Brogue Boots

I would love two pairs – one black; one brown – with the idea they could last forever-ish.

What would a reasonable spend be on the kind of shoes I could keep wearing for years? And what brands are enduring?

Trickers here. cost me £250 for my current pair. last pair were about the same price 20 years or so ago.

I’d look at Loake, Barker, Grenson, Church’s. prices will range from £150 to £400+

make sure to look after them with regular polishes, get the soles seen to by a good cobbler and so on

Cheaney worth a look?

My missus bought a pair of Grenson chelsea boot brogue things similar to those ^ – think they were about £150, very nice but the leather doesn’t seem particularly thick (apparently Grenson quality has gone south over the years since the manufacturing moved abroad or something) & after a year of not being properly cared for there were cracks appearing in the creases – i’ve given them a clean to get shot of the watermarks & several applications of leather cream / polish to try & salvage them and they’ve come up pretty well. I’ve a pair of Loake brogue shoes & think they’re better made for roughly the same dosh.

Pick a British brand, make sure the sole is Goodyear welted and you should be fine. I like Barker and Grenson, but spend more and Tricker, Churches or Cheaney and you’ll not go far wrong.

The key is to look after them, polish them regularly, treat the sole every now and then if it’s leather, try not to wear them 2 days on the bounce, use shoe trees, that kind of thing. And make sure you replace the sole before it goes through, find a good cobbler (not Timsons!) who will treat them well.

There are different Grenson ranges, some made abroad. They are open about this on website. Think loake have differentiated ranges too.

I’ve got Loake and Grenson brogue boots, which get worn loads. not exactly cheap but I would say good value.

Brogue Boots

….or, as i’ve always thought of them, Mr.Men shoes

perchypanther – Member

Brogue Boots

….or, as i’ve always thought of them, Mr.Men shoes

the very reason I buy dark brown rather than chavvy mustard colour.

I’ve had a pair of Loake brogue boots for 3 years now, with a welted commando sole as I don’t like leather soles. I polish them regularly and they’re now very comfortable. Not that cheap, mind…

make sure to look after them with regular polishes, get the soles seen to by a good cobbler and so on

Under the “and so on”, I’d put rotate wear; I tend to use “wear a day, rest a day” principle on shoes & boots.

Edit: beaten like a rented mule – lunge makes my point.

No experience of boots from the makers listed; RM Williams for me.

Alfred Sargent, an old black pair of brogue boots with commando soles and a newer pair of the Kelso “veldtschoen” boots in brown. Totally un-killable, I expect to collect my pension still wearing them.
I did see an advert in one of the fixie magazines years ago for a pair of brogues fitted with SPDs, they looked pretty cool.

Quality of Church’s has declined since being bought out.
Would avoid Loakes.
Grensons made in uk are great; made in india less so.
Always fancied a pair from Alfred Sargent but I’ve run out of n+ options.
Goodyear welted sole; either leather or commando.
Undecided about triple welted.

Wolverine 1000 mile ??

Got some Brown Cheaney brogues at the moment and they are fantastic. One other pair of my Cheaney’s are coming up to 10 years old and just starting to crack.
Also got a couple of pairs of Crockett and Jones which are amazing, but the Cheaney ones look a bit more casual, C&J seem more traditional and formal in style.

Pick a good Northampton based manufacturer, take a deep breath and pay they cash, get some good polish and leather conditioner (Saphir), watch a few videos on you tube on how to care for them, and they will last and look good for years!

I really do fancy some of the brogue boots, just can’t work out what I could wear with them with yet.

I have a couple of pairs of Loakes, the tan town boot and a brown pair of commando soled ones. They’re fine for me. Would be interested in the reasoning behind Frank’s recommendation of avoiding them.

In searching for a pair of Cordovan leather boots I found these, not full brogues but they look pretty good value for money.

Aero clothing

Still can’t find what I’m looking for in cordovan leather.

Alfred Sargent. I bought a pair with my first ever wages, and am still wearing them (several resoles later right enough). I was asked if they were new the other day.

Terry Pratchett sums it up well:

“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

This was the Captain Samuel Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness.”

I have a pair of Barker’s ladies brogue boots. They’re were slight seconds via ebay (also have a pair of shoes from their factory shop in Earl’s Barton) and cost £120. Not sure I’d pay rrp for them though. I suspect (as usual) the men’s boots would be slightly better made (possible thicker leather, definitely thicker soles) and more worthy of the eye-watering rrp (£295)

Trickers or redwing. got 5 pairs, they last forever. had grensons before and they are rubbish, they fall apart, the shank is not strong enough and the midsole drops in front of the heel splitting the sole.

cheaney are the only other brand i would look at, Loake and barkers are nowhere near the same quality.
you get what you pay for.

I’d second the vote for Redwing, very sturdy, thicker leather than the Sargents and unlined apart from the toe box part of the boot. They do a brogue style boot which is very good looking.

Given that Northampton is only an hour away, any other factory outlets around there?

https://www.northamptonshoes.com/factory-shops/

I was lucky to be given a pair of John Lobbs. Fantastic shoes but very very spendy

Caring for good shoes is so important. Keep them polished, NEVER ear two days on the bounce, always use wooden shoe trees (to absorb sweat from them) and get soles attended to before they’re worn through

Most of the brands above should provide many years of happy use if looked after

+1 for Red Wings,if their Brogue rangers last as well as my Beckmans or Moc-Toes they’ll be money well spent.

No shoes last very long if you wear them a lot

Clarks? £60.

Mine are stupidly comfy. Get polished every 4 months or so and after 3 years of being worn 5 days a week (primary teacher) they’re just getting better.

Who wants to wear the same pair of boots for 10 years!?

Ive got a brand new pair of Loakes going spare if anyones a size 10/10.5

In my wisdom I have two pairs of brown jodhpur style boots at which I frequently look and think why didn’t I buy one brown and one black pair. Mine are Russel and Bromley (bit soendy at £175-ish) and Jones

the-muffin both of mine are over 10 years with lots of life yet. My Church’s slippers hold tue record though at 30 🙂 Sadly they don’t make them anymore in variable width fittings as I could do with a new pair.

DM’s last brilliantly and are great value, sadly no Brogue style though OP

@twice yes indeed, buy well and buy once, buy poorly and buy many times.

Sargents are about a 5 minute walk from my house, several mates have worked there over the years, (Fun fact – Forcefield body armour is made in the factory over the road) I couldn’t justify the outlay, but they are well made.

Take a look at the Hoggs of Fife website.

Have still a great pair of Croaker boots(similar to brogue)by jeffrey west (Northampton)after 14 years,originally bought for a mates wedding from the shop which I believe was in Palmerston road and only have been worn probably once a year on average ever since,great quality boot with a quirky cleft heel.
Can be pricy but for a decent quality shoe but why wouldn’t you pay that bit more.

Clarks? £60.

Do people really pay so little?
I have some 25 year old Grensons which are ace.

DM’s last brilliantly and are great value, sadly no Brogue style though OP

They certainly used to do a brogue boot, maybe just not now.


[edit]
Just having a search to see if anyone had some of those DM Affleck boots, the top brown pair, and I found one dealer with one pair in my size on eBay.
Purchase made!
I really needed some smart-ish footwear, these are just the ticket. 😀

OP, what size are you?

Reasonably-priced offering in 7, 8 or 10 from Hardy Amies. Goodyear sole. £112.50.