THCD Photo Examples

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

In the absence of a higher resolution photo I cannot say for sure (and I certainly stand to be corrected), but it looks like only the gent on the left has buckles. I don't see any on the other gent's shoes.

And as an aside, how can buckled ghillie brogues be acceptable for formal attire, but non-buckled ones then be completely dismissed for daywear? Just out of curiosity.

In answer to your question there are several factors that need to be considered. The first is totally non-PC and has to do with the status of a person. Historically, buckle shoes, especially those with ornate or valuable buckles, indicated both wealth and social standing. The poor went barefoot, or wore only the most basic sort of footwear; those slightly better off actually had proper shoes, but not necessarily with buckles. Laces would have been far more common. Moving up the socio-economic scale shoes would have been the norm, and more than likely with buckles of brass-- not cut steel or silver, which would have been worn only by the wealthy. Because today shoes with buckles cost more than shoes with laces, buckled shoes may still be considered an indicator of wealth or social status (the two often going hand in hand).

Another consideration is the construction of the shoe, itself. Because these days buckled shoes are regarded as formal shoes, they tend to be made less robust than shoes intended to be worn in ordinary circumstances. Look at it this way-- black shoes are worn with a tuxedo. All things being equal, regarding formal attire, a pair of black Doc Martens aren't as appropriate as a pair of black Bally patent leather slip-ons. The same applies to Highland attire. Like it or not, ghillie brogues are a heavy duty shoe, which is fine for outdoors, tromping around at your local Highland games, but wholly unsuited to those formal occasions where "dress shoes" are socially required.

If one placed a new pair of ghillie brogues next to those worn in the photograph of the Hamilton wedding, one would immediately see the difference-- compared to Hamilton's shoes the new ghillie brogues would look like a farmer's clod hoppers; which brings us back to the Bally's vs. Doc's comparison...

...and the real answer to your question.

Ghille brogues are a shoe that is best considered as a shoe suitable for wear in other than formal settings, in the same way that buckled dress brogues (whether with straps or laces) are, like Prince Charlie coatees, totally inappropriate outside of a formal setting. It's not a matter of dismissing the ghillie brogue except as a day wear shoe, but rather understanding that despite its popularity (just like Doc Martens) it doesn't "fit in" as formal footwear.