The laces on lace-up boots can either serve a functional or decorative purpose. Laces on a boot will provide a much more secure fit than a pull-on boot, and by adjusting the laces to the desired pressure, the boot will create a very tight fit that will also provide support to the ankles and calf muscles of the wearer. Members of the military, construction workers, and hikers often wear functional lace-up boots.
There is another form of lace-up boots that are purely fashionable; the laces on these styles are not intended to secure the shoe and often they are not even functional. These types of lace-up boots are often found in the form of women’s winter boots.
A fun thing that boot wearers can do with their boots is to use the laces to decorate otherwise simple or boring boot styles. You can purchase fun and colorful shoes laces to stand out against a dark colored boot, such as laces in neon green, orange, or yellow, or find glow-in-the-dark laces to light your way as you trek home during those cold, winter months in the dark.
Another way to experiment with your lace up boots is to use different lacing methods. The most common lacing is the criss-cross method, but there are a number of other techniques that will set your shoes apart from the crowd.
You can try the straight lacing method, where one end of the lace runs straight from bottom to top while the other end steps through the eyelets, or the ladder lacing approach used by military paratroopers and ceremonial guard units. In this style, the laces weave horizontally and vertically, forming a securely laced shoe that resembles a ladder.
The type of lace up boots you are looking for will determine the best place to purchase them. Heavy lace-up boots intended for serious work such as construction and hiking should be purchased at an outdoors store where the sales associates will be able to help you select the best style for your needs.
If you are looking for fashionable lace-up boots, you can typically find these in department stores and on the Internet by doing a keyword search such as “lace-up fashion boots.” Colorful shoelaces are available wherever shoes are sold, as well as online.
Once you have determined whether you will be purchasing lace up boots for their functional or decorative benefits, you will be able to narrow down the specific requirements that your lace-up boots will need to meet.