The Berluti Knot
~6 min read
My experience with shoelaces is they become untied very quickly. Over the period of a day, I need to re-tie them frequently. One fix is to take the two “bunny ears” of the bow and tie them together. This does work to keep them tied longer but the resulting knot looks crude and lumpy - function over form.
Then I came across the Berluti knot. The Berluti shoe company makes high-end footwear. At their price point, I will never be burdened with a pair of their shoes. When the Berluti company sends shoes to retailers for display and sale, those shoe types that have shoelaces are tied in a very particular bow. It looks like the normal bow that we learned to tie as children, but it is rather more intricate. There are two wraps of the lace around the centre of the bow holding it in place rather than one. The resulting knot is elegant and very robust, yet it unties just like a normal bow.
The extra wraps around the centre look very distinctive, and the bow is quite resilient. My experience is that shoelaces stay tied-up all day until they are intentionally untied. The bow lies flat on the shoe and always points in the right direction.
Tying With Intention
Its uses go beyond normal shoes. My moccasins have a leather thong that ties them around my foot. The thongs are tied together to keep the moccasins on the foot. When tied with a regular bow, they become untied in a matter of hours. The usual trick of tying the bunny ears to hold them together is only marginally better and makes for a very large bow. Even tying the bow with an extra piece of string or with a tin-tie around the knot has little effect on keeping them tied. When I tie them with a Berluti knot, they stay tied and look good, day after day.
The laces at the top of my barn boots can be tightened to close off the top of the boot. There are times when you really want the tops of the boots to be tight. Again, normal bows don’t hold long, but Berluti knots hold for months and months.
There is a cushion on one of our kitchen chairs with a foam pad from a lawn chair. The kitchen chair is wooden and quite stiff, so the pad is the key to being comfortable. The pad is held onto the chair with straps typically tied with a bow. Since tying them with Berluti knots, they have remained secure for weeks and weeks.
Recently I bought some brown shoes to broaden my footwear options. So far, I have only had black shoes with laces. My limited understanding of style is that black shoes are for the city and brown shoes are for the country. While this is not so much a rule as a guideline, so to speak, the diversity is nice.
My black shoes are Clarks, and they are still in great shape after many years of wear. They had no break-in period when I got them but were comfortable right out of the box. So, I went back to Mark’s (where I got the black shoes) to get some brown ones. (Mark’s does very well by me.) The only comparable brown shoes were slip-on. They are easy to put on, very comfortable and they look good. While I find them convenient, I miss the Berluti knot and how good it makes the shoes look. If I switch to a version with laces, it will be for the Berluti knot.
Quality Takes Time
It takes longer to tie a Berluti knot compared to a simple bow. If I tie my shoes when I am around other people, I am self-conscious because of how long it takes to tie my shoes with Berluti knots compared to those around me tying normal bows. When a person is past a certain age, people start looking at them for signs of decline in performance. A quick scan of recent headlines will show this to be true. So, I am conscious of the delay. While taking the time to tie a Berluti knot results in a better outcome, am I prepared to take the time to do it properly? Quality takes time but many of us are reluctant to spend the time. It is a definite lifestyle choice to upgrade the style of knots on our shoes. There is a cost to everything. For me, the investment in time to tie a better bow is worth it.
The Berluti knot, an elegant knot for a more civilized age.
