Buckle Ghillie Brogues (customization)

**CMcG** · 28th June 11, 09:17 AM

I recently found a pair of barely used, formal ghillie brogues at a second hand store and, for $15, couldn't resist picking them up. The are made in Britain by Gaelic, have thin soles, and are all leather (see pic below). I was actually looking for a pair of formal slipons to attach buckles to but haven't had much luck... beggars can't be choosers!

Ghillie brogues have never appealed to me, perhaps because I most often see them worn with white hose. Now that I have a pair, I'm trying to customize them to make them work for me and intend to wear them with diced or Argyle hose for formal wear.

First, I'm thinking about attaching buckles to them.

Second, I'm planning on wearing them with regular laces instead of twisting them up my leg. I got this idea from Thistledown.

I have found a bunch of vintage images of buckles on ghillie brogues but not much information. Does anyone own or has anyone seen such shoes in person? How are the buckles attached?

Over on the THCD photos thread, creagdhubh was talking about trying it. I think he was planning on gluing the buckles on. I'm thinking of threading the laces through the buckle, because that way the are still detachable. I also like the placement a bit higher on the instep of the foot, rather than where the shoe bends.

There was poll thread a while back called "Ghillie Brogues Yes or No?" and the rabble was split 50/50. What do you think about my idea of buckles on ghillie brogues, tied with regular laces, and worn with formal attire?

Here is what I'm working with. Still building up the shine on them and I'm going to glue those scrap leather bits into the buckles.

These appear to have the buckles held on with the laces, as I am intending:

And here are some other images of what appear to be buckle ghillie brogues. Note that some people use red laces, which I think is cool but not for me.

**Cygnus** · 28th June 11, 09:53 AM

An excellent find, CMcG! Like you, I much prefer buckle brogues, but feel that the only way to properly wear ghillie brogues with formal wear is with a buckle as you propose.

I'm sorry that I can't help you with attaching the buckles, but look forward to finding out how for myself.

Good luck, I look forward to seeing how they turn out!

**madmacs** · 28th June 11, 10:25 AM

I was planning on trying this when i can find a pair of nuckles... Low priority financially at the moment...

My thought was to make an H with slightly thicker leather punch a hole on each of the legs of the H , drape the bar of the H over the buckle centrer, the legs under the buckle, and then just thread the laces as you would normally... Makes perfect sense in my head... Not sure about in words though...

**CMcG** · 28th June 11, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by madmacs

I was planning on trying this when i can find a pair of nuckles... Low priority financially at the moment...

My thought was to make an H with slightly thicker leather punch a hole on each of the legs of the H , drape the bar of the H over the buckle centrer, the legs under the buckle, and then just thread the laces as you would normally... Makes perfect sense in my head... Not sure about in words though...

I got my silver plated buckles on eBay for about $10, so not too much of a financial burden

Your 'H' pattern sounds interesting. Are the holes in the legs to thread the laces through?

**madmacs** · 28th June 11, 10:41 AM

Yep... If you size the leather based on the holes spacing, i figured i'd be able to effectively hide how they were mounted...depending on how bug the shoe are etc, it might even be with trying to mount the leather on the underside of the shoe eyelets... Blisters might be an issue if things are too tight... Depends on your socks etc maybe...

**CMcG** · 28th June 11, 04:49 PM

I tried a few different ways of tying the buckles on. The following pictures show a way that seems fairly sturdy because the laces are first tied to, then woven through the cross bar of the buckles. Still need to glue the leather backing on to the buckles but I wanted to figure out how to attach them first.

Thoughts?

**Woot22** · 28th June 11, 05:53 PM

Dude, I was totally against buckles on any style of shoe but those look great. Now put some red laces everybody is always mentioning and those things will be outstanding. If I ever end up going to a formal event I could definitely seem myself wearing some of these. Great job dude!!!

**Downunder Kilt** · 28th June 11, 06:01 PM

Wonderful looking buckles CMcG and I like your inventivness on the attachment method. Looking forward to see how the project works out. Cheers

**JSFMACLJR** · 28th June 11, 06:53 PM

I'm afraid I've never heard of buckles being attached to the shoe by means of the laces. You need to take the shoes to a cobbler, and ask him to attach the buckles. Some people have used some sort of snap; others just have them sewn on. It will be easy for the cobbler to do.

**CMcG** · 28th June 11, 07:13 PM

Originally Posted by JSFMACLJR

I'm afraid I've never heard of buckles being attached to the shoe by means of the laces. You need to take the shoes to a cobbler, and ask him to attach the buckles. Some people have used some sort of snap; others just have them sewn on. It will be easy for the cobbler to do.

The cobbler is my plan B. Is there a reason that people wouldn't or couldn't attach buckles by means of the laces?

And while I've got the ear of a respected expert on THCD, what do you think of buckle ghillie brogues in general?

The advantage of lacing the buckles on would be that they can be removed and the shoes will still be wearable. And I save myself a trip to the cobbler

Before I glue any leather to the buckles I'll try it out a temporary version and post pics to see what the rabble has to say about how it looks...

I suppose the cobbler-installed snap might look something like those that are used on some buckle brogues: