How to Bar Lace Tennis Shoes

Bar lacing refers to a shoe lacing style in which the laces go straight across from one eyelet to the one straight across from it, rather than going in a crisscross pattern. Bar lacing, also called fashion lacing, has a clean, spartan look that is comfortable. Bar lacing works only in a shoe with an even number of eyelet pairs (such as six eyelets on each side of the shoe's tongue). Not only does bar lacing look nice, but it allows you to use a shoelace that is almost 20 percent shorter than you would need for crisscross lacing.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Shoe with even number of eyelets on each side of tongue Shoelace

1. Feed the ends of the lace into the eyelets closest to the toe of the shoe. Feed the ends into the eyelets from the top side of the shoe so the laces are inside the shoe and all that is visible outside the shoe is a section of lace that goes straight across. Keep the laces even.

2. Feed the end of the lace on the right side of the shoe up through the second eyelet. Pull this lace end straight across and feed it down through the second eyelet on the left side of the shoe.

3. Feed the lace on the left side of the shoe that is in the first eyelet up through the third eyelet on the left side. In other words, skip the second eyelet. Pull this lace straight across and feed it down through the third eyelet on the right side. At this point you should see three straight lines of shoelace connecting the bottom three eyelets of your shoe.

4. Working from the inside of the shoe, take the lace that was fed down through the second eyelet on the left and feed it up through the fourth eyelet on the left. Pull it straight across the shoe and insert it down through the fourth eyelet on the right.

5. Working from the inside of the shoe again, feed the lace that was fed down through the third eyelet on the left side of the shoe up through the fifth eyelet on the left. Pull it straight across and feed it down through the fifth eyelet on the right side of the shoe.

6. Continue in this pattern, skipping one eyelet each time the lace is fed back up out of the inside of the shoe until you reach the top.

Resources

• Images of Bar Lacing