Statement Laces: Add a splash of color to your wingtips

[liv2bike]

Bad idea? Inexpensive way to spice things up. Maybe match laces to tie? We wear fancy socks, at least I do. We use pocket squares to add color. Why not let our laces add some color instead of always being brown or black. Or is it tacky and in bad taste? Not sayin I would lace up my black wingtips with red laces for a board meeting or anything but maybe on the weekend to mix things up. These guys below make some colorful laces. They even dress up the aglets. What say you ladies and gentlemen? Personally I am on the fence.

Stolen Riches Store

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[maunahaole]

Red laces carry a very specific meaning in the racist skinhead movement.... Not sure if that is the message that you want to send out to the world.

[liv2bike]

Red laces carry a very specific meaning in the racist skinhead movement.... Not sure if that is the message that you want to send out to the world.

Since I have zero affiliation with the racist skinhead movement, I had no clue red laces indicated anything other than someone trying to add color to their shoes. Someone better tell Allen Edmonds that. Those shoes are on their website. Is there no longer anything just innocent in this world anymore? So no, that is obviously not the message I am trying to send. Sorry if you or anyone else took it that way. I thought my original post was pretty clear and I was just trying to get others thoughts on different color shoelaces. In no way intended what you have implied. Just keep it light.

[rowdyhillrambler]

So does shaving your head, however, i wouldnt assume anyone on here with a shaved head would be part of that movement.

liv2bike, i wouldnt think that anyone would "take it that way". However, i am the side of the fence that says "meh, prolly not for me"

[RickM]

Red laces carry a very specific meaning in the racist skinhead movement.... Not sure if that is the message that you want to send out to the world.

Damn...and I was struggling with lugged soles on wingtips! I use socks to inject some color down there when the occasion warrants. The laces thing may work for a younger guy...but not this old geezer.

[maunahaole]

I did not take it that way at all. Carry on.

[christian]

No. Men's style is not ironic.

[chasea]

I'll kill this one right now. You're not going to be changing your laces on the weekend. You just aren't.

[busdriver1959]

Okay, I'll bite. What do red laces mean to a skinhead? And, no, I'm not going to google it and find out for myself.

[liv2bike]

You never know man! It could be a pain in the ass tho if you use some fancy lacing technique. Then going back and forth could be labor intensive. Better things to do on the weekend.

[Matthew Strongin]

Okay, I'll bite. What do red laces mean to a skinhead? And, no, I'm not going to google it and find out for myself.

This will narrow it down for you. Racist Skinhead Glossary | Southern Poverty Law Center

Pretty unlikely to see a racist skinhead in wingtips, though.

[Too Tall]

This will narrow it down for you. Racist Skinhead Glossary | Southern Poverty Law Center

Pretty unlikely to see a racist skinhead in wingtips, though.

Racist skinhead is a oxymoron.

I'm with Chase on this, you really aren't going to all that trouble??? It is clever.

[al415]

Ok, I'll swim upstream on this one. I say yes, why not? Particularly if you're already looking at lugged / commando soled brogues in the first place. Every pair of Trickers I've bought over the past few years has come with a variety of laces and while I'm not changing them every weekend, I certainly swap them out now and then. I see no reason why a man's style shouldn't have a sense of humour; I have no desire to look like a banker or Lockheed Martin executive. Mind you, everything I say on the subject should be taken with the foreknowledge that cops are notoriously poor dressers.

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[jeffreyt]

I'm not in a business office, so for a splash of abnormality, I've been using colored laces for a while now. Using dark green and lime green in two different pairs of saddle shoes, purple in a pair of wingtips, silver in pair of oxfords, etc. I don't change laces between weekdays/weekends/special occasions. Also, a pop of style/color with your socks is good. As I've gotten older, I realized that iconic is iconic, but boring is really boring.
Jeff

[Brandon White]

This will narrow it down for you. Racist Skinhead Glossary | Southern Poverty Law Center

Pretty unlikely to see a racist skinhead in wingtips, though.

Some skinhead had to go and be racist and ruin it for the whole mod movement.

[AJPM44]

Racist skinhead is a oxymoron.

Not to thread drift too much, but this is not true. The original "skinheads" were influenced by Jamaican and Caribbean immigrants in England; and they were not at all racist. It wasn't until later that the NF turned it into a political thing. And still there are lots of skinheads that are against racism like SHARPS and the ARA.

As far as colored laces, avoid red or white on your boots for the reasons stated in the link above, even though it really just started as lace colors to match your football (soccer) team.

[quickag]

as a Jewish kid who grew up in a German town full of skinheads (Coburg, Germany...our local skinhead magazine was called Clockwork Orange), the red lace thing is always in the back of my mind. Those kind of things are all around and you generally don't notice them unless it possibly means getting the shit kicked out of you. wmsteoopaaffwc 14/88 etc.

Back on topic...

I do like the understated colors in those laces.

[vertical_doug]

I think adding color to something trad to freshen it up is really dated. When Paul Smith first came out, it was his claim to fame. 30 yrs later it seems just silly. How many of you like the line he produced for Rapha? (not) This belongs in the back of your fashion closet with boy bands and mullets.

[christian]

Even David Brooks has identified that the way to appeal to Bobos is to add texture, not color. Now, elephant-hide longwings, that's something I'm willing to get into!

[al415]

I think adding color to something trad to freshen it up is really dated. When Paul Smith first came out, it was his claim to fame. 30 yrs later it seems just silly. How many of you like the line he produced for Rapha? (not) This belongs in the back of your fashion closet with boy bands and mullets.

That's kind of the point, if PS was doing it 30 years ago (and has done it countless times since) there is a timeless to it now that transcends your references. I never had a mullet or liked boy bands and haven't noticed fashion since I was in my early teens.