Knotty Dogs

(This is actually a post I forgot to publish a long time ago) For a while I’ve pondered about the looks of my footwear, in particular my sneakers. See, for some time now, I’ve been big on wearing shoes. It all started back in my high school days when friends and I used to get denied at the doors of some major clubs even if we had valid (fake) ID and were dressed to impress (from head to ankle). The reason for us getting dissed was the use of improper footwear (sneakers) and the lack of proper footwear (shoes).

Don't get me wrong, many clubs did allow sneakers, especially those catered towards hip hop goers and dancers alike, but that wasn't enough for us. We wanted to get into all the clubs! However, turning into shoe connoisseurs, that problem came to an end quickly.From Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Coach, Ferragamo, Prada, Dr. Martens and even Durango boots (my first pair of club shoes/boots), we did it up in the clubs with our new love and appreciation for a nice pair of shoes and murdered the dance floors when we had the opportunity (I can't believe I was doing spin moves and dancing for hours in Durango's).

Most of us were heavy into the NYC 80's-90's dance scene (House music and Hip Hop) and started dance ciphers whenever and wherever possible to show off (our courtship rituals to the girls). As I got older my love for sneakers practically became…meh.

Anyway, I’ve been slowly getting back into rocking kicks again, mainly retro fit and vintage kicks from Polo (I’m still a Lo head), Asics and the ones that started it all for me revamping my kicks again…good ol’ Chuck's. Ah yes, you can’t go wrong with a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor's. That’s an essential and impeccable branding tool for those who don’t conform to the social norm and represent indie culture. As for the bitters and wannabes, you need to step off! You try to negate indie culture, but have the audacity to dress and fraudulently act the part. You know who you are!

Nevertheless, I stumbled across this book by the Shoelace professor himself Ian Fieggan who published a book in October 2007 called Laces: 100’s of Ways To Pimp Your Kicks. This book is practically the quintessential version of the bible for footwear fanatics. I have to admit, I was skeptical at first, because I though the book was solely marketed towards sneaker fanatics, but it actually focuses on tying knots and artistically lacing up footwear. If you want my humble opinion, this book is a must for kids, athletes, workers, and sneaker enthusiasts looking to step their shoe game up.

About the Author

Ian Fieggen first became interested in shoelaces in 1982 when, at the age of 20, a broken-shoelace incident prompted him to analyze the humble shoelace knot. This led to the development of a better way to tie shoes, the Ian Knot, and set in motion Ian’s lifelong fascination with shoelaces.

Ian’s quarter-century of shoelace research culminated in Ian’s Shoelace Site (www.fieggen.com/shoelace), in which he used his graphic design skills to make dozens of intricate lacing and tying diagrams. His site, called “the best shoelace website in the universe” by Sneaker Freaker magazine, has been featured in Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal online, and other magazines, newspapers, and websites from around the world.

Ian lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he’s often referred to as “Professor Shoelace.”

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