Straight Bar Lacing

Odd Workarounds

As mentioned above, Straight Bar Lacing only works correctly on shoes with even numbers of eyelet pairs. Here's several common workarounds for shoes with odd numbers of eyelet pairs, using sample diagrams with seven pairs of eyelets.

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Ends Tucked In

Firstly, you can accept the fact that the lace ends don't meet and simply tuck them into the shoe.

For a tighter fit, you could also knot each lace end so that they don't pull through the eyelets, then tuck them in. However, those knots can feel uncomfortable.

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Skip One Eyelet Pair

Another solution is to simply not use either the top or the bottom pair of eyelets. This avoids the odd limitation by using only an even number of the available eyelet pairs.

It's also possible to skip a pair of eyelets somewhere in the middle, which breaks the lacing into two sections.

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One Diagonal

Use a single diagonal pass somewhere in the lacing. At the top, it's less noticeable due to the bows and shoelace ends. At the bottom, you can even run the diagonal around the inside of the tongue, making it invisible at the expense of some slight discomfort. Near the middle of the lacing, a diagonal may be positioned to line up with and run through a tongue centering loop (if the shoe has one).

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One Crossover

Instead of trying to hide a single diagonal, this alternative makes a feature out of a single crossover, similar to the look of Over Under Lacing. This crossover can be placed at either the top or bottom of the lacing, but unlike the above "One Diagonal" variation, it cannot be placed in the middle of the lacing.

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Cut and Tie Off

Similar to the single diagonal shown above, the shoelace can be cut (where the diagonal would have been) and the ends tied off on opposite sides of the shoe. In this diagram, the knotted ends are hidden underneath the bottom left eyelet and the second from bottom right eyelet.

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Double Overlap

This unusual solution works by doubling up the laces through the second from bottom pair of eyelets. Because it's near the bottom of the shoe, any difficulty with tightening this section is not so noticeable as the shoe doesn't need to open wide at that point.

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Across and Back

The second from bottom straight section runs across left-to-right (on top), then right-to-left (underneath), passing under the vertical section on the left side. The underlying section is fairly well hidden by the straight section on top.

This is the preferred method for dress shoes with three pairs of eyelets, with the lacing running across and back under the middle pair of eyelets.

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Twice Through Top Eyelet

Lace the shoe normally, then at the top of the shoe, feed both ends out through the same top eyelet (in this case, the top-left). Feed one end across and out through the opposite eyelet (in this case, the top-right). When the ends are tied, there will be a double-crossover at the top, but this will be fairly well hidden by the shoelace knot.

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Combine with Lock Lacing

Lace normally up to the second pair of eyelets from the top, then finish with a High Lace Lock through the top two pairs of eyelets. Although this doesn't look as neat, it does pull the lacing extra tight.

See the Lock Lacing page for more information.