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How to Lace Ghillies

Ghillies are soft-soled leather dancing shoes, primarily used in Highland, Irish, and Scottish country dance. They are similar in appearance to ballet shoes, though ghillies do not have elastic around the edge of the shoe's opening and are made of thin leather. Some ghillies are full-soled, meaning that the leather sole covers the whole bottom of the shoe, while others have a split sole with a leather sole under the heel and under the ball of the foot. Ghillies are usually black, though they also come in red, green, and white. The white variety can be dyed to match a costume.
Although some ghillies come in a modern slip-on style, traditional ghillies are laced as shown.

Things You'll Need

  • A pair of ghillies and their laces.
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Instructions

    • 1

      With the toe of the shoe facing toward you, thread the lace through the loop nearest the toe so that there are equal lengths of lace on either side of the loop.

    • 2

      Loosely thread the right lace through the lowest loop on the right.

    • 3

      Thread this same lace through the second loop on the left, then through the third loop on the right

    • 4

      Thread this lace through the fourth loop on the left and the fifth loop on the right.

    • 5

      Thread this lace through the loop on the back of the ghillie to the left.

    • 6

      Loosely thread the left lace through the lowest loop on the left.

    • 7

      Thread this same lace through the second loop on the right, then the third loop on left.

    • 8

      Thread this lace through the fourth loop on the right and the fifth loop on the left.

    • 9

      Thread this lace through the loop on the back of the ghillie to the right.

    • 10

      Put the ghillie on its corresponding foot and gently tighten laces. Wrap the remaining laces around the calf in a criss-crossing pattern and tie in a bow below the knee.

    • 11

      Repeat steps 1 to 10 on other ghillie.

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