Hamish: Ordinary, everyday brogue shoes serve me perfectly for semi and fully formal occasions, as long as they are clean and well polished and, if I am really dressed up, my Glenfinnan buckle shoes are just the answer.

I am afraid I see Ghillie Brogues, or rather their extravagant lacing, as another opportunity for the wearer to over dress. The shoes themselves are fine - just take away those ghastly laces, replace them with ordinary length ones and enjoy the uncluttered look that results.
Quote Originally Posted by McMurdo View Post
One very real and significant drawback of these shoes is the fact that the laces can dig into your leg, and it really is not that pleasant, therefore for me I prefer buckle brogues for formal wear and just a regular everyday business shoe for casual or semi dress wear.
I actually voted yes, but feel that one should take very seriously the reservations posed by Hamish and McMurdo. Perhaps one should ask "What would a Scot living in Scotland do?", and one could take a cue from many pictorial examples on this forum and on the web. It appears that many Scots wear a dress shoe version of brogues with normal dress shoe laces, called "wing-tip brogues" here in the States. I actually prefer double soled wing tip brogues, but that's just me. Scots in Scotland apparently wear these non-ghillie laced brogues even in quite formal circumstances. I have previously posted a photo of the installation ceremony of the Finlaggen Pursuivant, showing several grand worthies wearing non-ghillie laced brogues. They look great, and quite formal, [as they should as participants in an heraldic ceremony] and in compliance with our collective idea that the kilt should be regarded as daily wear and not exclusively ceremonial costume. Reference to the several wonderful posts by Nervous Jock [as well as the Royal Regiment Orders of Dress available on line] demonstrates that Hamish's point is well taken--Scottish military ghillies are worn with regular style shoe laces laced in the military ladder pattern.

All that being said, I voted yes for several reasons: (1) "costumey" is a difficult objection to justify: it is impossible to completely avoid the aspect of costume when wearing a kilt, it is, after all, in its modern form, a "costume" invented by Victorian fashion fops [among others, the Sobieski Stuart brothers, who committed outright fraud in promoting the Victorian fashion revival]; (2) when properly coordinated with other accessories for level of formality, they are great looking and distinctive; (3) personal taste and style should govern, not some misbegotten "rule", especially where none of the so-called "rules" for modern kilt wear have any historical validity--the kilt police should stand down.



Cheers! Enjoy your ghillies, enjoy whatever you think is good! FREEDOM!