Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Kiltie--Not Just For Golf Shoes

Most often associated with golf shoes, the kiltie adds jaunty layer of intrigue to any pair of kicks. Arguments for the kiltie’s functional value versus preening decorative adornment would probably end in a draw. It’s a fancy mud flap…usually punched-patterned with some brogueing adornment and finished with walrus mustache looking ends.
Here’s a classic kiltie from Church’s archives. Jaunty…yes. Borderline fuzzy…perhaps.

And of course there are shoe makers who take the kiltie strategy to another level of elegance. I’m seeing a granddaddy long legs spider manifest in these babies. But I started drinking early this morning.
It must have been "come to work high and experiment with prototypes day" at Grenson recently.
Suede longwings kiltiefied and sporting a lug sole. Bobby Jones meets Paul Damn Bunyan. Shut up.
Certainly not a dress shoe but nothing but a sturdy casual foundation for your pedal wheel houses...bofe of ‘em. Stylish in an ADG fuzzy kind of way.
Tobacco cords seem to knock these out of the park. Orange polka dot Flusser socks just add sartorial insult to injury.
And best of all…new old stock. Never worn…bought ‘em on eBay for sixty five bucks.
Onward. Staring at the same old DCA/Reagan National Airport carpet.
Blessed to be busy. And probably stuck in San Antonio because of snow back home this afternoon.

Shut up. ADG II

24 comments:

Silk Regimental said...

Those Grensens are perfect - great color and, well, fuzziness.

heavy tweed jacket said...

Great shoes! I had a pair of hand-me-down kiltie golf shoes as a kid, and wore them until they leaked like a water hazard. I miss 'em to this day.

Reggie Darling said...

Okay, so I'm a convert. I was only familiar with the kiltie of the blood-red, overly shiny middling department store variety worn by cretins in oversized golf shirts embroidered with logos of second rate resorts and pleated no-iron baggy khakis. You know the ones, worn by the guys that you see killing time in airport cocktail lounges posturing among their fellow regional salesman-types. This post has shed the scales from my eyes, and now I know that--just as my parents would always tell me--I should do more than just lazily scratch the surface of such things... Your shoes are, uh, gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

For some reason those shoes make your feet look rather small. I dig the shoes though, certainly different.

Patsy said...

Speaking of fuzzy - creole orange cords on sale at Polo/Boston yesterday - too bad you're not headed this way.

Gretchen said...

Not too keen on the strapped ones, but your new ebay score is DIVINE (ebay is just great. My checkbook doesnt necessarily agree). Here's to hoping the weather cooperates so you can come home...just be sure to protect those shoes from the inclement weather once you get here!

Anonymous said...

You're gonna give poor ol' Gretchen a jones for a woman-pair of these.

NCJack said...

I can see the po-lice report now: "Entire windshield area of Yugo in ditch covered by fuzzy dice, limiting visibility excessively.

Driver, uninjured, very confused, but exceptionally well shod"

Britt Sudduth said...

I don't know if I could pull the kiltie ADG. But a nice eBay pick up! For $65...nice! Hope you got out of TX ok!

Deep in the heart...

Britt

Gretchen said...

Anon's got that right! I had a pair of wingtip oxfords in college that I wore to death and haven't found a decent replacement since. Soo, I live vicariously through ADG's amazing hoard...

tintin said...

A shame you couldn't get them in green. You could wear them in the parade as you carry the pot of gold.

T said...

...Wonder how much it would cost to resole those suckers.

Scott said...

Those remind me of Bertie Wooster...in a good way. I like good old Bertie.

Scott

Anonymous said...

Gretchen. Gretchen. Gretchen. I posted my "jones" prediction before your comment was online. I just KNEW you would be panting. I am tellin' ya.....Gravati. Check this out for spring spectator oxfords :

http://www.gravati.it/inglese/sportd.htm

Also. You can custom order Gravatis and Silvia Fiorentinas at Berenshoes.com. They specialize in size, selection and service. Trust me, I know.

