Wingtips

[ccasada]

Greetings!

Knowing all here are very wise and knowledgable, could someone tell me how far back men's wing tip style shoes go? 20's? 30's? early 40's? Are they a American only style or would Brits be wearing this style also.

As always any and all assistance is appreciated.

Chuck

 

[Talbot]

Brits call them 'Brogues'. Very popular over there.

 

[Edward]

To the best of my unerstanding, brogues in the UK go right back to Edwardian days at least. Traditionally they were a country shoe (I'm sure I read, probably somewhere on here, that the punched holes in the design were originally functional ,and allowed the shoe to drain easily had one had the misfortune to step into a bog), though these days you'll see them in town. A patterned, black full-brogue (i.e. a wingtip) is as common as an Oxford in the City nowadays. The beauty of a patterned shoe like that is that it doesn't show a scuff anywhere near so quickly as a smoothe Oxford.

I'm not sure when exactly brogues began to become acceptable town wear over here.... I want to say 1950s, but I'm probably way off there.

 

[Lokar]

According to the all-knowing wiki, they originated in Scotland & Ireland (hence "brogue", as in bróg, which is the Scottish & Irish Gaelic for shoe), and as Edward said, the brogueing was originally functional, for when you stepped in a bog and required the drainage.

 

[John in Covina]

I may be way off base here but as a kid on Long Island, I heard the adults talk about wingtips and you may see several different styles in the group of wingtips.

One style is when the shoe has a heavier, thicker than normal sole (originally leather) so the shoe is more in the heavy duty end of wingtips and the adults called this style "Brogans." I have own a pair of brogans that I liked some time ago and once broken in they were hardy comfortable shoes.

 

[Cigarband]

Early in the 20th Century, you could make money by wearing other peoples new shoes for them, to break them in. When my Grandfather was in his teens, he made two dollars per pair that he broke.:whip:

 

[Wally_Hood]

I may be way off base here but as a kid on Long Island, I heard the adults talk about wingtips and you may see several different styles in the group of wingtips.

One style is when the shoe has a heavier, thicker than normal sole (originally leather) so the shoe is more in the heavy duty end of wingtips and the adults called this style "Brogans." I have own a pair of brogans that I liked some time ago and once broken in they were hardy comfortable shoes.

"they were hardy, comfortable shoes" or "they were hardly comfortable shoes"? Punctuation can be crucial at certain times.

 

[John in Covina]

Hardy or hearty but not hardly.