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Spice of Life: A good run, but is it time to superannuate shoelaces?
Mastering the art of tying shoe laces in a bow and later into the boy scout knot or the trendy way by looping them around the ankle was surreal
New York Times about the latest lifestyle trends for the year 2023, the writer predicts that this year will see the superannuation of shoelaces. “They’ve had a nice run,” claims the post. My heart plummeted into the lowest crevices of my ribcage at this sad news, for I am unable to fathom a world without shoelaces — the last insignia of a civilised society, the ultimate surviving upholder of men’s formal wear and perhaps, the sole adherent to the specialised training passed on from one generation to the next, thereby establishing an undefined kinship between the tutor and the taught.
My father, an immaculately dressed gentleman, taught me how to tie the shoelaces of my white canvas shoes which we were ordained to wear every Saturday. Though he had a few loafers and sandals too for casual wear, he always wore shoes with laces to his workplace and made extraordinary efforts to ensure that they had a gleaming finish. A few weeks after his retirement, when I saw him wearing slip-ons during day time, was the first time I realised that my father had aged and the realisation, believe me, was not a pleasant one.
The aforementioned article claims that the pandemic-led coping-up has led most of us, especially the millennials, to go in for a life of ease including our daily lifestyle. Millennials, hence, prefer either slip-ons or “lightly disguised slippers” even to the workplace. There are, in fact, very few institutions these days that motivate their employees to dress up formally. I have been told that in MNCs, employees are even allowed to turn up in flip-flops and shorts and t-shirts. That, they say, is the definition of the new age Work Culture- feel at home!
Not only formal shoes but sneakers and running shoes these days can also be seen sans shoelaces. Though they are comfortable to wear and add to the style quotient, they can be a safety hazard as shoes with laces offer joint support and stability. However, the trend to wear shoes without laces is catching up like “bushfire in Harmattan” as Chinua Achebe would put it across.
I, for one, am a huge fan of shoes with laces and have so many memories associated with them. Learning and mastering the art of tying shoe laces in a bow and later into the boy scout knot or the trendy way by looping them around the ankle and tying them in the front, was a surreal experience. Also, when in college, we bought multi-coloured laces and would wear matching ones with dresses. Hanging the sneakers out in the sun, on the clothesline after a good wash could not have been possible without the humble shoelaces.
So many pranks in classrooms were centered around them including the under desk activity of slyly tying someone’s laces together. No sooner did the innocent victim get up and take a step than he would stumble and fall much to the merriment of the prankster and the rest of us. However, the pranks never hurt as much as the knowledge of something becoming vestigial and slowly taking a bow out of our lives.
Fashion statement or not, I think I am, yet, not ready to bid adieu to shoe laces.
(The writer is an associate professor at SD College, Ambala Cantt)
