The Red Moose line of shoe-care products and accessories can help you look your best, but it’s going to be up to you when it comes to the laces. If you’re just tying a bow with the way the shoes were laced when you bought them, you’re missing out. Fortunately, we can offer some advice to you here, with the best way to lace and tie your dress shoes!

Boston Two-Step Lacing

This method gives you clean-looking horizontal lines between each eyelet (that’s the hole that the laces go through) instead of the crisscross pattern that your shoe comes with when you buy it.

1. Start with an equal amount of lace on each side of the bottom eyelet.
2. Take the left lace and bring it up the inside of the flap so you can’t see it from the outside, slide it through the second eyelet and straight across.
3. Repeat this process with the right lace but bring it to the third eyelet, then straight across.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, alternating right and left and skipping an eyelet on each side until you reach the top of the shoe.

The Knot: The Make-or-Break Point

The worst thing that can happen is that you laced your shoes up beautifully, but your knot points vertically on the shoe and easily comes undone. Your knot should be horizontal across the shoe, creating a stronger knot that will remain tied. The key to achieving this is, after you make a bow with one lace bring the other lace counter-clockwise around the loop. This will give you even bows that remain horizontal on the shoe. It’s stronger because the knot is pulled tighter upon stress, keeping it in place. With a clockwise loop, pressure put on the laces loosens the knot, which is how the shoe comes untied.

Armed with these two pieces of knowledge, you can up your shoe game with custom lacing and a strong knot!