Put This On

A web series about dressing like a grownup

March 24, 2010
Frank writes (from Germany) about shoelaces: I recently bought a bunch of shoe laces. One of the leading German shoe-cleaning experts Rainer Ehrsfeld (http://www.schuh-lexikon.de/kolumne/kolumne.html) suggested “always have extra shoe laces with you when you travel. A disaster, if your lace breaks on travel right before an important meeting (and they always tend to tear exactly on these occasions, don’t they?)”. I was not sure what brown was the right one, since it was hard to tell the colour just by a small pic on the net, so I ordered a bunch. I mean a lot. Sort of got carried away… but they were only 1-2 bucks a piece so I figured why not buy a whole lot of them. When they arrived, I thought: OMG what have I done! I will never need those. But then I spend a whole great evening trying out different laces with various shoes.  I was thrilled by how a shoe changes by just changing the laces!  So this is a great way of changing the looks of your shoes for just a buck! I agree.  I’m a big estate sale-goer, and I always buy the laces I find at the bottom of a drawer.  They usually give them to you for a quarter a piece.  As Mr. Ehrsfield suggests, I always have some extra laces (along with some collar stays and a pair of cuff links) in my toiletry bag. My personal favorite shoe fasteners are flat dress laces, which can be surprisingly difficult to find these days, but always lend a nice tone to your dress shoes.  Waxed laces can lend a bit of extra grip, too.  Your local shoe repairman probably has a wall like the one pictured above - don’t be afraid to spend ten bucks trying out some new styles.

Frank writes (from Germany) about shoelaces:

I recently bought a bunch of shoe laces.

One of the leading German shoe-cleaning experts Rainer Ehrsfeld (http://www.schuh-lexikon.de/kolumne/kolumne.html) suggested “always have extra shoe laces with you when you travel. A disaster, if your lace breaks on travel right before an important meeting (and they always tend to tear exactly on these occasions, don’t they?)”.

I was not sure what brown was the right one, since it was hard to tell the colour just by a small pic on the net, so I ordered a bunch. I mean a lot. Sort of got carried away… but they were only 1-2 bucks a piece so I figured why not buy a whole lot of them.

When they arrived, I thought: OMG what have I done! I will never need those.

But then I spend a whole great evening trying out different laces with various shoes.  I was thrilled by how a shoe changes by just changing the laces!  So this is a great way of changing the looks of your shoes for just a buck!

I agree.  I’m a big estate sale-goer, and I always buy the laces I find at the bottom of a drawer.  They usually give them to you for a quarter a piece.  As Mr. Ehrsfield suggests, I always have some extra laces (along with some collar stays and a pair of cuff links) in my toiletry bag.

My personal favorite shoe fasteners are flat dress laces, which can be surprisingly difficult to find these days, but always lend a nice tone to your dress shoes.  Waxed laces can lend a bit of extra grip, too.  Your local shoe repairman probably has a wall like the one pictured above - don’t be afraid to spend ten bucks trying out some new styles.

Posted in Shoes Shoelaces Shoe Repair
November 17, 2009
Finally, a brave soul has taken on the vital issue of SHOELACE SECURITY. Tim wrote to us that he couldn’t ever get his leather shoelaces to stay tied, until he hit upon the solution: THE SECURE KNOT. Thanks to the shoelace encyclopedia that is Ian’s Shoelace Site, Tim found a knot that lasts throughout the day, even on his tough-to-tie boat shoes and Bean boots.  You can find exhaustive instructions here - it seems the key is making two loops, like you were going to tie the 6-year-old way, but crossing both loops over, rather than just one.  We’re going to have to give it a try. Kudos to TIM for the excellent suggestion, and kudos to IAN for his AMAZING SHOELACE WEBSITE. Now: we know what you’re thinking.  “But Jesse and Adam, I like tying shoelaces at home, but I love tying shoelaces on the run!” Don’t worry.  Ian the king of shoelaces has an iPhone app.

Finally, a brave soul has taken on the vital issue of SHOELACE SECURITY.

Tim wrote to us that he couldn’t ever get his leather shoelaces to stay tied, until he hit upon the solution: THE SECURE KNOT.

Thanks to the shoelace encyclopedia that is Ian’s Shoelace Site, Tim found a knot that lasts throughout the day, even on his tough-to-tie boat shoes and Bean boots.  You can find exhaustive instructions here - it seems the key is making two loops, like you were going to tie the 6-year-old way, but crossing both loops over, rather than just one.  We’re going to have to give it a try.

Kudos to TIM for the excellent suggestion, and kudos to IAN for his AMAZING SHOELACE WEBSITE.

Now: we know what you’re thinking.  “But Jesse and Adam, I like tying shoelaces at home, but I love tying shoelaces on the run!”

Don’t worry.  Ian the king of shoelaces has an iPhone app.

Posted in Shoes Shoelaces LL Bean Boots Boat Shoes