Alphabet string

Why letters?

Because letters are the most direct way of expression.

One letter, three letters, a string of words—from “LUCKY” to “SXY”, from initials to a secret code for yourself. You can wear good luck on your feet, hide someone you like in your shoelaces, or simply declare: These shoes are mine.

I call this set of things “walking tags”.

How to play? I tried these methods

1. Name initials
The simplest and most common. For example, if my name is “SXY”, I string these three letters together and hang them at the knot at the very front of the shoelace. I can see them when I look down while walking, giving me a sense of security that “these shoes belong to me”.

2. Lucky words
For a while, I especially liked the word “LUCKY”, so I printed five letters and strung them together. A friend saw them and asked, “What's hanging on your shoes?” I said, “Good luck.” He paused for a moment, then smiled.

3. Secret code
A friend hung “FOREVER” on her shoes, and when asked what it meant, she said, “Only I know.” This is probably the most charming aspect of letters—you can give them a meaning that only you understand.

4. Not just shoes
I hung my initials on the zipper of my commute bag, and another friend strung them on a bracelet as a pendant. Others use them to mark keys—hanging one letter each on house keys and car keys, eliminating trial and error.

A few final words

The greatest charm of 3D printing is probably that “anything can be done, anything can be tried”. This set of letter shoelace charms is not a major project, but every time I look down and see “LUCKY” on my shoelaces, or a friend points at my shoes and asks, “Can you print this yourself?”, I feel it's all worth it.

26 letters, 26 possibilities. You can spell out anything you want to say.

Next time before going out, try wearing your name on your feet.