These shoes have a very stretchy upper attached to a lightweight sole, making the shoe comfortable if you like shoes with some motion control. I do. The laces on them are just vestigial or decorative because the upper stretches enough to allow them to be worn like slip-ons. This is due to a relatively serious problem. The tension loop is ridiculously small. I have no idea who wears men's shoes 10 can put a finger in that loop. Please see picture. Instead of just slipping them through the heel loop, I have to use my toe as a meaty shoehorn. There is no reason for such poor planning when designing shoes. It pisses me off every time I wear them. The next problem concerns me. I get so irritated putting them on that half the time I leave the house with my top tucked in. Please look at the picture again. Then, when I leave the house, I start to feel pressure from that crease, so I either have to slip the offending shoe on and off, or catch the crease with my finger. I don't find any operation more than a minor annoyance, but that should be it since the loop needs to be large enough for the intended wearer's finger. They are very comfortable to wear and, as is the case with shoes of this type, they are surprisingly light.