Shoes with zig zag string hole patterns?
 

I have narrow feet and these types of shoe string hole pattern seem to fit me best. However, I only see the straight line pattern on present-day shoes.

Was the alternating width a passing fad? What are some shoes with wider hole distances?

can you explain? i am not sure what you mean

Nike called it a variable width lacing system:

http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/skate...-gino-iannucci

Search the forum for different lacing systems. Besides basic crisscross lacing, there are other types that allow you to cinch up the foot like Nike's system, but w/o their hole pattern.

You can also search the web for various methods to lace up shoes.