When my daughter was learning to tie her own shoes, we found some stretchy shoe laces that made it a bit easier for her to get her shoes on her feet without her having to loosen/tighten her laces, too. The older lady who lived next door wanted some of those laces so she could get her shoes on and off without tying them to make it easier on her arthritic hands. The HICKIES Elastic Lacing System from Brookstone would have accomplished the same thing for her without giving her shoes a teenybopper look. These bands are made of a “special blend of elastic copolymers that stretch to accommodate any size shoe”, and they give for comfort as you walk. You’ll get a set of 14 HICKIES of your selected color, plus two in a “surprise” color. Since most shoes have 6-7 eyelets, that will be enough to lace a pair of shoes. HICKIES are available in the 16 colors shown. They are available now from Brookstone for $19.99. There’s even a free app for Android and Apple iOS that will let you see how the colors will look with your shoes before you purchase them.
Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
I purchased some of these when they were a Kickstarter project. It took a while for them to come in, but when they finally arrived, I was very impressed with them. I love how they make my running shoes slip on. I also noticed that because these are independent of each other and not a continuous string, the shoe is snug (but not too snug) on my foot down the entire length of my shoe.
Here’s the catch: most athletic shoes use at least some loops for the shoe string to go through. Hickies will work with these as well but they lay sideways unlike how you see in the pictures with eyelets. I have contemplated punching a hole in the loops so that they will lay down like with eyelets but have yet to do so.
Otherwise, this product is fantastic and I like the look better than laces.
I’m sure I’ll love it. Was going to buy a set for my daughter & for myself. But $62 to deliver to Australia, no way!
I also purchased these to try when it was a Kickstarter project. They are not quite as durable as laces, mine had cracking/materials failure within 2 months. I guess they could fill a niche market for those that have trouble tying laces but are quite pricey for the look. I guess there is a reason why pesky shoe laces have been around for so long! It’s simple laces work.
Glad I read this! I have heard good things about Hickies, so I just ordered some from Brookstone as well, and I’m excited to try them out. I’m commenting because I actually got mine on Brookstone’s site 2 for $30, so check it out if you’re also shopping for them – You can get some for yourself and a love one, or get sets for two different pairs of shoes. (http://www.brookstone.com/hickies-elastic-shoelaces) If you plan on ordering more than $80 of merchandise on their site, you can use a coupon code from their coupon page (http://www.brookstone.com/brookstone-coupons) to get $10 more off as well. I hope I like them. Thanks for the article!
I just got 6 pairs a few days ago and without trying one pair, I put them into 5 pairs of shoes. I have high arches and I couldn’t get my feet into the shoes. I finally removed the top row of one pair and was able to get my feet in but they were so tight that my feet started itching and they were not comfortable. I am an occupational therapist and thought these were a great idea but one size does not fit all and there isn’t enough flexibility as they claim. When I tried to post on their Facebook site, they did not show the post. So I would recommend buying only one pair until you have tried them out.