my new highland shoes

[DWFII]

Thanks, DWFII, I just spent a good 1/2 hr looking around. I've registered for the forum and will sent a little scratch off to join the HCC this week as well. What a fantastic resource!

Hey! You're welcome. There truly is about 10,000 posts on the board...not all of them interesting but a lot of really good stuff. And some really helpful and knowledgeable people from several continents...a lot like here!

Anyway, explore and enjoy and contact me if you have problems.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

Well, these are definitely an option. I just got off the phone from talking with Michael at McKenzie-Frain.

He was telling me about the Culloden shoes and that they are bespoke (made to measure). It seems they aren't making the buckles for them anymore, but the shoe is made to a 1752 pattern from the Smithsonian.

He was telling me about how they are to be treated. Rub loads of shoe polish on them for the authentic look. It seems people used to put all sorts of stuff on the shoes to weatherproof them.

Kilties may be glorified Mary-Janes, but they do the trick!

[DWFII]

Kilties may be glorified Mary-Janes, but they do the trick!

BTW, when I called the buckle brogues "glorified Mary Janes," you must understand that I have a somewhat different perspective on them than most folks here. What most folks see when looking at buckle brogues is a shoe that has probably been associated with kilts and highland regalia for decades if not centuries.

What I see is a type of construction and the nuances of design and styling. For me the Ghillie brogue is already too busy, especially when you consider that it is really an uneasy marriage of an ancient shoe with modern (unnecessary?) embellishments in the broguing and gimping. The buckle brogue goes one step further and almost seems a mish-mosh to me. But again, I am seeing the shoe and the construction points and not the tradition.

If I were a piper I might even have been offended but I meant no offense.

[JerseyLawyer]

Don't feel bad about it - there are certainly a lot of us here who feel the same way about the buckle brogues. Though I personally run hot and cold. I just think on a man my size, they'd look slightly ridiculous.

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

I didn't see it as calling them effeminate, or derogatory. On the other hand, they are what I have.

This is a matter of taste, and finance as well.

BTW, when I called the buckle brogues "glorified Mary Janes," you must understand that I have a somewhat different perspective on them than most folks here. What most folks see when looking at buckle brogues is a shoe that has probably been associated with kilts and highland regalia for decades if not centuries.

What I see is a type of construction and the nuances of design and styling. For me the Ghillie brogue is already too busy, especially when you consider that it is really an uneasy marriage of an ancient shoe with modern (unnecessary?) embellishments in the broguing and gimping. The buckle brogue goes one step further and almost seems a mish-mosh to me. But again, I am seeing the shoe and the construction points and not the tradition.

If I were a piper I might even have been offended but I meant no offense.