Patent ID: 7552547

Claim:
A shoe comprising: a shoe sole; an upper secured to the shoe sole, the upper and the shoe sole together enclosing an interior of the shoe, the upper having an ankle opening and a forefoot opening to the interior of the shoe, the upper having left and right sides that extend along opposite sides of the forefoot opening; a tongue that extends along the upper left side and the upper right side, the tongue having a width between the upper left side and the upper right side, with a pair of slots provided through the tongue; a plurality of lacing openings arranged along the upper left side and arranged along the upper right side, each lacing opening of the plurality of lacing openings having no lacing positioned in the lacing opening; and, a band having a length with opposite left and right ends, the band left end being connected to the upper left side in the interior of the shoe and the band right end being connected to the upper right side in the interior of the shoe with the band length extending across the forefoot opening and beneath the plurality of lacing openings, the band further passing through the slots of the tongue with an intermediate portion of the band positioned between the slots, the intermediate portion located beneath the tongue and covered from view when the shoe is worn without laces.