Shoe polish: thoughts, fun facts, questions

[KMCMICHAEL]

There is nothing wrong with brown shoes----not so sure about light tan shoes with the kilt though --- and a black sporran, or vice versa, in a casual setting if thats what you wish.

I agree and consider yours an expert opinion that warrants deference. I still have an aversion to black leather due to it being a required uniform item for many years. But, in a formal situation I would definatly wear black leather.

With brown shoes..forgive the hat.
89CAAA19-11C8-45E6-B002-B58286D49384.jpg

I do like tan leather shoes and wear them with a suit other than funerals.

[Jock Scot]

I agree and consider yours an expert opinion that warrants deference. I still have an aversion to black leather due to it being a required uniform item for many years. But, in a formal situation I would definatly wear black leather.

With brown shoes..forgive the hat.
89CAAA19-11C8-45E6-B002-B58286D49384.jpg

I do like tan leather shoes and wear them with a suit other than funerals.

Steady on! All this praise might go to my head! But thank you for the compliment.

I have had the advantage of spending an awful lot of years with countless knowledgeable and not so knowledgeable, kilt wearers in traditional and not so traditional settings and all I try to do is to pass on a wee bit of my experience based on my observations and conversations with my peers. It is not a matter of just rigidly sticking with right or wrong, or being modern, or traditional, or even historical, for me its a matter of wearing the kilt to best effect to fit the occasion. Sometimes my observations are well received here and sometimes not, hey ho! Such is life!

[tpa]

I never mastered the art of getting a decent polish on my boots in school cadet days. Since whatever I achieved was never good enough, in the end, I stopped bothering and just sported a decent mud coating every week. That of course was equally unpopular but saved a lot of time. Eventually, it was decided that I'd be better doing something else. Nowadays, my efforts aren't much better, though I do manage to get the mud off and some semblance of a shine on my brogues and my grandson's school shoes.

[Panache]

Specific to Highland wear, I know that brown shoes are not that popular. But amongst the brown shoes that I see with kilts, it seems very rare that people polish them. It's almost as if they expect black shoes with a kilt to be shiny, but brown ones not to be shiny. Has anyone else noticed this, or am I in left field here?

Tobus,

Brown leather develops a wonderful patina with age. I have noticed with shoes, jackets, and a lot of sporrans in the SF branch of the RSCDS! Aged black leather just looks....uncared for. However, worn brown leather seems to radiate a history. The sporran wearers in particular are really proud that their sporran was given /inherited to them by a father or grandfather. They are even prouder when they declare they bought it new "back in the day".

I'm not sure why, but black should be shiny and perfect, and brown should reflect history.

Cheers

Jamie

[Artigas]

Regarding the polishing of pebble-grain brogues in the Royal Regiment of Scotland, this recruiting video shows a Jock working on what appears to be a fully-bulled toe cap at 1:27.