Brogues & Wingtip Shoes Guide : How To Wear, Buying Tips & Style Advice

Learn all about Brogues, Wingtips including Ghillie Brogue Shoes, Semi, half or quarter brogues. Get the accessories I’m wearing: Ancient Madder Silk Bow Tie in Yellow, Red Blue and Orange Diamond Pattern: Purple Carnation Boutonniere Life Size Lapel Flower: Pocket Square with Monogram Initial Classic White Irish Linen: Today’s video is all about brogues and wingtips. Full brogue, half brogue, quarter brogue, you name it, we’ll cover it. First of all, what exactly is a brogue? The brogue shoe has its origins in Ireland, Scotland and it was meant to be an outdoor shoe. Originally, the brogue shoe was an untanned piece of cowhide which had holes to drain the water from rain or when you worked. The brogue has hole perforations, that means, no matter what style of shoe you have, a brogue is a brogue if it has holes. It doesn’t matter what kind of Oxford or Monk or Derby you have, it will be a brogue as long as it has holes. When you buy a brogue shoe today, these are the hallmarks that you should look for? 1. Heels - It should have a toecap and a heel cap. 2. Hole perforations, the broguing. BROGUE STYLES: 1. full brogue. It has a very defined cut and layout, and it has lots of hole perforations. A full brogue always has this kind of winged toe cap, and it looks like a W. It also has perforations at the back of the shoe and the side of the shoe. Sometimes the full brogue is also called the wingtip because of its winged tip, the W. Now a variation of this shoe is the so-called Long wingtip where the cap extends all the way to the back. 2. Semi-brogue or half brogue - Defined by a cap toe that is straight across with what is called a medallion on the top that is the hole punching and it’s decorative. 3. Quarter brogue - it has the cap toe and lacks the medallion, but it has the hole perforations along the edge. 4. Ghillie brogue - from Scotland and used today for formal evening wear and sometimes people also wear it outside of that, but it’s very special because it’s a lace up shoe, but it doesn’t have a tongue. 5. Lately, one model has been popular is the so-called U cap or U tip brogue because it has this U shape. As I said, brogues can be Oxford, Derbies, or Monk straps. They can be very elegant, work with lots of outfits so don’t shy away from these somewhat more unusual styles, they’re great and also very classic. Now you may wonder, how do I wear brogue shoes? There are a few rules to consider. Rule number 1: The more broguing a shoe has, the less formal it is. For example, a wingtip full brogue in brown is less formal than a quarter brogue brown. Makes sense right? So if you have a gray, three-piece business suit, you’re not going to wear a brown or red full brogue. Usually, you wear a black quarter brogue or semi brogue because they’re much better. Rule number 2: Do not wear brogue shoe with evening wear. I know Prince William did it, and it looked terrible. He is not a good dresser, and you should always stay away from broguing with evening wear. If you have suits, especially more formal suits, try to go with less broguing than more. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. For semi-formal combinations such as blazers or sport coat outfits, I recommend you wear a full brogue shoe, or you can go with a half brogue. Try to go with more browns or red. Black, maybe but only if you wear gray flannel pants with it. For jeans and chinos, I suggest you go a step further. You can take full brogues and wing tips with a thicker leather sole. You can also do boots with it. You can really experiment with different colors; you can go with suede, leather textures. Overall, just emphasize the more casual character of your outfit. With brogues, you should avoid exotic leathers, simply because you already have the hole perforations and the more holes you have, the more texture and structure you get. Now you add in a crocodile leather, alligator or ostrich, it just is too much, and you cannot see the holes anymore and it’s not elegant and stylish. So if you have brogues, try to keep the leather as simple as possible, box calf leathers, may be scotch grain but not more than that. Overall, every man should have at least one brogue shoe in his shoe closet, and if you don’t have one right now, please check out our videos on the first three men’s shoe you should start with. Thank you! ======================================= To never miss any of our videos again, sign up here for free: Want to see more videos? Subscribe to our channel! ======================================= Gentleman’s Gazette Facebook: Instagram: FREE EBOOK: