Lace Up Your Boots

I tend to be a pretty consistent, loyal person. The same things that intrigued and interested me years ago still do. So, it's not really a surprise that I'm talking about shoelaces again, after pointing out the laces in my Converse and my Keds in the past.

Now, Doc Martens are great and all, but I have to say, they come with really lame shoelaces. At least the pair I bought did. I bought them with the intention of switching out the shoelaces, but boot laces are a little harder to find than shoe laces because they ought to be a little thicker and longer, and nothing I found really seemed perfect. Plus there's the fact that I'm currently in a season of: "use up everything you have and don't buy any more stuff to fill up your house."

That is what inspired me one day: why not make my own shoelaces? I picked that fabric because it happened to be the only fabric in my stash of scraps that was already in the form of semi-long strips. I used the original shoelaces to measure how long the new ones needed to be, folded the strips into four layers, encasing the cut edges inside, and sewed a line straight down the middle, ending up with ribbon-like shoe laces, only with four layers of fabric so that they've got the strength they need to do the job of holding my shoes on my feet, and I love them. It's amazing the difference a pair of beautiful shoelaces can make for your feet. And I didn't have to spend anything to get them, since I used materials from previous projects.

*Also, you may recognize this dress from this post months ago. The crazy thing about spending any time in Malaysia (which was 1 month out of the summer for me) is that the American body used to the American diet automatically seems to shrink when served Malaysian food for any extended period of time. I ate a lot while in Malaysia, filling up on all of my favorite foods and in spite of everything, I lost a couple pounds, which means I can wear this ultra-short dress with jeans now which is much more comfortable. So, if anyone actually WANTS to lose weight (I didn't), go to Malaysia and spend a couple weeks or months not eating beef and pork and bread and milk and processed foods....rice and bok choy just don't seem to stick to your bones quite as well. (For the record: They do have all of those other foods in Malaysia, but they're much pricier and for that reason, we rarely eat them.)

Do you agree with me on the importance of pretty laces? Or are you firmly convinced that laces ought only to serve a utilitarian purpose?