Ghillies
Ghillies are soft shoes that are worn in various Irish and Scottish dances. Other names are light shoes , pomps , pumps , and soft shoes .
The shoes, which are very similar to the training shoes in ballet, are worn by women in Irish Céilí dance, and by women and men in Scottish country dance and highland dancing .
material
Ghillies are almost always made from soft leather that adapts to the shape of the foot. They are laced with long shoelaces that run in a zigzag between the eyelets on the front of the foot. Sometimes the straps are also pulled through in a loop under the sole. The sole is also made of leather and usually extends the entire length of the underside, sometimes a split sole made of oval patches of leather is used under the ball of the foot and heel area. Ghillies are mostly (but not necessarily) black.
Scottish ghillies usually have eyelets, while Irish ghillies usually have the protruding ends of the leather sewn into a loop to pull the shoelaces through.
Web links
- New Scotland Country Dance Society ( August 8, 2010 memento on the Internet Archive )