You know how to tie your shoelaces, right? But, has anyone ever taught you how to lace up the shoes? Lacing up the shoe is great to personalize your footwear, especially if your laces come in different colors and patterns.

Unfortunately, most men know nothing about how to tie their dress shoes. What they don’t know is that even if they have quality and beautiful shoes, if the laces are poorly laced, that alone can ruin the outfit.

Here are tips on how to lace men's dress shoes!

Using straight bar lacing

Feed the lace into the right-bottom eyelet. Take the right-side end of the shoe-lace and insert it into the right-bottom eye-hole. Insert the lace in the opposite eyelet direction, the one on the left. As you do so, make sure that the lace passes over the shoe flaps.

Loop the left shoelace over on the opposite hole. Feed the lace in the bottom-left eye-hole pulling it in the direction of the opposite hole. Make sure the lace passes on top of the shoe flap.

Feed the right shoelace via the second eyehole from the bottom. With the tip of the right shoelace under your shoe flap, feed the right shoelace via the second eyehole from the bottom on the right.

Make sure you pull the lace to make sure you make a tight line of the lace that runs the bottom eyehole to the second one up below the right shoe flap.

Pass your right lace to the eyehole on the left side (opposite) - with the right shoelace over the shoe flap and coming out of the second hole from the bottom-right hole to the left eyehole. Make sure you pull the lace to get a snug line of the lace that connects to the second eyehole on the right and the second one on the left. 

Do the same with the remaining holes- Continue lacing up the shoes moving it horizontally across all holes until you get to the top eyelet. Repeat the same process with the other shoe.

Criss-cross lacing method

Feed the shoelaces into the bottom eyelet feed one end of the shoelace via the top of the bottom eyehole on either side of the shoe flap. Pass the lace below the tongue to the opposite hole.

After that, push the lace via the bottom of the opposite eyehole and pull up the lace to form a loop that runs from one eyehole to the next.

Pull until the lace on the right is on equal size with the left one.

Pull the right lace into the second eyehole o the left- once you loop the laces, start on the right side and pass the end to the left. Feed the lace via the second top eyehole on the left side of the shoe and pull it until it is snug.

Work in a diagonal direction- Insert the right shoelace end into the left hole from the top. After that, insert the left end of the shoelace in the next right eyehole. Continue working your way down until you get to the last eyehole.

Lattice Method

Make sure you run the place across the bottom, and the edges protrude in the bottom eyelets. You cross the edges on top of each other, run diagonally going up on the outer side and feed in via the third higher eyelets. Skip two pairs of eyelets.

Both ends of the shoelaces run straight up in the inner side and protrude through the next set of eyelets up on the shoe.

After that, cross the ends over each other and run diagonally down on the outer side and feed it through the third-lower eyelets. Here, skip past two sets of eye holes.   

Run both ends straight up the inner side and let them emerge via the next set of eyelets on the outer side. After that, feed them under the sides via the top set of the eyelets.

There you have it! If you own dress shoes for men but you are not sure of how to lace them up, now you know!

Just remember that straight lacing style is the most common and considered formal while criss-cross and lattice lacing styles are considered less formal. Just choose the one that meets your taste and get that look that you always wanted. All the best!

AUTHOR BIO:

David M. Johnson is an entrepreneur and passionate blogger who wrote for footwearboss . Don’t forget to read his latest post about most comfortable men’s dress shoes & motorcycle riding shoes.