Straight lacing, also called bar lacing, creates clean horizontal lines across your shoes with no visible diagonal crosses. It’s the classic look on dress shoes and oxfords, and it’s simpler than it appears once you understand the pattern. The key thing to know upfront: this method works neatly on shoes with an even number of eyelet pairs (4, 6, or 8 pairs). If your shoes have an odd number, you’ll need a small workaround, which we’ll cover below.
Step-by-Step Straight Bar Lacing
This method uses a single lace. Every visible section runs straight across the outside of the shoe, while the lace travels vertically on the inside, hidden beneath the tongue. Here’s how to do it on a shoe with 6 eyelet pairs (12 eyelets total).
Step 1: Thread the lace through both bottom eyelets, going down into each hole so the lace enters from the top. The lace should run straight across the outside, with both ends disappearing into the shoe. Pull both sides even.
Step 2: Take the left end and run it up the inside of the shoe to the second eyelet on the same (left) side. Push it out through that eyelet from underneath.
Step 3: Thread that same end straight across the outside to the second eyelet on the right side. Push it down into that hole.
Step 4: Take the right end (still at the bottom) and run it up the inside to the third eyelet on the right side. Push it out from underneath.
Step 5: Thread it straight across the outside to the third eyelet on the left side. Push it down into that hole.
Step 6: Continue alternating sides this way. The left end handles even-numbered bars (2nd, 4th, 6th), and the right end handles odd-numbered bars (3rd, 5th). Each end always travels vertically on the inside, then horizontally across the outside.
Step 7: Both ends should emerge from the top pair of eyelets. Tie them as usual.
The result is a ladder of perfectly horizontal bars with nothing visible between them. All the diagonal movement happens behind the tongue.
What to Do With Odd Eyelet Pairs
If your shoes have 5 or 7 pairs of eyelets, standard straight bar lacing won’t work cleanly. The lace needs to cross the shoe an even number of times for both ends to meet at the top. With an odd number, one end finishes on the wrong side. There are several fixes, and none of them are difficult.
Use a single diagonal at the top. Lace everything normally using the straight bar method, then allow one diagonal cross near the top pair of eyelets. This is the least noticeable spot for a diagonal because the bow and loose ends cover it. On a 5-eyelet shoe, this single diagonal at the top is barely visible.
Double up the top bar. Lace the shoe so both ends emerge through the same top eyelet. Feed one end straight across to the opposite top eyelet. When you tie the bow, the double pass across the top is hidden underneath the knot.
Skip one pair of eyelets. Simply leave the top or bottom pair of eyelets empty, or skip a pair somewhere in the middle. This effectively turns your odd-numbered shoe into an even-numbered one. The trade-off is slightly less snugness in that section.
Hide a diagonal at the bottom. Run one diagonal cross at the very bottom, routing it behind the tongue so it’s invisible from the outside. This keeps the entire visible portion perfectly straight, though the lace pressing against the tongue can cause minor discomfort.
Why Straight Lacing Helps With Foot Pain
Straight bar lacing isn’t just cosmetic. Because the laces run parallel instead of crossing over each other, they create more vertical space above the top of your foot. This makes it a good option if you have high arches or experience pressure and pain across the instep, the bony ridge along the top of your foot.
Runners and athletes with high arches use this pattern to relieve dorsal pressure, the uncomfortable squeezing that criss-cross lacing can cause during long runs. You can take the relief further by leaving the first two eyelets open to widen the toe box, or leaving the middle eyelets open to reduce pressure directly over the instep. This flexibility is one of the practical advantages of straight lacing over traditional methods.
Military personnel also use straight bar lacing on boots. The horizontal bars allow a medic to cut through all the laces in a single vertical slice, making boot removal much faster during emergencies. It also helps relieve pressure for soldiers with high arches who spend long hours on their feet.
Best Shoe Types for Straight Lacing
Straight bar lacing is the traditional standard for oxfords and other closed-lacing dress shoes, where the two sides of the upper meet in a narrow V shape over the tongue. The clean horizontal lines complement the shoe’s formal design, and the closed construction holds everything in place even though parallel lacing provides slightly less grip than criss-cross.
Derby shoes, which have a more open lacing construction, can also be straight laced, though the visual effect is less dramatic because the eyelet panels sit farther apart. Sneakers and casual shoes work fine too. The method is versatile enough for any footwear with eyelets, as long as you account for the even/odd eyelet issue.
How to Hide the Knot
For the cleanest possible look, you can tie and tuck the knot inside the shoe rather than leaving a bow on top. To do this, stop the lacing so both ends emerge from the top eyelets going down into the shoe (rather than coming out). Tie a flat knot inside, then tuck the remaining lace ends along the sides of your foot or under the tongue.
If the leftover lace is too long and bunches uncomfortably, you have a few options. Some people trim the excess after tying a secure knot. Others tuck the ends underneath the insole. You can also use small lace anchors, plastic clips that grip the lace inside the eyelet, to lock the tension without needing a knot at all. This is especially useful if you slip your shoes on and off without retying them.
Tips for a Clean Finish
Keep the tension even as you lace. Because each bar is independent, it’s easy for some sections to end up tighter than others. After lacing, work from the bottom up, pulling each bar snug before moving to the next. This also helps keep the tongue centered.
Flat laces look significantly better with straight bar lacing than round ones. Round laces tend to twist and roll, breaking the clean horizontal line. If your shoes came with round laces and you want the sharpest look, swapping to flat laces of the same length makes a noticeable difference.
Finally, straight bar lacing uses slightly less lace than criss-cross because the lace travels shorter vertical distances on the inside rather than long diagonal ones. If your current laces leave you with very short ends after criss-cross lacing, switching to straight bars should give you a bit more length to work with at the top.