Shoelace Mega-Thread

Russell Street

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This thread is entirely devoted to the very overlooked and underrated topic of shoelaces.
  • What kind do you like? Colors, styles, lengths, brands?
  • Where to kop?
  • Lacing technique.
  • Care and maintenance.
  • Other.
I've already expressed my candy-assed fondness for Allen Edmonds striped laces. I recently had to shampoo a pair because they were getting too dirty. It sort of worked!
Also, being like Rambo, I read on lif hacks and found Ukrainian Lacing


Do you remove shoe laces every time you polish shooos?
 
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I prefer flat, waxed laces wherever possible, particularly for balmoral/oxford style shoes with closed lacing. I bought a bulk order from Valmour in France some years back and I've still got a few spare pairs left.

For blucher-style shoes, with open lacing, I prefer thin, round, waxed laces.

For shoes with closed lacing, I usually use the "straight bar lacing" method from Ian's Shoelace Site (which is an absolutely fantastic resource for the very small number of people interested in shoe-lacing methods):

Ian's Shoelace Site - Straight Bar Lacing

Do you remove shoe laces every time you polish shooos?

No, never. I've seen pictures of people polishing shoes with the laces removed and I always think that they must be crazy and/or even more anally-retentive than I am.
 
Your tongue will be dull and dry and the laces will be stained.

I thought that we were talking about polishing shoes, not licking them?





I kid, I kid. In all seriousness, though, I don't bother with polishing the tongue of my shoes. I do, however, sometimes put a dab of leather conditioner or Saphir Renovateur on the tongue of the shoe and simply hold it down, away from the laces, while I apply the cream.
 
I kid, I kid. In all seriousness, though, I don't bother with polishing the tongue of my shoes..

How come? It's a part of the upper, so why not?

O.k...l have a secret. I always polish the tongue of my derby shoes, but l hardly ever polish the tongue of my oxfords. You know why l hardly ever polish my oxford tongues? Because it is fiddly and l couldn't be bothered. Some of my tongues haven't been polished in over 25 years and are a different colour to the rest of the shoo, and l don't even care. :ahahahaha:

I like round non wax laces, and l like the most simple straight lacing possible because l find complex/technical things too difficult to grasp. I nealy always remove my laces except for the occasional pair of oxfords where they are very difficult to lace. Maybe a few times per year l will not remove my laces, but 95% of the time l will.
 
So how does one properly polish a tongue without getting stray polish inside the shoe? I have that same issue with the tongue being the original color and the rest having darkened considerably.
 
Paul Smith has some of the most colorful laces. I don't know about the currently line ups, but the older versions all came with waxed laces.
 
Hi all!

I want to buy some waxed shoe laces, something like this

bespoke_order_file_yohei_fukuda_02_Willow.jpg


But… where can I get them? What's the correct measurement of the shoelace? I saw some 6mm but they say it's for boots, I guess 3mm are for dress shoes but if someone can tell me which are the exact shoelaces I should get, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!
 
Hi all!

I want to buy some waxed shoe laces, something like this

bespoke_order_file_yohei_fukuda_02_Willow.jpg


But… where can I get them? What's the correct measurement of the shoelace? I saw some 6mm but they say it's for boots, I guess 3mm are for dress shoes but if someone can tell me which are the exact shoelaces I should get, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!
would something like this work?

Amazon product ASIN B007B8SKL0
or this:

Amazon product ASIN B00L4LAAPE
or these?

http://www.ropelacesupply.com/product/flat-wax-laces

http://www.shoelacesexpress.com/waxedcottonflatdress.asp

https://www.hangerproject.com/colored-dress-shoe-laces.html

https://www.theshoesnob.com/products/flat-waxed-dress-shoe-laces-75cm-30in

https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/shop/accessories/shoelaces/flat-cotton-shoelaces

https://www.valmour.com/flat-waxed-shoelaces-saphir.html
 
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Best flat shoe laces IME are from Saint Crispins. They are about 4mm wide. JL flat laces are a bit narrower at about 3mm wide.

1/4" is about 63mm wide at sneakers/work boots territory. I have a pair of those heavily waxed laces for my Trickers.
 

Thanks! Now I just need to find which ones would ship to Mexico. The ones in the UK I think the shipping is going to be expensive.

Best flat shoe laces IME are from Saint Crispins. They are about 4mm wide. JL flat laces are a bit narrower at about 3mm wide.

1/4" is about 63mm wide at sneakers/work boots territory. I have a pair of those heavily waxed laces for my Trickers.

Is it possible to get them?
 
I don't know whom SC sources laces from but its distinctively different than all of the UK shoemakers. I like their laces the best; not too waxy and yet stays flat.

Saint Crispin's lace on SC boots. ~4mm. Waxes worn out.
image1 (5).webp


SC laces on JLP bespoke. Wax still intact; bespoke shoes laces don't get loosened much. 4mm.
image4.webp


Trickers boots. 8mm lace ~ 0.3". The wider the lace the waxier. Definitely not for dress shoes.
image2.webp


Look of 8mm laces on country boots.
image3.webp
 

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