Quote Originally Posted by SlackerDrummer View Post
MoR, I think you missed the point of my question, but I probably didn't phrase it very well. I'm already in the convinced column regarding ghillie brogues not being worn with formal attire. I'm wondering why the variety seen today are dismissed as appropriate shoes by some for daywear since they are in fact country shoes of a sort.
Ken, I rather think you summed it up when you pointed out that most gentlemen (Scots at least) already have a pair of shoes suitable for wear with the kilt. There is a secondary consideration as well; "country clothes" are best worn in their natural habitat: the country, and are viewed by many as out of place in an urban environment. For the sake of argument I think we can all agree that Highland games are a country sort of event, and that they are, probably, the natural habitat of the ghillie brogue (or any other stout "country" shoe). However, once one leaves the country environment of the games, the ghillie brogues become as out of place as a tweed suit and brown shoes in the dining room of Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair.

Likewise I am sure that others (both here and abroad) tend to view them as more-or-less marching band regalia and, like the white socks associated with the hired kilt trade, eschew them for that reason.

Personally I don't like them, other than for a day at the games, because they are so damned clunky. In my book dress shoes shouldn't weigh a ton, and shouldn't have a half inch of sole protruding around the edge of the shoe. I'm sure that if someone offered ghillie brogues that were elegant (rather than being designed for marching in a parade on pavement) and had some style to them, I-- and a host of others-- would probably be a lot less critical.