New Thing #173--Two Trillion Methods

I have a really hard time finding shoes to fit my feet. I've had the perfect pair of white Keds mary janes for several years. They finally hit the dust earlier this year, though, and I had to throw them out. It was time to go shoe shopping for a replacement.

My criteria for these shoes:

• They needed to fit well
• I wanted white so they would go with anything. I'm trying to cut down on the amount of shoes in my closet.
  
• They needed to be dressy enough to wear with skirts or capris
• I had to be able to be wear them without socks. Skirts and socks just don't mix, in my opinion!
• I had to be able to walk several miles in them (to church, for example)
• I didn't want to spend a lot of money. The ideal price point was less than $50

I could find shoes that met MOST of my criteria, but nothing that met them all. I even raised the amount of money I was willing to pay; still no success. After going to almost a dozen stores I got tired of looking. I gave up and bought a pair of old school white canvas Keds lace-ups. The only problem was that the bow and laces flopping around made them look less dressy, so today I learned how to lace my shoes in an unusual way.

I returned to Ian's Shoelace Site, where I learned to tie my shoes earlier this year. The "lacing page" indicated there are 2 trillion ways to lace a shoe with six pairs of eyelets! I only needed one, so I started clicking through to some of his examples.

I tried two different ways. The first was Display Shoe Lacing, because it ended up with the lace ends tucked inside. However, the laces really hurt my feet. The second way (and the one I settled on) was the Hidden Knot Lacing. As the name would indicate, the knot (and shoelace ends) are hidden inside the shoe. In Ian's words, "By hiding the knot underneath, the result is an uninterrupted series of straight 'bars' that looks particularly distinctive on dress shoes or sneakers alike."

I'm ready to wear my distinctive-looking, newly-laced shoes to work today!