Green’s Dictionary of Slang

suede shoes, often in lurid colours, with extra thick rubber soles, esp. popular among rock ’n’ roll fans of the 1950s (and in 1980s revival).

1959		C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 43: No velvet-lined frock-coat, no bootlace tie, no four-inch solid corridor-creepers.
1962		G, Fletcher London Nobody Knows 23: Youths lounged around in those crepe-soled shoes affectionately lnown as brothel-creepers.
1978		D. Hebdige Subculture 26: Brothel creepers and winkle pickers. [Ibid.] 67: Fluorescent socks, black suede creepers and jacket emblazoned with [...] ‘Gene Vincent lives’.
1985		‘Jennifer Blowdryer’ Modern English 7: brothel creepers (n): Are [...] from England and have a huge chunk of rubber, about three inches high, on the soles and a huge strap going across the front.
1999		Indep. Rev. 16 July 6: The gaudy gladrags of the Teddy Boy: a jacket around his knees, tight trousers and ‘brothel-creeper’ shoes.
2001		OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 brothel creepers n. popular sort of footwear with very thick flat rubber soles that allow you to walk almost silently. Very useful for creeping up behind people to give them wedgies or cop a feel. Similar to the platform soles favoured by ‘Baby Spice’ but worn (usu.) by males. circa. 1940’s–1960’s.
2023		R. Milward Man-Eating Typewriter 67: They’d barely finished hosing my bod-fluids from the caretaker’s brothel-creepers.