Appropriate Footwear

[DWFII]

Here's a photo of a "21st century" Jacobite shoe--a shoe that is contemporary in fit and construction but that is modeled off mid 18th century footwear. If recall correctly, I have seen several painting of highlanders from that era and almost to a man they are wearing something similar.

[Glamrockdj]

Here's a photo of a "21st century" Jacobite shoe--a shoe that is contemporary in fit and construction but that is modeled off mid 18th century footwear. If recall correctly, I have seen several painting of highlanders from that era and almost to a man they are wearing something similar.

That's a fantastic looking shoe but I don't think I'd be marching into battle with them on, I recall seeing some drawings of a Jacobite who was found in a bog and was quite well preserved and that's where the brogan type boot came from, I'll need to look for it as it had diagrams etc, some photos too.

I'd wear that shoe for a more dressier occasion, very nice.

[Finn]

Here's another option for a sutler:
http://www.smoke-fire.com/shoes-boots-1.asp
These are really good people.

[DWFII]

Well,

At Culloden and elsewhere I am sure you would have seen many different types of footwear and even barefeet (especially as hardpressed and worn out as the Jacobites were)...just as you might have in 1776 and the Revolutionary War. But buckle shoes were the norm even for poor folk if they had shoes at all.

But Prince Charlie would have been (and is seen in several paintings) wearing them as well as many of the Clan chieftans. A good many of the figures shown on the STA site ...I'm guess from paintings made around 1822...are wearing buckle shoes.

Here are two of probably two dozen images from the Jacobite period of highland soldiers:

The first is a Highland Soldier (might be the title) painted in 1744

.

The second is a Grenadier in the 42nd foot circa 1751



This second one was done by David Morier...if I've got the details correct and it was he who painted the rather famous painting of the Battle of Culloden.

As I say, I have a slew of these images...all pointing to the fact that many highlanders did indeed go into battle in a pair of buckle shoes.

As for the brogans in the drawing...there is an alternative explanation: many times a buckle would break or be lost and rather than go to the expense of replacing it, the latchets would be cut short and holes punched in the ends. A lace was then run through those holes effectively making a shoe that would very much look like a brogan to casual inspection or an untutored eye.

[Glamrockdj]

Well,

At Culloden and elsewhere I am sure you would have seen many different types of footwear and even barefeet (especially as hardpressed and worn out as the Jacobites were)...just as you might have in 1776 and the Revolutionary War. But buckle shoes were the norm even for poor folk if they had shoes at all.

But Prince Charlie would have been (and is seen in several paintings) wearing them as well as many of the Clan chieftans. A good many of the figures shown on the STA site ...I'm guess from paintings made around 1822...are wearing buckle shoes.

Here are two of probably two dozen images from the Jacobite period of highland soldiers:

The first is a Highland Soldier (might be the title) painted in 1744

.

The second is a Grenadier in the 42nd foot circa 1751



This second one was done by David Morier...if I've got the details correct and it was he who painted the rather famous painting of the Battle of Culloden.

As I say, I have a slew of these images...all pointing to the fact that many highlanders did indeed go into battle in a pair of buckle shoes.

As for the brogans in the drawing...there is an alternative explanation: many times a buckle would break or be lost and rather than go to the expense of replacing it, the latchets would be cut short and holes punched in the ends. A lace was then run through those holes effectively making a shoe that would very much look like a brogan to casual inspection or an untutored eye.

I'm not doubting your historical acumen, when I said I don't think I'd be wearing those shoes into battle, I meant me present day!!

Your explanation about the brogan style mix up makes interesting reading too, thanks for that.

[Robertson]

http://jas-townsend.com/product_info...roducts_id=244
How about this? This is what I have look & feel great..
Sorry already posted..jumped a page...anyway I agree good shoe

[Jack Daw]

For the sake of auhenticity, remember that shoes in 1745/6 were not distinctive for left and right foot. I have a pair of fugawees that can be made in the original fashion, by gum. If you are into doing it right; then do so!

[DWFII]

For auhenticity, remember that shoes in 1745/6 were not disctinctive for ledt and right foot. I have a pair of fugawees that can be made in the original fashion, by gum.

You're probably quite correct in that, although right and left lasts may actually predate this time period...it went in cycles.

I might also add that for truly period shoes they need to be made of a waxed flesh calf--this is a very special treatment that actually bears little resemblance to what we would think of as "waxed" today. And the black colour came from, and was renewed by using, lampblack. Not dye. As far as I know no one is making that leather today...or even anything close. The last source, Kellett (?) in England retired some few years ago.

Furthermore, the shoes would probably not have been very good fitting and for more reasons than that they were straights. Unlined, little or no stiffener in the heel area and rough edges everywhere. What's more, they would have been hand sewn throughout...and on the uppers with what is known as "round closing" or "split and lift"--a type of edge or butt stitching that is not easily mastered or done much today.

Now...an opinion from someone who is not a reenactor: If a shoe doesn't meet all the above criteria, it is obviously not really authentic or true to the period. If it is not true to the period, then it is, in my opinion, not significantly more authentic or more desirable than a modern re-creation/reinterpretation of the style. It is simply posing...no less so than a modern recreation such as the shoe in the photo I posted...but without the comforts and technical advantages of another two hundred-fifty years of shoemaking evolution.

In Civil War reenacting there is a category of reenactor that is known as a BOB (Better Off Bowling) who might, for instance, wear a modern flannel shirt to a reenactment in an attempt to pass it off as authentically 19th century...or perhaps just "good enough."

Far better in my opinion, to try to recapture the spirit and the aesthetic of the period than to reach for authenticity with insufficient knowledge to actually pull it off....unless you are a committed reenactor--at which point you're probably already talking thread counts and dye sources.

I have not handled any of the shoes from any of the sites mentioned and I would not presume to critique them short of a closer inspection. But one of my best friends and colleagues is the head shoemaker at Colonial Williamsburg and I have a fairly privileged perspective on what the construction materials and techniques for the period were.

[Woodsheal]

There were "brogan-ish" shoes during the 18th C. called "high-lows", but I've never seen any image of them being worn by Highlanders. I've cut my Civil War brogans down into below-the-ankle 18th C. shoes, with two lacing holes each side instead of four. Many common folk wore lace-up shoes instead of buckled.

So, cutting down your brogans would be your cheapest option. Check out the "1740's Commoner Shoe" on this page:
http://www.civilwarboots.com/enter.h...tml&lang=en-us
You'll see that they are basically cut-down brogans, for $160...!

Another source for decent priced 18th c. shoes is the aforementioned Fugawee:
http://www.fugawee.com/Men's%20Colonial.htm

And, many reenactors swear by Mr Robert Land's excellent footwear:
http://www.robertlandhistoricshoes.c...t/Detail?no=12

[DWFII]

There were "brogan-ish" shoes during the 18th C. called "high-lows", but I've never seen any image of them being worn by Highlanders. I've cut my Civil War brogans down into below-the-ankle 18th C. shoes, with two lacing holes each side instead of four. Many common folk wore lace-up shoes instead of buckled.

So, cutting down your brogans would be your cheapest option. Check out the "1740's Commoner Shoe" on this page:
http://www.civilwarboots.com/enter.h...tml&lang=en-us
You'll see that they are basically cut-down brogans, for $160...!

There! The above link takes you to a pair of shoes (the Commoner) that is described as a "cut down buckle shoe." That's pretty much what I was describing in a previous post to this topic.

But, although it may look a little like a brogan, from the perspective of a shoe maker, it is not. It is styled and made like a buckle shoe.