Types and Methods of Lacing

Even without being a mathematician it is possible to assume that there should be quite a large number of ways to lace shoes. But as a matter of fact the number of different ways of lacing shoes or trainers is just huge! You probably don’t even imagine that for an average shoe with 6 pairs of eyelets mathematics intends almost 2 ... TRILLIONS (1 961 990 553 600!!!) of different ways of lacing! Even if we omit all pure hypothetic possibilities (exclude horizontally and vertically mirror-like identical types of lacing), count each feeding of a lace through each eyelet of a shoe as one, consider, among other things, the fact that shoes are usually laced starting from the upper pair of eyelets, that laces can be intertwined and tied in various ways with the use of different knots between eyelets.

In addition to everything above mentioned and taking into consideration average realities of life, that feeding a lace through each eyelet should afterwards help us to tie up two halves of shoes together and not serve simply as their decoration; that we have to draw tight and ease the lacing and this should not take too much time and effort; lacing keep its form and look beautiful. Even considering all these complex requests, an expert in laces and lacing  Ian Fieggen  confirms a possible number of 43 200 different variants of lacing for an average shoe with 12 eyelets.
This section of our site presents 27 developed different types of lacing for shoes already probed by him. So, let us proceed with describing both the most traditional and super extravagant ways of lacing shoes, including methods of lacing for footbag as well:

1 Traditional Criss-Cross Lacing The lace is fed through the bottom eyelets and out on both ends. Ends are crossed and fed under the sides and out through the next higher set of eyelets. Repeat until you get to the upper eyelets and fasten your shoelaces. This method is easy and comfortable; crumples the shoe and not the foot.	2 Over Under Lacing Ian Fieggen’s favorite pattern. For odd number of eyelet pairs, begin on the inside (as shown on the shoe from the photo), and for an even number begin on the outside (as shown on the scheme). This is a beautiful and easy pattern, reducing the wear and tear of your laces!	3 Straight Easy Lacing  One end of the lace runs all the way up to the upper eyelet at once, and the other one is fed through all eyelets. Suitable for shoes with an even number of pairs of lacing. It would be difficult to make end lengths equal to tie them, but the lacing looks very neat.
4 Hiking / Biking Lacing An inside-out version of the fifth lacing from the article on original ways of lacing shoes. It looks messy, but the knot of the lacing due to its side position (inside for the forest and outside for biking) doesn’t cling and untie.	5 Shoe Shop Lacing One end of the lacing runs straight to the top opposite eyelet while the other end zig-zags through the eyelets. This method can be modified by hiding one of the ends like in straight easy lacing (3 way of lacing shoes from this article) instead of feeding it obliquely.	6 Spider Web Lacing A very decorative method, especially for combat boots or boots with lacing of a contrast color. Follow the scheme attentively so as not to get mixed (start from the grey section – middle part of the lace, further one end is shown in blue, the other one – in yellow).
7 Double Back Lacing A more economic modification of the second method of lacing shoes from the article on original ways of lacing shoes. A bit shorter laces can be used for it.	8 Bow Tie Lacing Named after a bow-tie. If the shoe has an odd number of eyelet pairs, first make a straight stitch on the outside (as on the scheme), if the number is even – on the inside (as on the photo of the shoe). Positions of crosses – bow-ties can be chosen so as to coincide with the parts of you shoe that are to be tightened and skip the places where your foot can be given a bit more freedom. Relatively short laces can be used!	9 Army Lacing Inside-out version of Bow Tie Lacing. It is called army lacing because this lacing is used by the British, Dutch, French and Brazilian armies. On the other hand, it looks good and you won’t need long laces...
10 Train Track Lacing Looks very much like the previous method, but the inside segments run straight across instead of diagonally. This lacing works best with thinner or flat laces because most of the eyelets have to accommodate two passes of shoelace. That’s why the lacing is very firm, but it is hard to tighten it.	11 Double Helix Lacing Lovely and fast lacing, reducing wear and tear and prolongs life of your laces. The left and right shoes can be laced in reverse (mirror image) so as to end up with a symmetrical look.	12 Grid Lacing This lacing is hard to tighten, but it is very popular due to its decorative look. To make it easier, first complete one end, and then weave the other one in and out. Such a grid can be made only on shoes with 6 pairs of eyelets or more.
13 Lattice Lacing In fact, the same lacing as the previous one, but to make it a bit shorter laces would do. Economical option.	14 Zipper Lacing This lacing is hard to tighten, but it is very firm, which is ideal for lacing skates and roller skates. At the same time it looks like a huge zipper.	15 One Handed Lacing You won’t have to tie a bow, a knot will be enough on one end of the lace. At the top the lacing is tighter, and at the bottom it is loose. This works best with either small eyelets or fat laces.
16 Knotted Segment Lacing Continues the idea of the seventh lacing from the article on original ways of lacing shoes. You can voluntarily tighten or loosen the upper and lower halves. However, such type of lacing makes it difficult to thrust a foot into a shoe, because of the knot in the middle.	17 Hidden Knot Lacing Straight lacing stitches looks even more creative, if the bowknot is hidden. This type helps you to hide it!	18 Bi-color lacing Very beautiful and creative lacing type. The only con – you can feel discomfort due to the knot (maybe, it is better to sew them together of fasten with sellotape, rather than tie them with a knot, thereby mending the matter?). Ideally, you should cut two long laces into slightly unequal parts, in order that eventually the ends were of one length.
19 Double bi-color lacing Very creative lacing method, which can play with the colors of your Country’s flag or a favorite team.  4 ends of shoe laces can be tied creatively. If your shoes have odd number of eyelets, you will require laces of different length.	20 Loop Back Lacing Beautiful lacing method, however, having its own cons. Firstly, criss-cross loops tend to shift from the middle. Secondly, friction causes increased wear and tear of laces. It will look gorgeous, if you make it bi-colored, as the one you can see on the cover of the book about lacing by Ian Fieggen.	21 Knotted Lacing Adding an overhand knot at each crossover keeps the lacing much firmer and improves the appearance. Ideal for tightening ice skates, rollerblades, etc. It's really very difficult to loosen the lacing.
22 Twistie Lacing Beautiful firm lacing, which is also difficult to loosen. It has especially decorative look with thick round white shoelaces in shoes of contrast dark color.	23 Roman Lacing Looks especially beautiful on shoes where the sides of the shoe meet in the middle. You can change the number and order of ХХ and II depending on the number of eyelets in your shoes.	24 Footbag Lacing In order to play footbag it is convenient to create some kind of a cup from your shoes, making it easier to control and catch the ball. Surely, with this type of lacing, the shoes lose their shape, but for the sake of the game it worth suffering! It’s one of at least four lacing variants, below you will find the other three.
25 Footbag (Hacky Sack) Lacing The common element of the 4 types of lacing are long, straight segments along the outside that pull the two halves of the shoe outwards. You're welcome to modify the upper part of the lacing any other way, not as it is shown on the scheme or on the photo.	26 Footbag (Hacky Sack) Lacing This type of lacing presupposes that the edges of a shoe are more wide open, than  in the previous two variants. In order to open them even wider, you can start the lacing even higher than from the third eyelet pair (and to skip the third or other eyelet pair at all).	27 Footbag (Hacky Sack) Lacing Here the edges of the shoe are opened in the same way as in the previous type, meaning wider than in the first two variants. These lacing methods are suitable not only for footbag, but also if the shoes are too tight and narrow.