Brooks Brothers had marketed superb several different makers shoes under the “Brooks English” and Peal & Co. names from the 1950’s onward but the present pair is an actual Peal product preceding the closure of that venerable shoemaker in January 1965.  This shoe is made to the high standards of that time, specially ordered at Brooks Brothers to be made to measure by Peal. With its channelled and skived welting (the best technique of attaching the street sole to the welt), this is clearly of the earlier (and authentic) Peal production. The model itself, the Wing-Tipped Brogue Loafer/Slipper, a personal favourite of mine, is mostly seen in the custom-bespoke trade and this delightful and dramatic example is extremely well made, certainly among the very best made British shoes, a sleek and classic style in a long bespoke tradition. The modern ready-made copy is now selling at Brooks in New York and San Francisco for $598 plus taxes), see: Peal & Co.® Raywood – Brooks Brothers

History of the firm: “Peal and Co were founded in 1565 and were the oldest-established and most successful makers in the world, employing up to 200 staff. The firm was established in Durham and moved to Derby in 1765, reaching London in 1791. In 1953 Peal bought their Oxford Street neighbours, Bartley and Son, inheriting their Boot and Fox emblem and moved to Wigmore Street in 1958. The business closed early in 1965, when the family decided that lack of family succession, a declining trade and shortage of skilled staff made closure their best option. The closure of Peal and Co was very helpful to the remaining shoemakers in London including Foster and Son, who acquired two important assets, the boot and fox emblem and Mr. Terry Moore, Peal\’s master last maker. The old Peal lasts are still said to be in use by Foster & Son. 

Peal & Co. counted among their clients, luminaries from both sides of the Atlantic, among them (a much shortened list);

The present shoe was provided to Brooks Brothers when Peal was in it last years of operation as a custom shoemaker; in 1965 Peal closed their doors and sold their name to Brooks Brothers in final capitulation to market forces, the end of a 174 year history. The few early and actual Peal & Co shoes to be found in the world today are truly on the highest bespoke level of workmanship with, not surprisingly, a quality of leather usually reserved for custom-made shoes. This shoe comes with my highest recommendation.

Selected list of customers:
Fred Astaire
Ethel Barrymore, John Barrymore
Humphrey Bogart & Mrs H Bogart (Lauren Bacall)
Sir Charles Chaplin
Gary Cooper
Mrs Walt Disney
Sir Douglas Fairbanks
Henry Fonda
James Garner
Cary Grant
Rex Harrison
Boris Karloff
Steve McQueen
John Mills
David Niven
Sir Laurence Olivier
Mary Pickford
Mrs Rudolph Valentino
Guy de Rothschild
Henry Ford II & Mrs H Ford
Benny Goodman
Dean Martin,
Jehudi Menuhin
Richard Avedon
Lady Violet Bonham Carter nee Asquith, 40 Gloucester Sq.,
Mrs Neville Chamberlain
Rt Hon Sir Anthony Eden KG
Dean G Acheson, US Secretary of State
Barry Goldwater, Senator
Edward L Kennedy
John F Kennedy
Mr Marx of Berlin c/o Dr W Smith, West Lodge, West End Lane, Hampstead
Col. Elliott Roosevelt, son of FDR & Eleanor
Theodore Roosevelt
HM King Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor
Hon F Bowes-Lyon, brother of the Queen Mother
F J Bowes-Lyon, Grenadier Guards
Lady Rosemary Spencer Churchill
Lord Louis Mountbatten
Duke of Westminster
Prince Aga Khan
Princess Eugene of Belgium
King of the Hellenes (Greece)
Crown Princess of Greece
Prince Nicholas of Greece
Prince Peter of Greece
Crown Prince Constantine of Greece
Crown Princess of Japan
King & Crown Prince of Norway
Prince Christian of Schleswig Holstein
Crown Prince of Sweden
Queen Marie of Yugoslavia

Size Details:

Shoe Condition:

All original soles and heels, very lightly worn, thus a superb example of bespoke Peal workmanship.