Dance Shoes: Paoul or DSOL?

[Queenvee]

I'm looking for new smooth/standard shoes and ran across two brands that I haven't heard of before.... At Worldtone shoes (NYC), I tried on elastic court shoes by Paoul that were comfortable, good fit, etc. but they didn't have the right heel height for me. Paoul is an Italian company and I did a web search, so can probably order the precise model, etc. But, wondered if any of you have every purchased a pairof Paoul shoes? Did they hold up? etc.

Also, in my web travels I landed on a site for shoes labelled "DSOL", which stands for DanceShoesOnline, a Hong Kong company. They seem to have a zillion models (including what appears to be the same Paoul shoe) and their prices, especially in the "overstock" pages, are great. Granted, you have to pay shipping costs, but when the shoes are only $60-70, the shipping expense is worth it. Anyone have any experience with their shoes? Quality? Fit? etc. THANKS!

[Chris Stratton]

I have a pair of paoul (men's) patent shoes that seem nice, though I only wear them for comps and briefly before, so don't have a lot of hours on them. I hope they hold up as Worldtone had discontinued this particular model and they are the only US importer.

In general, when looking at unfamilair shoes, I think the points you want to evalaute are the balance of the heel tip under your foot, and the degree to which the things that give it the shape to hold your foot will hold up over time. Obviously that last part is hard to do without length of experience.