Cool Ways to Lace Shoes

Update your footwear with cool ways to lace shoes. If you have to wear sneakers every day, that's still no reason to be bored with your look. It's time to try something new on your feet. Chances are, you won't be breaking any dress code by doing so.

Want to learn a few new ways to lace your shoes? If your shoes have twelve eyelets, there are technically about two trillion ways to lace them up, according to Fieggen.com. Some of those are cool; some of those are probably not even noteworthy. Find out some of the most reliable—and coolest—ways to lace up your shoes here.

The common way is the criss-cross method. Laces criss-cross from near the toe of the shoe up to the ankle. It's easy to catch onto a simple variation of this one where the laces alternate. For example, on one criss-cross, a section of the lace will be on top. On the next, it will be below the other section of the lace. Check Fieggen.com for a diagram.

While you're on Fieggen.com, be sure to look at the Straight European Lacing, which gives the illusion of a zigzag pattern below horizontal lacing. The look consists of alternating diagonal and horizontal lines with each side of the lace. This pattern results in a snug fit.

Ian Fieggen, also known as "Professor Shoelace," also has a book, Laces, which offers fifty different lacing styles, sixteen knots, and practice laces right on the cover. You can find it at book retailers everywhere.

It is what it sounds like—your laces, in the form of a ladder. Start with both sides of the lace coming up through the bottom set of eyelets. Then insert them (without crossing) into the next set. Then cross them and loop them back around the laces where you last inserted them into eyelets. Do not reinsert them; they simply loop around the laces. Then drop them into the next set of eyelets and so on. For a diagram, see List of the Day's 13 Cool Ways to Tie Your Sneakers.

Fieggen really is the king of lacing shoes. Here's another one that not only looks out of the ordinary but proves useful as well. You can knot on either side depending on whether you are hiking or biking. Tying them on the inside keeps your shoes from snagging on undergrowth and tying them on the outside keeps them from getting caught in bicycle chains.

How do you do it? Start by pulling both ends of the laces through the bottom eyelets. On one side, drop the lace into the next eyelet down. On the other side, skip one hole and insert the lace into the next. Run each end of the lace horizontally from their current position, then run both ends of the laces up the other side, skipping one eyelet and inserting into the next. For a diagram, see Hiking/Biking Lacing.

While this cool way to lace shoes looks complicated, it's really quite simple. You can find a diagram on List of the Day's 13 Cool Ways to Tie Your Sneakers. Start by inserting each end of the lace up through the eyelets at the bottom. Then loop the ends back around where the laces came through and cross over to lace them through the opposite sides. Repeat all the way up the shoe.

Some of the most popular sneakers to experiment on are Converse sneakers. If you have some, pull them out! There are, of course, other types of skate shoes around, and you can lace those up in different ways, too. Depending on the effect that's most important to you, there are a few ways to lace them:

To shorten laces: There's no need to trip over your laces. Try the Zipper or the Straight European methods for shorter laces. To shorten them even more, try The Ladder.

If you're concerned with wearing your laces out from friction: Try the Over Under Lacing Method or the Double Helix.

If you need help tightening laces or keeping your shoes on: If your shoes never want to stay on, try the Knotted Lacing, Train Track Lacing, or the Zipper.

One of the best ways to emphasize your new cool ways to lace shoes is to purchase different colored laces. Plain white will work but it won't stand out in most cases. Do, however, check with your school or workplace to make sure you're not breaking dress code rules by switching out your old laces for new, colorful ones.

Some of the most popular sneakers to experiment on are Converse sneakers. If you have some, pull them out!

Experimenting with cool ways to lace shoes is a way to liven up an old pair of sneakers and show off your creativity. Try the lacing methods above and see if you can come up with a few of your own.

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