Six styles of men's brogue shoes

The brogue is a Goodyear welted shoe that several Northamptonshire shoemakers, notably Grenson, Loake, and Tricker's, use. The barker, a hole-punched classic instantly recognisable from afar, has a long history in Scotland and Ireland, where farmers used it to remove bog water when traversing marshes. Brogues get their name from the Irish term brog, which means "tough or stout shoe," and have long been a Country classic, worn outside for hiking and working but never in town. The brogue had crossed the line between smart casual and allowed shoemakers like Barker to become more imaginative with their designs as time went on. From the countryside to jazz clubs, the brogue had become acceptable to wear in the city.

1. Full / Wingtip Brogue Shoes

The full brogue is the most common brogue style. A pointed toe cap with ornamental holes that extends to the sides of the shoe distinguishes complete brogue. Because of the shape that mimics wings, this design is known as wingtip brogues.

This shoe also features medallion broguing on the toe and extra perforations around the quarters, throat, and heel counter. Because it features the most broguing, full wingtip brogues are the least formal of the six styles.

2. Semi / Half Brogue Shoe

This style is extremely similar to full brogue except for one major difference: the toe cap form. Semi brogues, unlike wingtip brogues, have a normally formed toe cap with holes. The toe cap is the only change from the rest of the broguing (around the quarters, throat, and heel counter). Half brogues are a step up from full brogues in terms of formality.

3. Quarter Brogue

The quarter brogue is a more formal cousin of the half brogue. In terms of broguing, it's nearly identical, but one feature - the medallion – is absent. There are no decorative holes on the toe cap. In comparison to the half brogue, the shoe seems more beautiful and formal because there are no perforations on the toe cap.

4. Longwing Brogue Shoe

This is a modern take on the classic wingtip brogue. The wing design is still apparent, but the broguing is positioned so that it spans both sides of the shoe until it reaches the back heel counter. We don't recommend wearing longwing brogues in formal or business environments because they are on the same formality scale as wingtip brogues.

5. Austerity Brogue

Austerity brogues are brogue shoes with a toe cap in the style of a bird wing and decorative stitches instead of broguing. This shoe type might be called a "wingtip" without the broguing because it has the shape but without the broguing. Austerity brogue shoes have a wingtip or longwing design and are the most formal of all brogue shoes since they lack perforations and instead rely on decorative stitches.

6. Blind Brogue Shoe

Blind brogues are plain toe shoes with broguing punched straight into the upper from a single piece of leather. Some sources on the internet claim that blind brogue leather shoes are ones without a medallion on the toe, but this is not the case. Quarter brogues are the name for this type, as you may know.