Full Brogues - a Firework of Perforation Patterns

Example Variant

Dark Reddish Full-Brogue Derbies in Norwegian-Welted Construction

This is a chunky-looking full-brogue derby with nice details. While the upper and rear part of the shoe are made of embossed smooth leather, the wing cap, which extends far into the sides, is made of plain, unembossed smooth leather. The relatively thick sole and the striking seam make the shoe look quite chunky. Because of that, and because of the perforation patterns, it’s easy to be tempted to call the shoe a Budapester. However, from the side you can clearly see that the toe drops off fairly gradually and not as abruptly as with a Budapester. So this is a full-brogue derby and not a Budapester, even though the similarity is very high.

Special Features

A full brogue is a very ornate variant of a brogue: such a shoe has

• a so-called medallion on the vamp at the front of the shoe
  
• a wing cap with broguing (with the medallion applied from above)
• a heel cap with broguing
• broguing on the sides

A full brogue can appear in the form of various shoe models and thus further characterize the model—for example, a full-brogue Oxford is essentially an Oxford that is simply more extensively decorated in the style of a full brogue. The term full brogue is therefore simply placed in front and, on its own, does not mean a specific model, but rather the perforation patterns used. This is why there are also full-brogue boots and full-brogue ankle boots.

About the full brogue, you should know that this is a very casual shoe. If you wear non-black full brogues to business meetings, it’s roughly as if you showed up to the meeting in a clown costume. - Well, with black full-brogue Oxfords this contrast isn’t as strong, but even then the many perforation patterns have a rather distracting effect and are therefore less suitable for formal occasions. However, I like black full brogues in the office a lot.

A full brogue can therefore really play to its strengths in everyday life, in your free time, and at less formal occasions. Here in Germany you can also wear full brogues very well in the office, even if they aren’t black. So it’s a very playful shoe, and wearing it is often simply fun.

Figuratively speaking, full brogues are a relatively eye-catching painting that invites you to look. And through additional factors such as the type of upper leather and its color, you can intensify this effect even further or make the painting more subtle. Besides, I wouldn’t want embossed smooth leather on full brogues, or at most only in places. In my view, in many such cases the embossing of the leather competes with the perforation patterns, so that the latter don’t come into their own as well. The best choice here is likely calf leather, which has a clear, puristic structure.

Confusion with Budapesters

Full-brogue derbies are often equated with Budapesters, even though there is a subtle difference. Budapesters can have perforation decorations in the style of a full brogue, and this is usually the case. However, a Budapester is primarily defined by its shoe shape: greater width and a high toe that slopes down relatively steeply. In my view, it’s very understandable that such shape features are much less noticeable than extensive perforation decoration. And so it’s also understandable when a slim derby with a gradually sloping toe is also called a Budapester. But it isn’t one. For many people, the full-brogue decoration alone has become synonymous with Budapester—unfortunately incorrectly.

In any case, a Budapester can have the full-brogue designation—i.e., perforation patterns in the style of a full brogue. Even so, in everyday usage it is then not called a full-brogue Budapester, but still simply a Budapester—just as if it had no perforation patterns at all. I suspect that has to do with the fact that the full-brogue variant of the Budapester was historically very popular. This is how the full-brogue variant became established as the standard variant of the Budapester.

Variants

Black Full-Brogue Derbies

These are typical full-brogue derbies in black. Because everything is kept in black, such shoes don’t look quite as spectacular, and even the perforation patterns don’t stand out as strongly here as in other full-brogue variants. That’s why such shoes are perfect for people who love perforation-pattern decorations but don’t want to stand out that much with them. - Just wear these shoes with a dark outfit, and a black full brogue will be subtle enough. In addition, such a black full-brogue derby is very versatile: While it should primarily be worn in casual settings, in most cases here in Europe it also works as an office shoe.

White full-brogues made of deer leather

An interesting full-brogue in white and quite difficult to style. The leather is well chosen, with the grain typical of deer leather: A shoe like this, made from unembossed, simple calf smooth leather, would be such a strong eye-catcher in this white color. That is why, figuratively speaking, the deer leather tones the shoe down. And the broguing patterns also ground the shoes a bit.

Overall, from my point of view, this is quite a nice summer shoe, which you should combine with light-colored trousers. But if you pair such shoes with dark clothing, then these shoes can have a very distracting effect: First because of their white color, and then because the shoes represent the lowest part of an outfit and should ground the overall outfit instead of standing out. I imagine that such shoes with dark clothing are a very good choice for stage magicians, but probably not for everyone else.