How to Lace Your Shoes for Your Foot Type

Simple Lacing Techniques That Can Make a Surprisingly Big Difference in Fit and Comfort

Most people lace their shoes the same way they always have — the way someone showed them as a kid — and never think about it again. Which is understandable, because lacing doesn’t seem like something that warrants much thought. But the way a shoe is laced significantly affects how it fits, where it puts pressure, and how well it supports different foot types. A shoe that feels slightly off — tight across the top, loose at the heel, uncomfortable over a bunion — can often be improved dramatically with nothing more than a different lacing pattern. No new shoes required.

Here’s a practical guide to the most useful lacing techniques and which foot types and issues they’re designed to address.

First: A Few Basics

Before getting into specific techniques, a few foundational points that apply across all of them:

• Start with the right lace length. Different lacing patterns use more or less lace. If your current laces are very short, some of these techniques won’t work without replacing them with a longer pair.
• Lace tension matters. A lacing technique only works as intended if the tension is adjusted correctly — snug but not constricting through the areas that need support, and deliberately looser through the areas that need relief.
• These techniques work best in athletic shoes and boots with multiple eyelets. Dress shoes and low-profile shoes with fewer eyelets offer less opportunity for adjustment.
• When in doubt, bring your shoes in. A fit specialist can look at your foot, identify where the fit is going wrong, and recommend a specific technique for your situation.

For Wide Feet or a Wide Forefoot

Parallel Lacing

Also Known As: Display Lacing or Straight Lacing

Parallel lacing runs the lace horizontally across each eyelet pair rather than crossing diagonally. The result is a more even distribution of pressure across the top of the foot with no diagonal tension pulling the sides of the shoe inward. This is particularly useful for wide feet that feel squeezed by standard crossed lacing, and for anyone who experiences pressure or discomfort across the top of the foot.

How to do it:

1. Thread the lace straight across the bottom two eyelets and pull both ends even.
2. Feed each end straight up through the next eyelet on its own side (inside out), then straight across to the opposite eyelet.
3. Repeat up the shoe — each segment runs horizontally, with the lace feeding up on the inside at each step.

Best for: Wide feet, high instep, pressure or pain across the top of the foot.

For Narrow Feet or a Loose Fit

Over-Under Lacing

Standard lacing alternates over and under at each crossover. Over-under lacing runs each cross segment consistently over the top of the previous segment, which creates more friction at each eyelet and holds the lace more securely in place. The result is a tighter, more locked-in fit that doesn’t loosen as easily during wear — useful for narrow feet that tend to slide around inside a shoe.

How to do it:

1. Lace the shoe normally through the first two eyelets.
2. At each subsequent cross, pass the lace over the top of the previous segment rather than under it.
3. Continue to the top and tie as normal.

Best for: Narrow feet, loose fit, shoes that tend to loosen during activity.

For a Loose or Slipping Heel

Heel Lock Lacing

Also Known As: Lace Lock or Runner’s Loop

Heel slippage is one of the most common fit complaints — and one of the most fixable with lacing. The heel lock technique uses the top two eyelets (or the extra loop eyelet that many running shoes include) to create a loop on each side of the shoe that locks the heel in place when the lace is tied. It’s one of the most useful techniques available and is widely used by runners, hikers, and anyone whose heel tends to lift out of the shoe during activity.

How to do it:

1. Lace the shoe normally up to the second-to-last eyelet.
2. Instead of crossing to the other side, feed each lace end up and into the top eyelet on the same side, creating a small loop.
3. Cross each lace end through the loop on the opposite side.
4. Pull both ends down and toward the heel to tighten — you’ll feel the heel lock in.
5. Tie as normal.

Best for: Heel slippage, heel blisters, hiking boots, running shoes, any activity involving hills or varied terrain.

The heel lock is probably the single most useful lacing technique most people have never tried. If your heel has ever rubbed or lifted in a shoe that otherwise fits well, this technique is worth five minutes of experimentation.

