Ghillie boots?

[MacKenzie]

Interesting.

https://kiltsociety.com/collections/...s/ghillie-boot

[Father Bill]

Yeah. "Interesting" is indeed a word.

I'm not so sure that these are "Gillie" per se, just wing-tipped brogued boots. I'm always fascinated when companies come up with a new way to pry money loose from customers by inventing something that has no real reason to exist beyond, "Oh look - we can do something that doesn't need to be done but is different."

Not my taste.

[The Q]

A quick type in with the words "Brogue Boots" brings up imediately 8 different suppliers with prices ranging from £22 to £570 (Burberry) There would be many others if you were to search more...

[Wareyin]

They do seem interesting. I think this goes more towards a casual look, something you'd combine a rugby shirt or t-shirt with to wear down to the pub. They look closer to a combat/work boot that's been gussied up than to a dress boot. I would buy them, but not at that price.

Kilt Society seems to try to come up with lots of new looks to pry money out of their customer's wallet, rather like every single other clothing manufacturer, appliance manufacturer, car manufacturer, etc, etc, etc. It's how the world turns.

[Tobus]

They do seem interesting. I think this goes more towards a casual look, something you'd combine a rugby shirt or t-shirt with to wear down to the pub. They look closer to a combat/work boot that's been gussied up than to a dress boot.

That was my first impression too. It took me a minute to realise that the "ghillie" feature is apparently the way the leather is trimmed into tabs around the lace holes to mimic ghillie brogues. All in all, though, these boots still look very clunky with all that padding around the top. It just doesn't go with the aesthetic of broguing and ghillie brogue type lacing, IMHO. It's like putting chrome spoked wheels on a monster truck.

I do like brogued ankle boots and think they can work well with the kilt. But it's an entirely different look than wearing heavy work boots, and this particular style just doesn't do justice to either.

[KMCMICHAEL]

I do not like them or the actual ghillie brogues. I do like lace up boots and will probably in the future get some balmoral style boots with half or quarter brogue. I do not like full brogue or wingtips.

[Dollander]

That was my first impression too. It took me a minute to realise that the "ghillie" feature is apparently the way the leather is trimmed into tabs around the lace holes to mimic ghillie brogues. All in all, though, these boots still look very clunky with all that padding around the top. It just doesn't go with the aesthetic of broguing and ghillie brogue type lacing, IMHO. It's like putting chrome spoked wheels on a monster truck.

I do like brogued ankle boots and think they can work well with the kilt. But it's an entirely different look than wearing heavy work boots, and this particular style just doesn't do justice to either.

Now, I've always believed that freedom of sartorial expression should take precedence over tradition (and I'm downright antiauthoritarian regarding the very concept of formalwear), but I think these boots just look like they can't figure out what they're trying to be. I attempted to come up with a metaphor of my own, but chrome-spoked wheels on a monster truck sums it up perfectly. Perhaps if they lost the padding and the hooks, and were a bit shorter, they might work...in other words, if they were just said brogued ankle boots with ghillie-style tabs. They look, at best, like they'd appeal to someone who pairs a utility kilt with a Jacobite shirt and a fur dress sporran.

[huntgathergrow]

A quick type in with the words "Brogue Boots" brings up imediately 8 different suppliers with prices ranging from £22 to £570 (Burberry) There would be many others if you were to search more...

I don't know if this is an American thing or not, but brogue boots are what I've known to call wing tip or brogue-like boots since I was young. I had no idea what ghillie brogues were until I got into kilts. So that could explain why there are so many options.

https://www.redwingamsterdam.com/201...brogue-ranger/

[KMCMICHAEL]

There is a mishmash of definitions on shoe types. I am by no means a master of footwear vocabulary. In my view brogue means it has some decorative holes in it. In a recent movie a character stated “oxfords before brogues” which made no sense as Oxford describes a lacing system and an oxford can be brogued. Even shoe companies sometimes refer to darby shoes as oxfords.