Do You Know How To Lace Your Sneakers ?


By Phumzile Mavimbela

Sneakers play a very integral part in our lives; they form a great part in popular culture, not only do they give you street cred they are almost perceived to be a must have for any Joburger.

Yesterday I found myself in a very awkward position. Well, I think subconsciously I knew that I lacked the ability to properly lace my sneakers. I thought to myself my problem is very uncommon so I sought assistance from friends who clearly were as clueless as I was. In Our pursuit to salvage our ignorance and in an attempt to redeem our pride we consulted everyone's best friend, google.

This is where we learned that we are not an exception to the norm. Most people do not have the basic skills of properly lacing shoes If you know you are the same as me and my friends then this article should come in handy.

 How you lace your sneakers can either make or break your overall look. Actually how your sneakers are laced even contributes to overall perception. People can get to tell if you are clumsy, neat and hippy by how your laces are tied.

Below a sneaker head ​Amir Ismae​l gives ​insight on the basic Do’s and Don'ts of lacing your sneakers. He makes example by using the all classic air force 1 and Chuck Taylors which are common items in every young contemporary’s Jobuger’s sneaker collection.

Step 1

The first step to lacing your sneakers neatly is to make sure the lace tips are even. Put each lace tip in the first set of eyelets from the top and pull the lace tight, while making sure it stays even. This is super important regardless of what lace style you choose because unevenness will become more noticeable when you reach to final eyelets. If they're too uneven, you won't be able to tie your sneakers.


Step 2

Ismael says most shoes come with a standard diagonal-and-under lace pattern, and for a classic shoe like the Air Force 1, he thinks it's fitting. However, they come out of the box laced super tight, usually very messy, and uneven. To make it look much neater, simply redo it.

Once you've made sure the laces are even, you can start the diagonal pattern going to the second set of eyelets. Start lacing them criss-cross style, with the first lace going over and down into each eyelet, rather than coming up through the eyelets. Be sure to follow the same pattern exactly, so that the lace going to the right
side is always under and the lace going to the left is always over (or vice versa).

When you move on to the second shoe, you should follow the same pattern so that both shoes have the laces going in the same direction. If you lace your shoes up and something just doesn't look right, but you can't quite pinpoint it, you probably messed up the pattern somewhere. Consistency is the key to making your sneakers look neat and clean.


Step 3 :
Final Results Can you spot the difference? The shoe toward the back is still factory-laced, while the shoe in the front is redone. Although it's the same pattern, the shoe in the front is slightly looser and much Neater


Here are some tips which will boost the overall look of your chuck taylors


Ismeal says if the common​ standard diagonal-and-under or diagonal-and-over patterns are too basic for you, the loop-back is a cool style you probably won't see others sporting. Instead of going across the tongue of the shoe, the pattern consists of intertwined loops going up both sides of the shoe.
Step1

The loop-back pattern:
Put the other end of the lace through the loop Once you create a loop on one side of the shoe, simply put the other lace through the loop and bring it back to the next eyelet on the same side. After you loop them together, pull them evenly so the point at which they cross is in the middle of the tongue — not too far to the left or right of the shoe.

The loop-back pattern:

The end result is a Unique Weave live pattern Compared to the normal diagonal-and-over pattern (seen on the sneaker in the background), the loop-back pattern is cool and unique — definitely not something you'll see every day.


Before hitting the club or any Joburg streets with uneven and clumsy shoe laces remember that how your shoes are tired, greatly reflects your personality, your sneakers make a statement before any word is uttered from your mouth.

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