Sporran and Shoe Color

[Troglodyte]

It has long been a convention that black brogues only are worn with the kilt - and it is a common sight, especially here in Scotland.

The origin of this is debatable, and is frequently given as having its roots in military traditions that get carried over into civilian life. In the British army 'the men' are issued with black footwear for service dress, while officers and senior NCOs wear brown - which was seen in both infantry and cavalry regiments.

The Highland regiments were different. Both officers and men wore black brogues, and continue to do so.

Brown leather sporrans are a different issue, and are not necessarily connected with the colour of the footwear the kiltie prefers. Brown leather is the 'country colour' and has associations with officers and gentlemen - yeoman farmers across the UK were expected to appear on the hunting field in brown leather boots and tweeds, which set them apart from hunt-servants and members who would most often be in black top-boots and red hunt coats. Followers would be in black coats and black boots.

Brown leather military accessories (belts, pouches, holsters, etc) and footwear has always been the preference of the gentleman, and so brown leather for a sporran will naturally be most men's preference for informal wear.

In sartorial colour-coding terms, brown leather suggests you are a land-owning gentleman, of the officer class - what in Scotland would class you as a laird.

The loathing hatred that is often targeted at ghillie brogues is curious, and is wildly misplaced. Descriptions of Highland footwear found in 16th and 17th century accounts are pretty close to the appearance of modern-day ghillie brogues, and so they have a strong case of being the only true form of Highland dress footwear. Certainly far more authentic and true than the English 20th century forms of footwear (Oxfords, Derbys) that so frequently get promoted as 'traditional' Highland dress footwear.

Brown ghillie brogues are now more frequently seen, but they too have a long history - anyone familiar with MacLeay's see that they have been around for at leats 150 years - longer than the modern style of kilt, tweed Argyles, and dark evening doublets.

Is it wrong or incorrect to wear black shoes with a brown sporran, or even a black sporran? Of course not - how could it be? It is simply a matter of personal preference, but black is seen as smarter than brown for informal dress occasions.

Brogues have always been given as the 'correct' shoe for with the kilt (whether ghillie or fully-closed is individual preference) but any shoe is acceptable - a walk around any Games field here in Scotland will show just how rigidly the kiltie on his home soil sticks to The Rules that get applied overseas.