Does "regular shoes with laces" refer to formal leather shoes?
regular shoes?
That's pretty vague; it could mean lots of shoes. I would not think "formal" right off the bat myself.
The context I read it is "when I was twelve...there was a dress code that required all boys to wear regular shoes with laces to class: no casual shoes and, heaven forbid, no trainers."
Does this give a more clear clue?
Does this give a more clear clue?
Oh, and, is "casual shoes" the same idea as "leasure shoes"? Aren't they also sports shoes like trainers?
You know, I just never look at men's feet -- I don't know anything about their footwear. But the use of "trainers" suggests that this is an excerpt from a British author, so I'm probably not qualified to say what British people consider "regular shoes".
Trainers, are your sports shoes, we also used to wear pumps/plimpsoles for sports when i was a wee bairne. Casual shoes are anything remotly fashionable, Doc Martins were a favourite when I was at secondry school. Said "regular" shoes I would describe as formal shoes, polished so you can se you face in them (only on the first day of term, scuffed and tattered by the end) normaly black, brown was harder to get a shine on ;)
My school uniform was regular shoes. These were plain black shoes. Boots, high heels, platforms, sandals, trainers, etc. weren't allowed.
I guess you have to think: "regular shoes for schoolboys as per 1970s Britain", which were obviously black leather lace-up shoes of the type produced by Clark's and such.