How to Straight Lace Shoes

Reviewed by Melissa Young

Last Updated: October 3, 2024 Fact Checked

For many people, shoes are an incredibly important part of an outfit. To take it even further, countless creative ways of lacing these shoes have been devised, adding an even more personal spin to an already expressive element of the wardrobe. Figuring out how these complicated but stylish lacing methods have been achieved, however, is no easy task. If you've ever wondered how to recreate the clean look of straight laces, here are a few simple ways to choose from.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Bar Lacing

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Point the toe of the shoe away from you. The holes farthest from you will be called the first eyelets, and will successively count up from there. With the on the outside of the shoe, insert the ends down into the first eyelets on both sides.
Pull both ends of the shoelace to their full length. Tug on whichever side is shortest until they are of an even length.You now have your first bar.

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Take the right end of the lace in your hand. Run it along the underside of the eyelets and then bring it up through the second eyelet on the right side. Do not skip an eyelet. You should not be able to see the shoelace between the eyelets.
Pull this same right lace straight across the shoe to the left side. Push it down through the second eyelet on the left side and pull it out until taught.
Take the left end of the shoelace and run it along the underside of the eyelets on the right side, skipping the second eyelet (which you have previously laced) until you reach the third eyelet. Bring it up through the third eyelet and pull until taught.
Pull the left lace straight across the shoe and push it down through the third eyelet on the right side. Pull until taught. You should now have three bars.
Take the lace that is now on the left side and run it along the underside of the eyelets from the second eyelet to the fourth, skipping the third eyelet which you have previously laced. Bring this left lace up through the fourth eyelet on the left side and pull through until taught.
Pull the left lace straight across the shoe and push it down through the fourth eyelet. Pull it through until taught.
9
Continue lacing. Repeat steps 5 through 8 until you reach the last eyelets nearest you. Remember:
- each time you run the lace beneath the eyelets you will skip one that has already been laced before you pull it up through one
- when you pull a lace across the shoe it will go down into the eyelet directly parallel to the one it came up through.
Once you've reached the last eyelets, once again ensure that they are even. You may have to do a bit of adjusting further down the shoe.
Repeat all of these steps in exactly the same way for your second shoe.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Easy Lacing

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With the toe of the shoe pointed away from you, the first pair of eyelets is the pair farthest from you. Insert the left end of the shoelace into the left eyelet and the right end into the right eyelet. ^{[1]
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Research source}
Run your right lace underneath the right row of eyelets toward you, all the way to the last eyelet. Pull it up through the final eyelet. ^{[2]
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Research source}
For this technique, the left lace is going to be doing all the work, so you want it to be much longer before you begin. Pull on the left lace until the remaining end of the right lace seems about long enough to tie a knot with when you are done. For now, make a rough estimate as you can adjust it more later.
Run the left lace toward you until you reach the next eyelet on the left side. Pull the lace up through this eyelet.
Pull the left lace across the shoe to the right side and push it down through the second eyelet on the right side. Pull the lace until it's taught. We will now refer to this lace as the "working lace."
Run the working lace toward you until you reach the next (third) eyelet on the right side. Pull the lace up through this eyelet.
Bring the working lace across the shoe to the left side. Push it down through the third eyelet on the left side. Pull the lace until it's taught.
Using this same single lace, repeat steps 4 through 7 until you reach the last eyelet.
Now that you've finished lacing, make sure once more that each lace is of approximately equal length. Pull on your working lace as far down the shoe as you need to go in order to make your non-working lace longer, or vice versa.
Complete all of these steps on your second shoe.

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Question

Are there ways to tie it crisscross?

Community Answer

Yes, you can look up different patterns online. You can have different ones for different reasons. Maybe a tighter one for running, more support for hiking, etc.

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Question

How do you tie the knot for "bar lacing" so that it isn't visible?

iram khan

Community Answer

Tie a standard bow knot at the end of the bar lacing, and position it beneath the shoe's tongue for a clean look.

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Straight lacing of any kind only works on shoes with an even number of eyelet pairs (i.e. 12 eyelet pairs, or 24 eyelets total). Solutions to this issue for odd eyelet-paired shoes (i.e. 9 eyelet pairs, or 18 eyelets total) include skipping one eyelet pair, tucking the ends in, or lacing one pair of eyelets with an alternative lacing style. ^{[3]
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Research source}

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For a hidden knot, complete either of the two methods above until you reach the second-to-last eyelet pair. Bring one of your laces up through its last eyelet and then across the shoe to go back down through the last eyelet on the other side. Tie your laces underneath the space between the second-to-last and last eyelets on this side. ^{[4]
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As you work, twist the laces so that they remain flat across the visible bars.

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Things You'll Need

Two shoes
Two shoelaces of appropriate length for the shoes you have

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