Actually, a friend of mine had the exact same problem. We were in the middle of a group class at USC, and in the middle of the across the floor exercises, she stormed over to her bag, pulled out an exacto knife (she's an architect major, so it's not scarry that she carries that kind of stuff with her!), and hacked off the toe of her shoe! This was a year ago, and the shoes are still fully funcional. Don't get me wrong, they look ugly as sin, but they didn't fall apart. That being said, I would still take my shoes to a cobbler if I were you, just for the sake of asthetics.