Ghillies w/ Ghillie Flaps?

[Chef]

BTW, where can you find one of those kiltie flaps. You could really make a plain pair of black shoes look quite dressy.

They are from Highland Express. You can find them on this PAGE.

[Jack Daw]

That's shoe (a variation of the "classic" late 1940s Alden tassel loafer) is among a style often called a "kiltie shoes" and has indeed (http://http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3DE1039F930A35752C1A9659582 60) a direct heritage to ghillie brogues (Lukas' obvious source of the tassels).
I wore many of these as a child too lazy to tie laces.

Alden continue to make some very nice models (in all widths and lengths) in shell cordovan.

The tasseled loafer was popular among we banker-types in the 1990s. I kept wearing mine until just a few years ago when I replaced them with an older-style, classic shoe, the oxford. I thought about wearing my old tasseled loafers with my kilt a few times, but preferred hiking boots for casual. I needed ghillie brogues for piping competitions, anyway.

[fluter]

The tasseled loafer was popular among we banker-types in the 1990s. I kept wearing mine

And before that, with the high-school crowd of the 1960's. I kept wearing mine, too, until finally the shoe shop declined to re-sole them again.

Nanook, thanks for the NYTimes link. I especially loved "the delicious weirdness of having legions of Frenchmen trying to look like the Phillips Academy class of 1964."

[BoldHighlander]

I have an old pair of golf shoes with flaps like that - and I seem to remember one of the golf catalogs selling skirts or flaps or what-ever they are called to put on regular shoes.

Found these just now James:
http://www.wideshoes.com/catalog.cfm...kiltie%20black

[Chef]

Found these just now James:
http://www.wideshoes.com/catalog.cfm...kiltie%20black

Then you could just add a silver buckle.

[BoldHighlander]

Then you could just add a silver buckle.

Indeed, unless one wishes to utilize them for "country" wear

[beloitpiper]

Then you could just add a silver buckle.

I kinda like them better without the buckle. Highland attire companies seems to keep pressing "shiny things" on us. Chrome belt buckles, silver argyle buttons, polished clan badges. I like the toned-down look more, and I'm starting to shy away from the glitzy, shiny look that everybody buys into.

[BoldHighlander]

I kinda like them better without the buckle. Highland attire companies seems to keep pressing "shiny things" on us. Chrome belt buckles, silver argyle buttons, polished clan badges. I like the toned-down look more, and I'm starting to shy away from the glitzy, shiny look that everybody buys into.

I'm with you on this. For everyday wear I like the subtle "toned-down" look best. I've always been partial to darker tartans, plainer shoes & jackets w/horn buttons, and a very minimum of "flash" (e.g. my clan badge, kilt pin).

I can see the shiny things for formal functions where it might be expected, but for day-to-day wear I like the "country gentleman" look

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Gentlemen, I couldn't agree more. 99 44/100% of the stuff on sale today is way, way too shiny. And, like the half-life of radium, it stays that way pretty much forever. The option, if indeed it is an option, is to either buy only silver (and that might not be an option for everyone), or send the stuff out for silver plating (still not inexpensive) and then wait for it to tarnish.

[Chef]

Agreed. I am not a fan of what passes for shiny bits on today's kit. You can find real silver shoe buckles occasionally; not too expensively, but not cheap either. For anything but dress I would go sans buckles on the shoes and I would only do the cheap ones I found above for bad use.