Abstract: An item of footwear has an opening 4 for insertion of a wearer's foot and a pair of rigid fastening elements 10 and 11 for drawing together opposite sides of the opening. The first element 10 has a screw thread 14 to receive a bead 15, and the free end of the second element 11 is bent orthogonally and formed into a U-shaped hook 16. When the wearer has placed his/her foot into the boot the element 10 is placed over the mouth of the hook 16. By applying gentle finger pressure the bead 15 is caused to ride over the shank of the second element 11 so that the hook 16 embraces the first element 10 and engages behind the bead 15. The tension in the fastening can be adjusted by screwing the bead 15 along the thread 14. The fastening is easy to engage and disengage when the wearer's fingers are cold or when wearing heavy gloves, yet the fastening is secure enough to be used with snowboarding or ski boots.