How to Tie Yeezys

Co-authored by Christopher M. Osborne, PhD

Last Updated: October 21, 2021 References

Now that you’ve put in the time, effort, and cash to get your hands on a pair of Yeezys, do you really want to tie them the same boring way you’ve been tying your shoes since kindergarten? Instead, complete your look by trying something a bit different. You can replicate the “factory knot” that you find when you take the shoes out of the box the first time, or go with an unlaced look. You might also consider using a “noose knot,” which combines elements of both the “factory knot” and the classic “bunny ears” shoe-tying style.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Tying a Factory Knot

1
Lace the shoes so you can slip them on and off comfortably. Make the laces tight enough that the shoes stay on your feet, but loose enough that you can slide your feet in and out of the shoes without adjusting the laces much if at all. This way, you can leave the shoelaces knotted instead of tying and untying the knot each time you wear the shoes.^{[1]
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- Ideally, you want to have about 6–8 in (15–20 cm) of excess shoestring hanging from each side of the last set of eye holes.
2
Stretch the excess shoelace ends together above the shoe. Pinch the tips of the shoelace ends between your thumb and forefinger, lift the strings taut above the shoe, and use your other thumb and first two fingers to pinch the laces together just above the tongue of the shoe.^{[2]
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- The laces should be running side-by-side, not crossing over each other.
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3
Wrap the laces around the first two fingers of your lower hand. Use your upper hand to wrap the stretched laces all the way around the index and middle fingers of your lower hand. Wrap in an overhand direction—down and towards the tip of the shoe, then back up and around to where the wrap began.^{[3]
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- Make the wrap them loose enough that you’ll be able to slide your fingers out of it easily.
4
Cross the lace ends over the wrap and pinch them under your thumb. Once you’ve wrapped the laces all the way around the first two fingers of your lower hand, pass the remaining lace ends over top of the wrapped section of lace. Pinch the lace ends between the top knuckle of your thumb and the bottom knuckle of your index finger.^{[4]
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- You should have around 2–3 in (5.1–7.6 cm) of excess shoelace (for each end) hanging free.
5
Work your fingers out of the wrap to create a loop. Use your other hand to help work the wrapped laces off of your two fingers, leaving behind a loop that’s around 1 in (2.5 cm) in diameter. Use your thumb and forefinger to pinch the laces so the loop doesn’t unravel.^{[5]
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6
Fold the excess lacing over itself and feed the folded end into the loop. With your free hand, pinch the tips of the shoelace against the spot where the laces emerge from the loop you created. Then, stick the fold you’ve created into the loop.^{[6]
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- Feed the fold into the loop from underneath, so it emerges from the loop pointing upward.
- Keep the tips of the laces out of the loop and beneath it. Pinch them to keep them in place.
7
Tighten the original loop around the fold, which will become a new loop. Pull down on the tips of the laces while pulling up on the original loop to tighten the loop around the fold. You may have to work the loop and laces back and forth a little to turn the loop into a fairly tight knot around the fold.^{[7]
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- Once you’ve cinched the original loop around the fold, spread the fold out a little to make a new, smaller loop above the knot you’ve created.
- This “knot with a loop sticking out of the top” look closely resembles, if not matches, the knot you’ll find when you first take your Yeezys out of the box.
8
Adjust the laces as needed to complete the look. If the lacing is a bit loose between the knot you just made and the top set of eye holes, you can loosen the lacing a little all the way down the shoe to even things out. Or, if you want, leave the lacing looser at the top and tighter down lower. Make the look your own!^{[8]
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- To untie this knot, just pull on the loop to bring the tips of the laces up through the knot, then finish unraveling the knot.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making a Noose Knot

1
Create a starting knot as if you’re tying your shoes normally. Cross one free shoelace end over the other, then feed one lace end into the gap beneath the cross and back out. Pull the knot tight against the tongue of the shoe. Then, curl one of the lace ends into an upright loop—like a single “bunny ear.”^{[9]
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- This “noose knot” is a nice compromise between the standard shoelace knot and the “factory knot” that the laces of your Yeezys are tied into when you first unbox them. The noose knot starts the same way as the standard shoelace knot, but ends up looking more like the factory knot.
2
Begin winding the free lace end around the upright loop, about halfway up. Wrap the free lace end tightly around the loop you created with the other lace end. Wrap it around at about the midpoint of the original loop.^{[10]
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- After this, you’ll have a loop above the wrap that’s about half the size of the original loop.
3
Keep winding tightly around the original loop, working downward. Wrap the free lace end around and around the upright loop, keeping the wraps tight as you go. Keep winding downward until you nearly reach the base of the original loop at the starter knot—leave just enough room to feed the free lace end between the bottom wrap and the starter knot.^{[11]
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- Aim to get at least 4 wraps around the upright loop. The more wraps you make around the loop, the stronger your noose knot will be.
4
Feed the free end through the bottom gap. There should be a very small opening right above the starter knot, just below where the free end starts to run up alongside the upright loop and then wraps its way back down around it. Stick the free lace end into this gap and pull it through all the way.^{[12]
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- Don’t pull the free end tight quite yet, though.
5
Tighten the knot by pulling on the free end and the loop above the wraps. Tug on the top, exposed portion of the original upright loop with one hand, and the free end that you feed through the gap below the wraps with your other hand.^{[13]
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- You can adjust the size of the top loop or the length of the remaining free shoelace end as you tighten them to get the exact look you want.
- To untie this knot, pull the free end back through the gap and unwind everything.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Going with an Untied Look

1
Unlace the shoestring from the last set of eye holes. Assuming that your shoes are already laced, simply pull each end of the shoestring back through the top eye hole on each side of the tongue. You’re going to be crossing them beneath the shoe’s tongue and re-lacing them through these holes.^{[14]
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- If you need to lace the shoes first, there are multiple criss-cross lacing and straight-lace options to choose from.
2
Cross the lace ends underneath the tongue, leaving extra slack. Feed the lace ends beneath the top section of the tongue and cross them one over the other. Instead of pulling them tight against the underside of the tongue, though, leave them loose so you only have a few free inches/centimeters of lace on either side of the tongue.^{[15]
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- Aim for about 3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm) of free lacing on either side.
3
Finish lacing through the last set of eyes. Feed each free end of the shoelace through the eye hole on the same side. Leave the shoelace ends dangling freely from these last eye holes.^{[16]
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- Crossing the laces under the tongue shortens the amount of shoestring hanging from the last set of eye holes, making it less likely you’ll trip over your untied shoes!
- If you want a bit more or less loose shoestring at the ends, loosen or tighten the crossed lacing under the tongue as needed.
- When you put the shoe on, your foot will hold the loosely-crossed lacing under the tongue in place.
4
Lace the shoes loosely instead, as a very casual alternative. With the shoes laced according to your preferred method, simply loosen each section of lacing, working from the top down. Make a few tweaks here and there until each section of lacing is loosened fairly evenly. Leave the shoelace untied.^{[17]
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- Aim to have about 2.5 in (6.4 cm) of loose shoelace dangling from each top eye hole.
- Treat shoes tied this way more like loose-fitting slip-ons, and don’t expect them to stay on if you start running!