If you haven’t invested in a pair of lace-up heels yet, what are you waiting for? This is the look du jour for spring/summer.
These block-heeled babies are so comfortable and I can’t wait to take them for another run.
Block heel or stiletto?
The stiletto lace-ups look so hot, but the block heel is comfortable and practical, perfect for the races.
That is not me being sensible for the sake of it. A block heel and a stiletto do genuinely different jobs, and the choice matters far more with a lace-up than with a plain court.
A block heel spreads your weight across a wide base, so your ankle is not doing the work of balancing you. On grass (which is where every Melbourne spring event happens) a stiletto sinks and a block does not. If you have ever spent a race day walking on your toes to stop your heels disappearing into the turf, you know exactly why this matters.
A stiletto lengthens the leg more, and with laces climbing the ankle it is a genuinely striking shoe. It is the right choice for a night out, a wedding on a hard floor, anything where you will be photographed more than you will walk.
The lacing changes the maths too. Straps around the ankle already shorten the leg a little, so a stiletto’s extra height is partly buying back what the laces cost you. With a block heel you accept the slightly shorter line and gain a shoe you can stand in for six hours.
For the spring carnival, a wedding on a lawn, or anything involving grass, I would take the block every time.
How high should the laces go?
This is the bit that decides whether they flatter you, and almost nobody thinks about it in the shop.
Ankle-height laces are the safe, universally flattering version. The straps finish below the narrowest part of your ankle and the leg keeps running.
Mid-calf laces are more dramatic and much fussier. They cut you at the widest part of the calf, which shortens the leg noticeably. They work best with a short hem and a lot of leg above them, exactly like gladiator sandals, same principle, same rule.
Wrapped-and-tied at the ankle (where the laces wind round several times and knot) adds visual bulk right where you want a clean line. Lovely on a long, slim ankle, unforgiving otherwise.
Whatever height, tie them properly. Laces flopping loose reads as an accident rather than a design, and they will trip you before the second drink.
What to wear them with
The whole appeal of a lace-up is that the shoe is doing something interesting, so nothing else needs to.
With a shift or a fit-and-flare dress. The classic race-day pairing. A plain dress and a detailed shoe is the easiest smart outfit there is.
With cropped or ankle-length trousers. The hem must sit above where the laces begin, or the whole detail disappears and you have simply made your trousers look too long.
With a midi skirt. Trickier, and worth getting right: leave a decent stretch of leg between hem and lacing, or the two lines fight.
Never with an ankle-strap anything else. One thing at the ankle. Two is a tangle.
Nude is doing more work than you think
These are a nude patent, and the colour is a decision, not an accident.
A nude shoe close to your own skin tone effectively extends the leg. The eye reads leg and shoe as one continuous line and simply keeps going. It is the single cheapest way to look taller, and it costs nothing extra.
That matters more with a lace-up than with a plain shoe, because the straps are already breaking the line. Nude gives back what the lacing takes away. A black lace-up on a bare leg does the opposite: strong contrast at the ankle, and the line stops dead.
If you are only buying one pair, buy them in a nude that matches your skin rather than a generic beige. That is the pair you will still be wearing in five years.
Buying a pair that survives the day
Try them on late in the day. Feet swell, and a lace-up that fits perfectly at ten in the morning will be biting by four.
Check the platform under the toe. As with any wedge or heel, the real comfort measure is the difference between heel height and toe height, not the heel height alone.
Look at where the lacing sits against the bone. Anything crossing directly over the ankle bone will rub.
Test the tie. Ribbon laces look beautiful and loosen all day. Flat cotton or leather laces stay put.
(This is from spring 2015. Those particular Therapy heels are long gone, but lace-ups have come back around several times since, which is rather the point of buying the block heel version.)
If you have a race day or a wedding coming up and no idea what to build around the shoes, that is exactly the sort of thing a styling session sorts out in an afternoon.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” Psalm 23:1