Ghillie brogues, yes or no?

[Bugbear]

I too am puzzles about what he was what he was talking about.

Any leather shoe requires some care. The super cheap ones cannot be resoled. I had a 2 prs of hand-made Mexican ones (Navy style dress) that I wore alternately for almost 25 years, until the uppers finally gave out. I don't remember how many times I had them re-soled and re-heeled. I gave them a weekly cleaning with saddle-soap, then polished them for Sunday, and always put shoe trees into them each night.

Maybe he was complaining about all the piercings and gimping, and would have the same complaint about regular Wing Tips.

That might be it...