Article excerpted from stylebubble.co.uk
Brogues, brogues, brogues…probably about 50% of readers here own a pair ever since they came out in some shape or form via Topshop, Jeffrey Campbell (the US equivalent of Office?), Office, vintage or indeed designer routes. I’m not going down the path of a celeb list of who endorses brogue wearing as I’m sure the list is quite an obvious one.
Spurred on by Disneyrollergirl though, I’ve made it my mission to go about acquiring some real McCoy made-to-last, brogues with a proper seal of approval however from the likes of Church’s (est. 1873), Tricker’s (est. 1829) or Grenson (est. 1866). Despite my fascination with brands with an extensive history, I’ve never gone out to seek them – probably due to the fact that I feel feeble going into said shops where I look like utter riff-raff and don’t adhere to the demographic of their usual clientale. These brands, which have had varying degrees of revamps and image changes, are halfway there in gaining a whole new generation of fans. I’m also hearing the words of my father ringing in my head; “Just you watch out, the prices of foreign imported goods will go sky high! Buy British!” – in my head, he has also seemingly aged twenty years and has got an oddly British patriotic tone (even though he’s Chinese… ). Buy British, eh?
I’ll gladly start with my feet and have thus started a wee brogue fund that should contribute nicely to a pair of sturdy pair of Church’s/Trickers/Grensons that though might seem incredibly faddy now due to reasons stated in the first paragraph, will surely turn out to be a sound investment.
