Hey guys, I bought a pair of ballroom dancing shoes from Spell's Dancewear here in Nashville. When I tried on a 7 1/2 my heal was about 1/8th of an inch from the back of the shoe so the lady told me I needed to go down to a 7. They were a little tight, but they fit. After I got back to work, I decided to put them on so I could get use to walking in them before the actual lesson and my toes are already sore! I've only had them on for 30 minutes... so now I'm worried they are too small. Is this normal? Do I need to go back and get a size 7 1/2?

Thanks,
Niki

Niki,

A lot of times shoes will give or stretch with some wear, but you don't want them to be painful from the start - they'll never be comfortable.

If you only wear them on the carpet, most will let you return, but once they show any wear, they are generally yours!

I've found that the usual advice dance shoe stores give to go down half a size from your usual street size doesn't work at all for me. In fact, I have to go up a size to get a good fit that doesn't hurt (my big toes can't take bending to the side in tight pointed shoes, so I need more space in the toe box so they can be straight). I deal with any gaps at the back of the shoe by using a heel grip. In my experience, shoes that hurt don't get any better and, if your feet hurt too much, you won't be able to use them the way you need to for dancing. I'd take them back.

I ended up taking them back for a size 7 1/2. They felt a little better, but once I started dancing my toes were killing me. At the end of my first session I asked my instructor about them and he said "they're too small". He said I could get some inserts to go in them to make my heal touch the back and to maybe make them more comfortable on my toes.

Next pair of shoes I buy, I'll definitly be getting open toed! :)

The style of shoes you wear depends partly on what kind of dancing you are doing. If you are studying all the social dances, then get what you are most comfortable in. If you are concentrating on something where there's a lot of close-in footwork, like Argentine Tango, or just a lot of general craziness, like Lindy Hop, then it's better to get the kind of closed-toed shoes that are appropriate for that style. If you are primarily doing Standard and Smooth, then a closed toe shoe is better, too.

If you end up getting another pair of closed-toed shoes, note that different brands have different shaped toe areas. You might have to try many brands to find the brand, style, and size that is best for you.

Good luck!

MS Niki. Are your shoes wide enough. A bootmender would be able to stretch them. I have a gadget which I bought some time ago, and never had to use. It slips into the shoe. With a winder it spreads the width of the shoe. It even has a little bulbous things which is placed into variose places on its body and will make a space for a corn. As a last resort I would with my sock and shoe on my foot, place them into a bucket of hot water and walk around for a while..We used to do that with Soccer boots to get a good fit. Once bitten twice shy eh.