Count the pairs of eyelets (holes) on one shoe, then pick your lacing style.
| Eyelet Pairs | Recommended Length |
|---|
Shoelace length depends mainly on how many pairs of eyelets a shoe has, since more eyelets mean more diagonal crossing distance for the lace to cover with standard criss-cross lacing — the most common style seen on sneakers, dress shoes, and most casual footwear.
This calculator uses a widely published rule-of-thumb chart that matches eyelet pairs to a recommended lace length, rounding up to the nearest common retail lace size rather than calculating an exact geometric length, since shoe width, eyelet spacing, and how tightly someone likes to tie their laces all vary enough that an exact formula would be misleading.
Straight-bar lacing (where the lace runs horizontally between eyelets rather than crossing diagonally) uses noticeably less material for the same shoe, so a shorter lace usually works better and won't leave excess length dangling.
Count the number of eyelets (lace holes) down just one side of the shoe — that's your eyelet pair count, since each hole on one side is matched by one directly across on the other side.
Wide shoes and tall boots need extra lace to cover the additional width or ankle height — sizing up to the next length in the reference chart is a safe adjustment.
Yes — criss-cross lacing covers extra diagonal distance between eyelets, while straight-bar (or 'bar') lacing runs the lace horizontally, using noticeably less material for the same number of eyelets.
They're a widely used rule-of-thumb reference rather than an exact geometric calculation, since eyelet spacing and personal tying preference vary. If you're between two sizes, the longer option gives more room for different knot styles.
