Anderson 1936 catalogue

[CMcG]

My father wore patent ghillies (although he called them 'evening shoes') with silver buckles and long, long tassels from the lace ends (which he tied strictly centred on his shin six inches up). In the thirties. I still have his buckles, but the evening shoes are, I regret, long gone. In the mid-forties -- or perhaps earlier -- he had 'strappies', as he called them. Patent leather, but with an arch strap and interchangeable buckles: the deco ones he wore in the thirties and a much more ornate silver pair he inherited and which my brother now has. My father was a well-dressed, precise man.

I've thought several times of having dress ghillies made in fine leather, and using his deco buckles once more. Bling.

...

I think it would be wonderful if you could put your father's decorative buckles back into service. IMHO, dress ghillie brogues, in fine leather, look extra smart with buckles They are rather a different beast than the thick rubber soled, workhorse, piper's ghillie brogues, eh?

Here are mine. I have long, tasselled laces for them, but prefer the look of short laces...

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

That's an ace look... you might want to consider replacing the cord laces with broader (1/4 or 1/2-inch) red "ribbon" laces.

[CMcG]

That's an ace look... you might want to consider replacing the cord laces with broader (1/4 or 1/2-inch) red "ribbon" laces.

I'll look into that

[ThistleDown]

Very nice, Colin. Very nice indeed. I will follow up on that thought. Thanks for the pic.

[Downunder Kilt]

As I have previously said, Colin's instructional thread on the buckle with ghillies inspired me to do the same.

[creagdhubh]

Excellent photos of excellent looking brogues, gents. I do recall Colin's thread a while back regarding this style of evening shoe, to include the option of having them done up with red laces, such as the late P/M John Burgess did, as well as P/M Gordon Walker. I think this style of shoe looks rather striking with the addition of red laces.

Cheers,

[OC Richard]

Here are the shoes offered in the 1930 Lawrie catalogue: dance ghillies, buckled brogues (what I might call Mary Jane style), and most interesting of all the shoe on the right, open on top like a Mary Jane but lacking the strap across the top, and laced over the large opening. This exact shoe appears in The Highlanders of Scotland (1860s)



I myself have taken to wearing my version of a very popular Highland shoe from the mid-19th century up into the 1930s, slip-on loafers with nonfunctional decorative buckles. This is what Highland officers wore in the 19th century, but were superceded by the Mary Jane style in the 20th century. Here's my version, made from ordinary loafers with Scottish buckles stuck on. I have two pairs like this, a bit different from each other as you can see

[creagdhubh]

Looks good, Richard! I too want to do this to a pair of black loafers, but I need to find the right style of loafers first. I have been searching, and my brand of choice is Loake, but I have been unable to pinpoint precisely what I want. I'll keep looking!

Cheers,

[gwynng]

Thanks for posting that. I love seeing how prices have changed, but the gas tank analogy John made is pretty good. Diced hose and gas in the UK are both pretty dear I guess!

[OC Richard]

There's an Anderson catalogue which appears to be the same as the one I posted, on Ebay right now, just a heads-up if anyone is interested in getting into the vintage catalogue collecting thing...