Formal footwear

[StevieR]

Ok, I know there's a thread on the forum somewhere - but I can't find it! For some formal footwear that offers an all round option do I go for a ghillie brogue, a day brogue or a British military surplus highland brogue? Any advice or a pointer to an older thread would be much appreciated.

[CMcG]

By formal wear, can we assume you mean black tie? I would recommend highly polished Oxfords, with or without a cap toe. A thin leather sole would be most formal, but I opted for ones with rubber soles because I like the extra cushion, grip, and overall versatility.



For less formal, but still dressy occasions, I wear well-polished black brogues, which have a thicker sole.



There is no need to wear specialty "kilt shoes" and I tend to prefer the more subdued look of regular footwear. This also has the advantage of saving money and closet space because you can wear the same shoes, kilted or not. That being said, I picked a pair of dress ghillie brogues at a thrift shop, but have yet to find an occasion to wear them...

[creagdhubh]

For black or white tie events where Highland dress is worn, I typically wear bar and buckle brogues in black patent leather, or highly polished black calfskin leather. I also have a pair of buckled ghillie brogues (with a thin, leather sole) that I'll wear with long, scarlet laces, which are indeed a bit flash, but they are seldom worn. Sometimes I'll wear a pair of highly polished, lace-up Oxfords. For me, the easiest and most comfortable form of Highland dress shoe for black or white tie occasions, are by far the bar and buckle brogues. See my photos below.

As far as an all around option, I would go with a simple pair of lace-up Oxfords. You can't go wrong there.




Cheers,

[StevieR]

Cheers for the prompt reply Colin. Yeah, black tie and morning dress. Just to confuse the issue, I think your reference to an oxford brogue translates to a derby in the UK. Our oxford is your "balmoral"?! I was thinking an Oxford (balmoral) brogue would be fine for morning dress, but not sure how it would suit with black tie in the evening?

Just drifting off thread, what's on your kilt instead of a pin? Looks nifty

[StevieR]

Well thankyou Kyle. I was thinking of a mix and match option. Definitely drifting away from a ghillie brogue, but now you've gone and shown me a picture of a cracking pair of shoes with buckles on!

[CMcG]

Cheers for the prompt reply Colin. Yeah, black tie and morning dress. Just to confuse the issue, I think your reference to an oxford brogue translates to a derby in the UK. Our oxford is your "balmoral"?! I was thinking an Oxford (balmoral) brogue would be fine for morning dress, but not sure how it would suit with black tie in the evening?

Just drifting off thread, what's on your kilt instead of a pin? Looks nifty

By dress Oxfords, I meant smooth leather (no brogueing) and closed laces, while I would refer to Derby/Blucher as open laces... I'm not sure about Balmoral. Either way, For formal wear I would skip the broguing on dress shoes and go for a more sleek/refined look, unless one is wearing Highland/kilt specific ones like ghillie brogues or the bar & buckles that Kyle posted.

My kilt pin in those photos is a maple leaf

[creagdhubh]

By dress Oxfords, I meant smooth leather (no brogueing) and closed laces, while I would refer to Derby/Blucher as open laces... I'm not sure about Balmoral. Either way, For formal wear I would skip the broguing on dress shoes and go for a more sleek/refined look, unless one is wearing Highland/kilt specific ones like ghillie brogues or the bar & buckles that Kyle posted.

My kilt pin in those photos is a maple leaf

I completely agree.

[Nathan]

I agree with what Colin and Kyle said. For formal evening wear, I prefer buckles. I don't use bar and buckle brogues (aka Mary Janes) like Kyle, I have highly polished slip ons with buckles. I also have dress Ghillie brogues which I would wear for black tie but not white tie.

[piperdbh]

Shoes like these, as shiny as you can get them, will serve you well, and get us out of the pitfalls of our "common language".

[TheOfficialBren]

Shoes like these, as shiny as you can get them, will serve you well, and get us out of the pitfalls of our "common language".

***

I have a pair of patent leathers and a couple of pair similar to these in the photo. I am not a fan of ghillie brogues.

Many kinds of nice dress shoes will suffice but the types posted by Colin, Kyle, and DBH are EXCELLENT examples and you can't go wrong with them.