The full brogue is a versatile shoe that can be worn from casual wear to business wear. The full brogue is set apart from lesser brogues by the wing tip. It has perforations—called “broguing”—along every seam, a medallion on the toe and a heel counter. Though the classic full brogue is an oxford—a shoe with closed lacing, called a balmoral to the Americans—they can just as often be found in a derby—blucher to the Americans. There are even monk, boot and slip-on brogues. Pierce Brosnan wears the Chruch’s Chetwynd model, a full-brogue oxford, in chestnut brown. In GoldenEye he wears them with his double-breasted navy blazer and beige trousers, but he also dresses them down with a navy jumper and tan moleskin trousers. A pair of these was sold at Christies on 19 December 2007 for £1,080. A pair of black full-brogue oxfords in the Church’s Douglas model from The World is Not Enough was sold at Christie’s on 12 February 2001 for £1,528. The complex style of the full brogue works best with rustic, heavier clothes and less so with city business dress, but the latter can still be done. In Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery wears black full-brouge derby shoes with his black, light grey and navy pinstripe suits.
Pierce Brosnan also wears a dressier variation called the semi-brogue in GoldenEye with his navy birdseye suit. The semi-brogue is the same as the as the full brogue with one big exception: it has a regular cap toe instead of a wing tip. Otherwise the shoe has broguing along all the seams, a heel counter and a toe medallion. This shoe is better for business suits than the full brogue, but the complex detailing on the shoes means they are still not ideal for dressier occasions. Brosnan’s semi-brogue oxford is the Church’s Diplomat model.
The simplest brogue is the quarter brogue, also called a punch-cap-toe. In Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig wears the Church’s Philip quarter brogue oxfords with his suits. This shoe is almost as dressy as the stitched cap-toe oxford and can be worn in the most formal, and least formal, of suit-wearing occasions.
There are other brogue styles that Bond does not wear. The austerity brogue is a wing-tip shoe without any perforations. There is also the longwing brogue, in which the wings extend around the entire shoe. The longwing, which is popular in American, has derby-style lacing and is the most casual of all brogues. Finally, I can’t leave out the ghillie brogue, which is mostly worn with Scottish highland dress and has no tongue.
Matt, the picture of the Chetwynd in brown looks courtesy of Herring shoes website? Where I by my Church’s.
The “Diplomat” picture from Goldeneye. They appear to have six eyelets which would make them the Edward which is part of the same range as the Philip. Or my eyes could be deceiving me.
Cheers
Ryan
Yes it’s from Herring. I don’t own the shoe to take a photo of it.
Both the Chetwynd and Diplomat models used to have six eyelets in the 90s.
I see. Good stuff Matt. I happen to prefer the six eyelets myself as they appear taller and more sleek.
I’ve always thought that five eyelets looked more sleek than six. Allen Edmonds’ popular Park Avenue oxford is one of the few available that has six eyelets, but its sleekness is compromised by having a bulky 360° welt.
What is a 360° welt please Matt? I know what a welt is but not 360° you mentioned.
It’s when the welt goes all the way around the shoe. On most Goodyear welted shoes the welt does not go around the heel.
Of course. I can see how that would appear bulky for sure.
Interesting that the brogue shoe is considered to be less formal. I previously thought that the brogue was the most formal shoe. I suspect that many others do too. Then again, as I previously stated, the general knowledge of clothing etc is really poor where I live
I used to think so too. A few years ago I thought the full brogue with all the “adornments” was the most formal of shoes.
The socks on Connery look striped. Is it just the weave? I think it’s desperately unlikely that he would wear anything but black socks with that outfit…
Would you please share pictures of the Douglas shoes that sold in Christy’s ? I searched the internet but couldn’t find anything on them.
Thanks a lot.
Here’s a link to the lot: http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/memorabilia/the-world-is-not-enough-1999-1991835-details.aspx
Wow 11F. They look pretty battered too. Someone could have thrown some trees in! :)
I own a pair of Church’s brogues and they are the best looking, most durable shoes I have ever owned. Continental Europeans think they’re stiff and they do take a year to break in but once they do the fit is consistent. Mine are in the burwood leather and I highly recommend it because it holds its sheen through anything.
The Philip shoes can still be custom ordered from the Church’s store in New York. They are part of Church’s Royal Collection.
They are super elegant looking and come with a complete shoe care kit.
Maybe you´re wrong Matt? I have a pair of Church Diplomat from the early eighties, and it is only 5 eyelets.
Here’s an example of a six-eyelet Diplomat:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHURCHS-CUSTOM-GRADE-DIPLOMAT-MENS-CAPTOE-OXFORD-DRESS-SHOE-SIZE-12-1-2-X-4-1-4-/161410697113?pt=US_Men_s_Shoes&hash=item2594d3c799
Church’s has changed the model more than once, apparently.
Hi Matt looking to buy some new black shoes which can go with black tie as I only have monk straps at the moment. (Which I’m guessing won’t work?) I like the idea of a quarter brogue but I would imagine they’re not appropriate for wearing with a dinner suit. In which case I’m thinking of going for a plain toe Derby like Daniel Craig’s in Casino Royale. Or is a cap toe Oxford more versatile?
The ideal shoe is a patent leather plain toe oxford, though a regular calf plain-toe oxford would really work just as well. The next-best choice would be either a plain-toe wholecut or a cap-toe oxford, and then a plain-toe derby with 2 or 3 pairs of eyelets. I wouldn’t recommend a shoe with any decoration. Quarter-brogues are great for any suits but not really for black tie.
Ok thank you very much for the advice, Matt.