How to Lace Men's Dress Shoes

The Roman technique is a good way to lace men's dress shoes.

Shoes can be laced in many different ways. However, some ways are better than others for certain types of shoes. If you have a pair of men's dress shoes, a good method is the Roman method (named because the laces make an X-I-X-I pattern). This method is clean and neat, and provides a decorative look that complements the dress shoe.

Instructions

1. Place the shoes so they are facing you. Feed one end of the lace through the eyelet on the bottom left hand side of the lace eyelets from the top into the shoe. Feed that end from the inside of the shoe, through the eyelet just above it (the second eyelet on the left hand side) back to the front of the shoe. Even up the two ends of the laces.

2. Feed the lace that is coming out of the second eyelet on the left through the eyelet on the bottom right of the shoe. Place the lace coming out of the bottom left eyelet over the other lace and feed it into the second eyelet on the right hand side. Both ends of the laces should be in the inside of the shoe.

3. Feed the lace that is coming into the shoe from the bottom right eyelet through the third eyelet on the right from the interior of the shoe back to the outside. String this lace directly across the shoe and feed it back into the shoe through the third eyelet on the left.

4. Feed the lace that is coming into the shoe from the second eyelet on the right through the fourth eyelet on the right and back to the outside of the shoe.

5. Pull the lace that is entering the shoe from the third eyelet on the left up to the fourth eyelet on the left and feed it through that eyelet back outside the shoe.

6. Cross the two laces coming out of the fourth eyelets and feed them into the opposite fifth eyelets.

7. Pull the laces taut and pull them back out of shoe by moving them through the sixth eyelet, directly above their entry points. Pull the laces over the shoe and tie like normal. The laces should be in an X-I-X-I pattern.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want something a bit different, you can start the lacing the shoes straight through the bottom two eyelets and then following the same procedure. This will give you an "I-X-I" pattern. You will have to tie the shoes inside of the shoe, however.

• This technique is harder to tighten when you are tying your shoes. Make sure you spend some extra time tightening so your shoes don't come off.

References

• Ian's Shoelace Site: Roman Lacing