I had no idea shoe lace colors could mean something.

No. And I personally would not allow whatever "meaning" someone attached to a color to affect my choice.

My shoelaces are all pink.

I had no idea. I guess I'm lucky that my shoes don't have laces so I don't inadvertantly offend someone. What's next...lipstick color hidden meaning?

I just ordered pink ones also. I love pink and that color did not seem to have any cautions attached to it that I saw, anyway.

Mine are black with pink sparkles. The sun makes them sparkle. If it means something or offends somewhat, too bad.

I used to have some that were pink and gold lamé, and I put them on some pink plastic shoes from Greece.

In the 80s, I also had some chartreuse plastic shoelaces that would glow in the dark, and I happened to be wearing these when I went on a tour of Inner Space Caverns on I-35 in Georgetown TX. During this tour, at one point of the tour, the guide said he was going to turn off all the lights for a minute or two to show us total darkness, but I could still see my shoelaces.

Most of my shoes today do not have laces.

Shoelace colors have meanings? Naw, not in my world. Perhaps luckily, I'm old enough that no one is going to mistake me for someone hip to hidden meanings.

I suppose that even how you lace them them could have hidden meaning. When my dad was in the army, they had two pairs of boots and had to swap them out every day. They were laced differently for the given day so that their superior could tell.

Sounds like when I was in middle school and you wore green on Thursday. Oh no!!

My walking boots are mud colour with mud coloured laces. Anything else would be pointless.

I just looked this up. You are safe wearing green. apparently. I think I only have laces in my boots and they are brown and I only wear them when it snows so I think I will survive this one. Do the elasticy ones in my hiking sandles count? those are greyish.

Had no idea, mine all seem to match my tennis shoes in some way, light blue, gray & purple, and black with pink stitching.

All I know about shoe laces is teens don't tie them, and they never trip on them.

Hmmm, mine are purple, which apparently means ”gay pride”. I’m not gay but I’m happy to support gay pride. Actually, I just like purple 😁

I just looked it up and it seems to apply just to Doc Martens boots, in the punk rock scene. I wouldn’t worry about it.

There is a rainbow laces movement here demonstrating committment to inclusion. Many sports teams and individuals wear them. Don’t know about any meaning of other colours.

All I know about shoe laces is teens don't tie them, and they never trip on them.

And every adult that sees them tells them they'll trip on them ;)

I had no idea, but then, I would be the last to know about anything like that.

Interestingly, from what I learned about boot laces, red, white, and blue are the ones to avoid, and especially blue.

I had punk friends in the 90s, so yes, I was aware of the color shoelace thing. but we were also well aware that lots of people didn't know about it. so if somebody didn't look like a punk or gangster, nobody was paying attention to their lace color.

I can't quite fathom caring what color shoelaces someone else wears, and certainly can't imagine thinking I was making some kind of profound expression by choosing a certain color for my own shoes. But hey, whatever floats boats.

I only had low cut, regular Doc Marten shoes, and I only had them in red, but I had Doc Marten boots in blue with blue and gold plaid laces - the only time I wore plaid.

In the 80s, I also had yellow patent leather shoes (from Germany) that I bought in Vancouver on Robsonstrasse in the West End and some similar green patent leather shoes that I also bought in Vancouver's West End, which was one of my favorite places to shop.

Some people thought that the yellow patent leather shoes made me look like a pimp, but not a punk. I did spray fluorescent colors in my hair around 1980, however, and I had a turquoise Mohawk in 1982, briefly.

LOL!! Lars, from your descriptions of your apparel in various posts, I am going to assume that you are very fashion forward :-) Back in the day, I knew a lot of folks that wore Doc Martens but never electric blue! And I don't believe I have ever seen yellow patent leather.

And I agree about Robson Street....one of my favorite areas in Vancouver, although I haven't visited much since my sister moved away from there.

I remember there being a bit of a thing about it back when I was in high school. It was a showing colors thing or a punk thing..... or sometimes a fashion thing. There was a moment there where matching the laces on your skates to your outfit was quite the thing. If it was glow in the dark or blacklight, so much the better.

