Normal or formal?

[OC Richard]

Slip-on shoes were very popular with Highland Dress in the 19th century but seem to have fallen to the wayside in the 20th.

Many many images of Highland Dress show a shoe style one doesn't see anymore which (not ever having heard anyone else refer to it) I have dubbed "buckle loafers".

These shoes look like modern "loafers" but had a nonfunctional buckle. I'm wearing these in my avatar photo.

It was this style, NOT the Mary Jane style, which was worn by officers of the Highland regiments in Levee Dress in the 19th century. There's a wonderful painting, quite detailed, of all ranks of the 74th Foot in 1846 wearing this style.

Seems that at some point in the early 19th century the old bucked shoes with functional buckle evolved into this "buckle loafer".

Here are two officers of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in the 1890's, one in Full Dress, the other in Levee Dress. Note the "buckle loafers" worn in Levee Dress: