Brogues Go Gay At Last

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 34, 4 November 1937, Page 5

Brogues Go Gay At Last

Fashions At Shoe And Leather Eair (“Dominion” Special Service: By Air-mail.} (By Fenella.) London, October 15. ’ gHOES are getting more and more exciting, judging from what I have seen at the Shoe and Leather Fair this week. Gone are the days when a shoe was merely an “outer covering for the foot” as the dictionary has it. And this year shoemakers have really let themselves go. Every conceivable kind of material has been used for making shoes, in every conceivable colour.

PARTICULARLY lovely were some of the evening shoes I saw. There was one model in bright blue sequins with a high vamp an'd laces, and another of white gabardine embroidered with brightly-coloured stones. Suede is apparently si ill the most popular for day wear, often used in conjunction with glace. A great many of the day .shoes I saw had a high vamp, sometimes curved or pointed at the top, and the eyelet holes were often very large. The new colour, “lon'don tan,” an orange-brown shade, is much to the fore. Brogues, that last stronghold of tradition and conservatism in the shoe world, have definitely gone gay at last. You can now get brogues with zip fasteners, brogues with gay lacings, and brogues of all colours. You can even have sports shoes made of the same material as your suit. I saw a new Canadian product at the Leather Fair, a brogue made of waterproof viyella with leather toecaps and heels. Tweed can also be used if not too heavy, and the wide range of colours in leather makes it possible to have shoe s of almost any shade. In a frenzied search for something “new” in beach shoes, one Canadian firm has gone in desperation to the aucienf. Aztecs. .Modern bathers can now go down to the sea wearing a shoe like that of an Aztec .sun-king. The shape is that of an ordinary toeless sandal, except that the vamp is higher, and it fastens higli with a curiously-'designed leather catch. Aztec colours, too, have been copied, and the sandals are in grey water-resisting suede, with gay designs in red, green, and yellow. Royal Goloshes. Mindful of damp ceremonies such as

tree-planting and hospital-opening in the rain, Queen Mary has given her shoemakers an order for dainty gol-&

oslies to wear over her light-coloure'd shoes. They will be perfectly-fitting but decorative waterproof overshoes which will not spoil the appearance of Her Majesty’s shoes, most of which are of pearl-grey leather. “Dawn” is the name she has given to this particular shade, which has a touch of lilac in it. The Duchess of Kent is the only member of the Royal Family who likes really high heels, I was told at the fair. She wears severely-cut court shoes, usually in brown, and for evening chooses a sandal model.