looks better than a wide shoe. And second, the fashion in Europe these days, in haute couture, is the long narrow square toe. That too will pass. You need to look past those minor and variable details to the workmanship and the styling. Finally, these are more continental in styling than would be found at a West End London maker such as John Lobb, St. James Place. http://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk/main/main.htm

http://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk/catalog...s/ghillies.htm





ooOOOOooo! Pretty!

[DWFII]

http://www.johnlobbltd.co.uk/catalog...s/ghillies.htm





ooOOOOooo! Pretty!

Wow! I missed those...haven't been on Lobbs site for a year or so.

But hey! There you go...for all those folks with wide, Celtic feet. Looks like they might even have a tongue --I go back and forth, one minute I think there's a tongue, next time I look I think it's just the tree I'm seeing.

[Bugbear]

Thanks, DWFII, I'm getting tangled up in the shoe terms. It's the pointy toe shoes that I don't like to wear. I like to wear the shoes that have a round, non-pointed toe. That would be on any shoe from lace up, to slip on, to buckle, even lace up boots.

Kind of hoping that the pointed toe shoes aren't the only acceptable dress up and formal shoes that can be worn with a kilt.