Braving the Brogue

I love brogues, always have. On boys and girls of all ages. I think they’re just about the smartest shoe in the shop. But how ever much I admired them on others, I was never sure if they were something I would love on my very own feet. That was until I found the perfect pair and now I can’t take them off.

My love for brogues started a long long time ago when the only person who really made fashion brogues for ladies, was the wonderful Sir Paul Smith. I was given a pair by the press office as a gift / payment for writing some press releases. I chose them myself and so strong was my longing to own a pair, I took the last remaining size 7s. I’m a small size 6. They were pale pink leather and absolutely gorgeous. I still have them in the box they came in and I have never, ever worn them. They’re far too big, I look like a clown but I can’t bring myself to part with them. I just like opening the lid now and again and knowing that I own one of the finest pair of brogues ever made.

It was years and years until I finally plucked up the courage to start looking again and then last Summer I found them. A black and white pair of lace-less brogues from Urban Outfitters, purchased in Los Angeles, in Santa Monica to be exact. They are quite possibly the best shoes I’ve ever owned, I wear them almost every day and they have reignited my love and confidence in the brogue.

So, having overcome the fear that I was possibly too old or too short legged or just too afraid to wear them, last week I pushed it that one step further….and I think it was a step too far. I bought myself – online – a pair of tan leather brogue ankle boots. I’m quite a fan of summer dresses with bare legs and boots – biker boots and the like, not Uggs – and I thought that this could be the perfect, lighter alternative. I think I might have been wrong. You see, the great thing about biker boots is that they’re loose enough around the ankle to make them flattering, as soon as you wear any kind of short boot which is more on the fitted side, it doesn’t do anything for the length or shape of your legs. Well not mine anyway.

But the thing is I still like them and I’m convinced I’ll find a way to wear them. Or they might just sit alongside my pink Paul Smith brogues in their box, as a slight fashion mistake but very nice to look at all the same.