In the name of fashion

My friends will attest to the fact that I am in no way a great follower of fashion. However, the new shoelaces I've just bought are a bit on the bright side for my beige shoes. I am now attempting to tone them down a bit by dyeing them in tea. I have no idea whether this will work or not. If this doesn't work I'm going to douse it in some high grade coffee. I'll gladly take advice from anyone with previous shoelace/tea-dyeing experience.