Nice post ADG. Hope you are shooting turd's-eye-view shots of traveler's shoes and socks from your NC airport carpet encampment for the next blog post. Lemonade from lemmings.......or whatever it is.......

SFBaying

Anonymous said...

Max? Are you still sittin around the airport? Lay down that John O'Hara a sec, and look at this. When I first saw it, I squinted and imagined they were bowties. In a flash, I could imagine a narrative coming from tiny labels under each, psychological/astrological types according to something distinctive/subjective about each tie, what a magnificent piece of art it would be, great structure and color. Just trying to help you pass the time, we're only here to serve:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OAh4Xl94vrU/TUBC91wYNHI/AAAAAAAAaqo/rCvNB5iHOJI/s1600/24.+roman+and+williams+butterflies+4th+st+loft.jpg

ADG said...

10:25am...JUST getting home after sleeping in baggage claim at the airport in Charlotte, NC...a first for me and my travelling endeavours. Flo...the butterflies reminded me of the store in NYC...Evolution.

SFBaying...it was character building.


Scott...thanks....Mr. T. ...that's the beauty in only paying a few bucks for these babies. Ain't gonna worry about resoling the knobby motocross treads on 'em.

TinTang...stop picking on me or I'll stop ghostwriting The Trad.

Britt...shoulda stayed in San Antonio for another night. My speculation was made good when all DC flights from Charlotte were cancelled. BTW, I'll answer your Vanity Fair caricature email today.

NCJack...the words Yugo and shod in the same sentence scare me.

GretchtheWretch...never made it. Slept in the shoes in the airport. Bad juju on them for now...gonna put shoe trees in them, don my LL Bean boots and head to the office in Old Town.

Patsy....the orange cords from Polo...I got 'em!

AnonSmallFeet...I wear an 8-D so my feet are a bit on the small side. The old adage is then true. I'm hung like a tic-tac.

ReggieDarlingtonositty...shit man, your characterization of the airport bar crew is SPOT ON...but you left out the company/corporate Winner's Circle/Presidents Club ring with one synthetic diamond circling the company loge center...that is...one synthetic diamond for every year that you win the sales award. I was sequestered at the airport last night with a covey of them. And I didn't have a gun.

Gretchen said...

Sleeping in your shoes just makes them yours and removes the juju from the doofus who let them go (to your infinite benefit) on ebay! Yet, sorry you were stuck in Charlotte but glad to hear you're back at it in Old Town. Better than stuck in a Yugo-inflicked ditch. Anon and ADG, you're really getting me in Covet Trouble...

Gretchen said...

oh, and Max, sir, methinks thou dost protest too much about the size of your, erm, feet. It aint the size, it's how they move, you know. Tic tacs are a burst of freshness, as they say

Karena said...

Oh dear Gretchen are you going to find out?

I do love the shoe, and it is very good looking in suede, you could not leave the house in them in Kansas City though! Rain snow ice....

xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena

Laguna Beach Fogey said...

Not a convert any time soon. But, I will grant, they do catch the eye. The "walrus mustache looking ends" remind me of Cthulhu:

http://suvudu.com/files/mt-files/Cthulhu.jpg

Young Fogey said...

I actually prefer my kilties with tassels on top of them.

But the kiltie part on my shoes isn't as, hmm, pronounced as it is on the footgear displayed here. More--and less--fuzzy at the same time?

And be careful in that Yugo!

Will Boehlke said...

Love the shoes. Hate the soles. Get thee to a cobbler.

ADG said...

Will...I've so little in these shoes that it wouldn't be worth the trip to the cobbler!

Platzreife said...

The shoes contain a cove eclipse that will improve the rapid twisting motion facilitates the rapid movement of the golfer. Alongside this remarkable feature is a shock absorbing material in the midsole. Can not imagine how much comfort you can feel when your feet are in golf shoes.