A blucher ( or , , ) is a style of

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function, but ...

with open lacing, its vamp made of a single piece of leather ("one cut"), with shoelace eyelets tabs sewn on top. The blucher is similar to a

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

since both feature open lacing, in contrast to the Oxford shoe, which uses closed lacing. However, in the derby, the upper has large quarters with eyelets sewn on top, and in the blucher, the upper is made of one cut, with only the small eyelet tabs sewn on top. In

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

, the terms are sometimes elided, with "blucher" also being used to refer to derby shoes and "Oxford" also being used to refer to bluchers. The blucher is named after the 18th-century Prussian Field Marshal

Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (; 21 December 1742 – 12 September 1819), ''Graf'' (count), later elevated to ''Fürst'' (prince) von Wahlstatt, was a Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal). He earned his greatest ...

, who commissioned a boot with side pieces lapped over the front in an effort to provide his troops with improved footwear. The design was adopted by armies across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

References

Shoes {{shoe-stub

See also

References