For High Arches

Window Lacing

Also Known As: Box Lacing

High arches create a raised ridge along the top of the foot that standard lacing can press against, causing pain or numbness across the instep. Window lacing creates a gap — a “window” — in the lacing at exactly the point where the arch creates pressure, relieving that contact without affecting the fit at the toe or heel.

How to do it:

1. Lace normally up to the eyelets just below where you feel pressure.
2. Instead of crossing to the other side, run each lace end straight up on its own side to the next eyelet above the pressure point.
3. Resume crossing normally from that eyelet up.

The result is a vertical gap — the “window” — at the pressure point, with normal lacing above and below it.

Best for: High arches, instep pain or pressure, numbness across the top of the foot during activity.

For Bunions or a Prominent Bump at the Big Toe Joint

Toe Relief Lacing

A bunion — or any bony prominence at the base of the big toe — creates a point of pressure against the side of the shoe that standard lacing can worsen by pulling the upper inward. Toe relief lacing skips the bottom eyelet on the side of the bunion, reducing the inward pull of the lace at exactly the point where the bunion contacts the shoe.

How to do it:

1. Start the lace at the bottom eyelet on the side opposite the bunion only — leave the eyelet on the bunion side empty.
2. Thread the lace across to the second eyelet on the bunion side, skipping the first.
3. Continue lacing normally from there up.

Best for: Bunions, tailor’s bunions (on the outer side of the foot), any bony prominence at the forefoot that creates lateral pressure.

For a Wide Forefoot and Narrow Heel

Combination Lacing

Some feet are wide at the front and narrow at the back — a combination that can make it hard to find a shoe that fits both areas well at once. Combination lacing addresses this by using parallel lacing through the forefoot eyelets (to reduce pressure across the wide part) and standard crossed lacing through the heel section (to lock in the narrower heel). It’s more involved than single-technique lacing, but for the right foot type it solves a problem that changing shoe size can’t.

How to do it:

1. Use parallel lacing (straight horizontal segments) through the lower eyelets covering the forefoot.
2. Transition to standard crossed lacing at the midfoot.
3. Use a heel lock at the top two eyelets if heel slippage is also a concern.

Best for: Wide forefoot with narrow heel, shoes that feel simultaneously tight at the front and loose at the back.

For Toe Pain or Black Toenails

(Runners and Hikers)

Toe Relief Lacing

Also Known As: Top Eyelet Variation

Runners and hikers sometimes experience black toenails or toe pain from the toes pressing against the front of the shoe on downhill sections. This variation skips the top eyelet on the side of the affected toes, which slightly loosens the toe box on that side and reduces forward pressure on the toes during descent.

How to do it:

1. Lace normally up to the second-to-last eyelet.
2. Skip the top eyelet on the side of the affected toes and feed the lace directly to the top eyelet on the opposite side.
3. Tie as normal.

Best for: Black toenails, toe pain on downhill terrain, toe box tightness in the upper portion of the shoe.

Quick Reference:

Lacing Techniques by Foot Type

A Note on Fit vs. Lacing

Lacing can do a lot — but it can’t fix a shoe that’s fundamentally the wrong size or shape for your foot. If you’ve tried multiple techniques and the fit still isn’t right, the shoe itself may be the issue. A too-narrow shoe with a bunion-relief lacing pattern is still a too-narrow shoe. Lacing works best as a fine-tuning tool on a shoe that’s close to right — not as a workaround for a shoe that was never a good fit to begin with.

If you’re not sure whether your fit issues are a lacing problem or a shoe problem, a Brown’s fit specialist can help you figure out which it is — and whether a different size, width, or style would serve you better.

Why Buy Yours From Brown’s Shoe Fit Co.?

With 73 locally owned and operated locations across the Midwest, Brown’s Shoe Fit Co. has been a trusted name in footwear since 1911. Known for our personalized service and commitment to quality, Brown’s Shoe Fit is the go-to destination for comfortable, quality footwear for all ages. Each of our stores offers a footwear selection unique to the needs of our communities, with a knowledgeable staff trained to give every customer the best fit possible. To learn more about us, visit brownsshoefitco.com or find a store near you!