shoes(and)shoelaces=style it up!

older:gutter feet

newer: new shooz

found the yellow pair today while shopping on haight street. as i walked up to the register to purchase them, i saw a big rack of brightly colored sneaker shoelaces on a rack on the wall, and had an fashion-y epiphany: why not buy some shoelaces to fancy up some of my shoes, particularly those of the peeptoe variety? i bought some orange fluorescent laces and gold metallic laces to play around with.

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shoelaces come in a million colors, widths, and lengths. be creative! shoelaces can be used in so many ways. here are some quick styling ideas:

-form a bow on the top of your shoe...simply tie it on like i've done here (wrapping around until the shoelaces are shorter to make a nicer, smaller bow), or use a leather punch to form holes in the top of your shoe, and thread through.

-utilize them as an ankle straps...some shoes come with a little loop on the back near the heel. simply slip the shoelace through and tie on your ankle as you wish! criss, cross, and tie high, or let them slouch low and relaxed around your ankle.

-use them decorate the edge of a plain vintage pump, flat or sneaker in your closet or that you've thrifted: punch holes @ regular intervals along the edge of a shoe with a leather punch, then thread the laces in and out of the holes. you could even do a single crochet stitch around the edge (if you know how to crochet!), a blanket stitch, or whipstitch. instead of shoelaces, you could use great yarn or strips of fabric in the same way...how cool would that be?

the possibilities seem endless, really! make suggestions for more uses! i'd love to hear them.

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i leave you with a thought:

maybe original, trendsetting style comes partly from looking at things in a new manner/from a new perspective...in other words, "how can i interpret this (new or old) item/thing in a *new* way?"

that is what is really quite beautiful about the fact that the world is populated with unique human beings, who are, in theory, all DIFFERENT. we all have different dna, different cells, different bodies, different minds, different life experiences. we're all arguably bound to look at the world around us in different ways. with those differing viewpoints come different thoughts, different ideas...sometimes even completely new and original ones! it's such a beautiful thing!

as one of my missions in life, i want to celebrate, and elevate that difference. difference is what makes us all interesting and special!