English Brogues

Posted by: Mick P on 22 April 2015

Chaps

 

The discussion on CharlesTyrwhitt shirts seemed to go down well, so I thought I would try to start a discussion on English Brogues as you all appear to be, to quote George, a bunch of dandies.

 

I am now retired but when I worked, I usually wore black Oxford shoes from either Barker or Church.

 

The simple truth is that black shoes by their very nature are boring whereas brown brogues are a lot more interesting with scope for style.

 

This last few months I have become a mini version of Imelda Marcos and have been buying a few brown brogues because most of the time I now dress casually.

 

After doing a bit of research I decided that English shoes from Northampton are still the best bet and the styles currently coming out on the street are really good.

 

This url from Pediwear shows the variety on offer and brown brogues seem the most chic by far.

 

http://www.pediwear.co.uk/

 

I like the 1880 range from Loake who now seem to be the Charles Tyrwhitt of shoes, not the best but close to it for a lot less money.

 

I have just taken order of a pair of Loake Royals as a nostalgia trip.  These shoes are good value and were used by the 1960 mods for dancing due to their style of fit. I have the oxblood colour and they look quite natty.

 

I may now treat myself to a dark brown brogue with the tweed cloth inserts, they also look rather good.

 

I went for a trip up to Selfridges with the wife to see the poppies at the Tower of London last year and then took a visit to Selfridges where a lot of the male shop assistants were dressed rather hipsterish and I then decided it was time to get shot of the old beige stuff that made me look like a country squire and update with more colourful stuff and all the old black shoes (save two) have been got rid of and brown brogues are now the order of the day. I have also bought a dozen or so new brightly coloured sets of cord trousers and a few jackets and shirts to match.

 

Are any of you into brogues ?

 

Regards

 

Mick

 

 

 

Posted on: 24 April 2015 by Derek Wright

I used Crockett and Jones from 1968 until I stopped working in 2000, there was one style/size combination that worked very well. The leather soles could be a bit slippy on some of marble floors of the conference centres.

 

Now I use Brooks Beasts to control pronation, not that I ever run any where, but they work well in a wheelchair when propelling my self around using my feet .

Posted on: 24 April 2015 by Don Atkinson
Originally Posted by Frenchnaim:

Of course it's pointless to get a pair of expensive shoes if you don't have a decent cobbler at hand when the time comes to have them re-soled. Factory repairs are just too expensive, and it takes ages.

I have usually sent my Barker shoes back to Barker. £65 to be resoled and heeled. It does take a few weeks, which is a bit of a pain, but the shoes are almost like new when they do come back.