Brogue shoe

The brogue (from Scottish Gaelic bròg and Irish Gaelic bróg, both meaning "shoe") is a style of low-heeled shoe or boot traditionally characterised by multiple-piece, sturdy leather uppers with decorative perforations (or "broguing") and serration along the pieces' visible edges.

Brogues were traditionally considered to be outdoor or country footwear, as the perforations were originally intended to allow the upper to dry more quickly in wet climates. As such, they were otherwise considered not appropriate for casual or business occasions, but brogues are now considered appropriate in most contexts. Brogues are most commonly found in one of four toe cap styles — full or "wingtip", semi-, quarter and longwing — and four closure styles, namely Oxford, Derby, ghillie, and monk. Today, as well as their typical form of sturdy leather shoes or boots, brogues may take the form of business dress shoes, sneakers, high-heeled women's shoes, or any other shoe form that utilises or evokes the multi-piece construction and perforated, serrated piece edges characteristic of brogues.

History

Modern brogues trace their roots to a rudimentary shoe originating in Ireland and Scotland that was constructed using untanned hide. Modern brogues feature decorative perforations. These are often said to stem from the original Irish brogues as well, specifically from holes intended to allow water to drain from the shoes when the wearer crossed wet terrain such as a bog. However, contemporaneous descriptions of the original brogues do not mention such holes. Nevertheless, the practice of adding holes to shoes was no doubt a normal practice for, according to JG McKay in "Notes of a Pair of Pampooties" in 1894, in a letter to Henry VIII of 1543, a Scot named John Elder describes making holes in a type of shoe made from uncured leather, called a pampootie, which was so common in Scotland that the England named the Scots for it, as "rough-footed Scots".