Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Archival Footwear: Hoggs of Fife

by Lesli Larson

James @ 10 Engines and I share a brand admiration for the Scottish countrywear company, Hoggs of Fife. Hoggs sells simply styled, superbly made country clothing in cord, moleskin and tweed (in sizes for men and women). Hoggs should have the visibility of a Barbour and sell at Oi Polloi next to Lavenham and Nigel Cabourne. Instead, HOF is stocked primarily by UK farm supply and country clothing shops (horse first, fashion second). I know of no known stockists in the US.

James has already posted images of a few of my favorite garments from Hoggs. I'd like to add one item to the inventory--the heavy weight cord trouser. Against prevailing trends, I prefer trousers with wide legs, a high rise and functional pockets. I normally shop for my trousers from the past (from Hebden Cord or Alpendale, before most of the mills closed up shop and the heavy cord looms were lost). Now, I have a present day option from Hoggs.

Hoggs heavyweight trousers

In addition to clothing, Hoggs offers sturdy looking, bench-made country footwear (leather shoes shod with double leather or commando soles for impromptu field use). I found the following catalog pages in my archives. They were sent to me ten years ago but a quick web check shows that most of the models are still in production--a sign of a true archival company:

Hoggs Footwear (199x?)

4 comments:

NCJack said...

Thanx for that head's up on Hogg's, good looking gear for good looking prices.

Pete said...

I suspect at least some of those shoes are/were made by UK shoemaker Sanders. The chelsea and brogue boots in the textured leather (not a fan, but...) are unusual and look really similar to Sanders models here. Of course, my only evidence is low res online photos.

louise and nivaldo de lima said...

Classic beauties! Why don't they make them for women too?

Philip Sanderson said...

A lot of the English goodyear welted shoes by different brands are made in the same small number of factories/workshops in Northampton. Some makes like Trickers have their own factory but others don't or the same factory will make for more than one brand.