Shoelaces – that often-neglected detail!
Believe it or not, making bunny ears is not the way to tie your laces for dress shoes! It may seem like a minor detail but then as we all know when it comes to a well-dressed man, attention to detail is everything. In case you never noticed, that old bunny-ear method leads to crooked and less than perfect laces – after all the perfect dress shoe should be elegant and that includes the laces. The trick is all in the knot!
When you tie your laces correctly, the knot is flat, and the bow will lie horizontally across the shoe instead of along the length of the shoe. Yes, aesthetics is important but tying your shoelaces the correct way will also ensure those laces aren’t too tight or too loose. Using the bunny-ear method is bound to mean you’re tying a granny knot and let’s be honest, bunny ears and granny knots should never be used in the same sentence as a dress shoe like an Oxford.
How do you tie your laces the correct way, the elegant way?
As we mentioned, it's all in the knot. Goodbye granny knot and welcome to the bowknot.
The first step is to make a simple knot by taking the left lace over the right lace. Next up is the loop which is made by simply doubling the right end back onto itself. You now need to take the left end over the right end, but the trick is to go clockwise behind the right loop so that it lands up in front. The left lace is now fed into the gap that you have just made. You can now hold both loops and pull to tighten the knot.
How to lace your shoes
How you lace your shoe depends on the style. When it comes to shoes with closed laces, straight lacing is the only way to go. Keep the criss-cross lacing for open-laced and casual shoes.
Dress shoes like Oxfords should always be straightlaced as it enables the uppers of the shoes to completely come together in the middle. With straight lacing, the laces run parallel and straight across the outside of the shoe while running diagonally on the inside. Straight lacing also avoids uneven pressure on one side of your foot. You can’t look like the man about town while limping!
Straight lacing is easy, thread the lace straight across through the bottom eyelets. If your shoes have an odd number of eyelet pairs, you will need to adjust the left end so that it is marginally longer than the right end. You can now begin the straight lacing by crossing the left lace diagonally on the inside and then straight across on the outside. You now do the exact same action for the right lace and then continue to alternate until you reach the top.
The right type of lace
There’s one final tip to complete the perfectly laced dress shoe and that’s the type of lace. This may seem obvious, but we have seen some interesting choices. Those Oxfords are best paired with thin, waxed cotton laces. Save those thicker, nylon laces for your sneakers and sports shoes.
It's all in the detail
When you have invested in a quality dress shoe like a pair of Oxfords from our Jekyll & Hide range or a Florsheim Kenmoor lace-up with its intricate pinking and perfing detail, you don’t want to ruin it with sloppy laces. As we say, attention to detail is everything!!!