I have long had a fondness for neon orange or neon green laces.

Punk Docs? These were mine. 😄 Union Jack, in case it's not evident from this angle.

I *still* have my burgundy docs! the last time I put them on was for a costume party about 10 years ago. they felt so stiff and gross, LOL, but they're in otherwise great shape. I keep them for nostalgia, kind of like how my dad still has his chucks from high school.

The year: 1979.

The scene: Big Wheel Roller Rink in D/FW Texas.

The songs: KC and The Sunshine Band, Bay City Rollers, ABBA, BeeGees, etc.

The players: Jinx and her 5th grade friends wearing their white skates, with wheels and laces that matched.

I still have mine somewhere. Very similar to these.

.

Back to the question: Lucille, I haven’t ever heard anything about lace colors. Now I’m curious!

Who knew? I am with you, beesneeds. I used to wear a certain Nike sneaker that, for some reason, came with white laces. BORING! I always switched them out for fluorescent green or orange or pink. Hopefully, I didn't send a negative subliminal message. My purple Docs, which I still wear at my advanced age, came with their signature yellow/brown braided laces. Very tasteful.

Jinx, in February 1979, I went to see K C and the Sunshine Band at the Superdome in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. This was the year that the police went on strike, and so there were a few National Guard troups, attempting to patrol, but basically, it was more of a free-for-all than ever before, and was the wildest Mardi Gras I've been to.

I flew into New Orleans from Cozumel on my way back to San Francisco at the end of my winter visit to Mexico so that I could visit friends in New Orleans, and I had not heard about the police strike. (Of course I was also unaware of guerrilla warfare that was going on in Oaxaca when I visited there, or the war between Guatemala and British Honduras & UK when I crossed the border there.)

Anyway, the worst experience of the trip was that Doug Kershaw was on the venue with KC, and this attracted two extremely different audiences, and ones that seemed extremely hostile to each other. I felt more in danger in the Superdome during a police strike than I did in British Honduras/Belize or Oaxaca during warfare.

KC & the Sunshine Band did put on a great show, and there was no violence in the crowd, that I was aware of, but I was very glad to get away from the stadium after the concert was over.

Lars, that is so awesome, thank you for sharing that! What a cool story. I love them and still listen/watch their videos. I’m so jealous you got to see them that year! :)

ETA: When the DJs played KC, they’d announce: ”Fast song. I repeat, fast song. If you skate slow, please leave the floor.”

😂

KC was my first concert-Six Flags Over TX in probably 1975. Good times.

Jana, lucky! I’m not a big country music fan, but saw Crystal Gayle there in the ’70s and she was great.

I miss the concerts there!

I saw Eddie Money at The Music Mill Amphitheater at Six Flags!

Back to the question: Lucille, I haven’t ever heard anything about lace colors. Now I’m curious!

Jinx, I started out just doing a search for laces, wanting to see who sold different kinds and colors. I happened upon a couple of articles like the one below, and I was surprised because I had never heard of shoelace colors having any significance. It seems confined to punk/skinhead Martens, but I wondered how widespread the significance was, hence the thread. ://www.theodysseyonline.com/psa-skinhead-shoelace-code

Thank you, Lucille!

Seen on my NextDoor, Palm Springs.

It seems confined to punk/skinhead Martens

That was my experience, but honestly I didn't really see much of it in real life. In Albuquerque, I don't think many would dare put anything on their docs to signal that they're racist. Most people I knew stuck to stock laces so nobody would mistake us for anything.

DH wears these, he often gets compliments on them. They're Merrells. Apparently, the hidden message of blue laces on Doc Martens is that you killed a police officer or hate the police. Trust me, no one would look at DH and think that!

Finally got my pink laces, and have since gotten several more pairs of Docs both canvas and leather. Upsized to the next largest size, put a comfy insole in, and they are both wonderful for walking and gentle on my feet.