I love the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service. This film brings together well-dressed British spies, oddly specific alcoholic beverages, and makes church services more fun than you’ve ever seen them before. But there’s always been one thing that has bothered me.
In the scene where Galahad brings Eggsy into the secret weapons room in the Savile Row tailoring shop, he provides Eggsy with the wrong definition of oxford shoes. Not only is it wrong, the correct definition is the exact opposite of what he describes.
“An oxford is any formal shoe with open lacing. This additional decorative piece is called brogueing.”
“Oxfords, not brogues.” Eggsy responds, recalling the code phrase introduced earlier in the film.
In reality, an oxford is specifically a formal shoe with a closed lacing system with the eyelets attaching underneath the vamp. An open lacing system describes a derby shoe, or a blucher, and while less formal than an oxford it can still be considered a formal shoe. Galahad is at least correct about what broguing is: the decorative perforations along the shoe.
The “Oxfords, not brogues” statement is confusing. It implies that brogues are their own classification of shoe when in fact brogueing is a decorative detail that can be found on generally any form of men’s shoe: oxfords, derbies, monk straps, boots, etc. The phrase has also created negative connotations against brogues with those who may not have been previously educated on the difference, making it seem like they [brogues] are a lesser shoe which are not appropriate for formal wear, and less worthy of being worn. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You can read more about the differences in the basic shoe types here.
Conclusion
Kingsman: The Secret Service gets a lot of things right in its definitions and presentations of menswear, but that can’t be said for its definition of oxford shoes.
It’s true that the more brogueing a shoe has the less formal it is considered. But brogueing adds wonderful character to a shoe and gives you a chance to experiment with different looks. Brogueing is even considered more appropriate than more plain shoes for leisure situations and country wear, for which it was originally invented. The world of menswear would be much less interesting if everyone wore plain toed shoes.