Ask anyone what the most overlooked element of a man’s wardrobe is and they probably won’t even think to mention shoelaces. What does that tell you?

Yes, the bits of string that stop your shoes from falling off (unless you’re a 13-year-old skateboarder from 2002) may not be the most exciting part of your outfit, but you wouldn’t get very far without them. Literally. What’s more, if you know the right tricks when it comes to how to lace shoes, you can harness them as another subtle way to add a new style dimension to your look.

Because as nerdy as this surely is, how you lace your shoes should depend on which type of shoes you’re actually lacing in the first place. How you tie your smart shoes can be very different to how you lace your Vans. Learn how to lace shoes using the different methods below and find out which one is best for your favourite shoes.

How To Lace Shoes: 5 Different Ways To Do It

According to mathematics that are impossible to understand, renowned shoelace publication New Scientist claims there are a dizzying 400-million possible ways to lace up the average seven-eyelet stomper. Thankfully, we’re not going to be looking at all of them today, but here are a few of the key ways to lace your shoes it’s well worth filling your boots with.

1. Cross-Lacing

Look down at your trainers. The reason they’re not falling off right now is probably that they’re held in place using this type of lacing.

The most common way of fastening shoes, cross-lacing involves threading the lace through the bottom sets of eyelets, leaving an equal length each side, and gradually crisscrossing up to each additional eyelet, one side at a time, until you reach the top.

Step 1: Both lace ends should be inserted downwards through the bottom two eyelets, leaving equal length on both.

Step 2: Take the left lace and place it downwards through the top of the second eyelet on the right. It should now be crossing over the tongue.