Ladies - favorite Latin shoe?

[ballroomboilergirl]

ballroomboilergirl,

I think you and I are kindred spirits.

Give me a moment to think fond shoe thoughts. mmm...

Oh sorry. Back to myself. I have shoe catalogs too, so when I go to the dance shoe store, I know exactly what to ask for -- style name, size, color, heel height, the whole nine yards. I usually have it pretty close to memorized. The ladies at the dance store think I'm nuts.

And, btw, at least my dance store does custom dying, but the darkest color they have is the dark tan -- Supadance color #13. Anybody darker has to buy white shoes and have them dyed at the shoe repair shop. :x

Jenn, this could be the beginning of a BEAUTIFUL friendship I think we should appoint ourselves as the official DF shoe goddesses...do you realize that we have been responsible for more than half the posts on this thread? LOL...I heart shoes and I heart you too, pygmalion I (literally) never leave home without my Showtime catalog...who knows when I might have the sudden urge to go shoe shopping/browsing! And I always know what colors, heels, widths, fabrics, etc. they have in certain styles...for instance, when I went to the Ohio Star Ball, I was trying on a pair of Tina's to get the right fit, and the guy handed me the box and I sat down to try them on and without looking at what heel height was on the box, I walked back to him, holding up the shoe, and I said "You accidentally gave me 2" heels...I wanted the 2.5" to try on" and he said "Those ARE 2.5" in heels" and I said "Impossible...the 2.5" heel doesn't come in tan leather, it comes in tan satin...and these are leather!" The man was astounded, but shook his head, laughed, told me I was right and went back to get me a pair of 2.5" heels. Yes, I officially have an unhealthy obsession with dance shoes If I'm ever in the Orlando area, or you're in Indy, we'll DEFINITELY have to go shoe shopping...that would be CRAZY! :lol:

I dye myself to match my shoes...but that's a different thread.

LOL...I'm not even going to ask.... :lol: :lol: :lol: You crack me up...are you a fellow fake tanner?

Thank You Ballroomboilergirl! Great info. I'll let you know how it turns out.

You're very welcome, peach. As Jenn can relate, it is never a chore for me to talk about shoes :lol: By the way, since it's getting a bit cumbersome for everyone to call me "ballroomboilergirl", you all can call me "Court" or "Courtney"...I don't care which

 

[tasche]

I ahve the 1618's with the two buckles. Two caveats The buckles can dig into your toes at the my inoportune time and the straps really dont provide alot of support to keep you in your shoe.

The roundness I find in supadance ( this comes from buying 3 pairs from them one sandal one court and one practice) in the soles gets flattened out by your feet soon enough and most people wouldn't notice any difference in balance. What I really mean by them being wobbly is if you stand them on a table they will fall over whereas other shoes I've bought do stand on their own straight out of the box no modification. The alst they use must have a curved bottom.

For adjustableness has anyone tried those supadance sandals with the velcro.

Ok now I have to ask a q which has probably been asking a million times. How long do you expect your shoes to last and is that a reasonable expectation. I expect mine to only last 3-4 months a pair before they start to break down and lose support.

 

[ballroomboilergirl]

Ok now I have to ask a q which has probably been asking a million times. How long do you expect your shoes to last and is that a reasonable expectation. I expect mine to only last 3-4 months a pair before they start to break down and lose support.

Good question...wish I could give you an educated answer See, I've only been dancing about 6 months. My first pair of shoes were a pair of ill-fitting Ray Rose Hurricane that I got on sale and they were in bad shape after 4 months of dancing in them almost everyday for AT LEAST 2 hours, and were in dire need of resoling. Rather then put more money into fixing them, though, I held out and got my fabulous new Tinas for xmas. I am hoping that they will last AT LEAST a year without losing their shape, support, etc. Then again, I haven't been dancing long enough to make an accurate determination as to how long shoes will last...I think it definitely depends on how long you dance in them, how hard you dance in them, how many preservative measures you take to keep them nice, how good a quality they are, etc.

How often do you dance, tashe? It must be pretty often if your shoes are breaking down that quickly. And how hard are you on your shoes? What measures do you take to preserve them? Any pointers on keeping new shoes looking new?

 

[tasche]

I'm not saying that my shoes break down that quickly bc I rotate but thats how low I would expect them them to maintain reasonable support if I would only wear one pair. Its like running shoes you need to replace them before they start looking bad. I guess my indication would be if my feet felt sorer than normal.

1 year with 2hrs a day of hard wear is alot to ask of a dance shoe

Tash

 

[golddancer]

T-strap shoes are very popular for Latin dancing because the strap helps keep the front of the shoe with your toes.

I like Diamant dance shoes from Germany for court shoes. I have so many pairs but my illusions I brought from showtime are a favorite. My Freed I had to get repaired when I just brought them because the innersole came up after only wearing them two times.

I have two new shoe sources I haven't tried yet...Dance Naturals from Italy and Merlet from paris. Merlet has a cute pair of low heeled shoes that have gold block material on them fro about $90 american. After an injury I am trying to vary the dance height. Two hour seminar in 3 inches is wearing and sometimes I find my dance sneaks too flat. :roll: So I am saving to order a pair from Merlet.

 

[golddancer]

I'm not saying that my shoes break down that quickly bc I rotate but thats how low I would expect them them to maintain reasonable support if I would only wear one pair. Its like running shoes you need to replace them before they start looking bad. I guess my indication would be if my feet felt sorer than normal.

1 year with 2hrs a day of hard wear is alot to ask of a dance shoe

Tash

You bet that is a lot of wear!!! :!: I love my dance shoes and the steel arches are great support but usually it is the material in the rest of the shoes that stretches out too much or wears out.

I know one newsletter in a dance magazine said that the pros put the flexible foam arch supports in their stretched out shoes to "tighten" the fit. This is a good temporary fix for mostly closed toe shoes. On open toe shoes you can try those foam don't slide forward inserts--but when I had to get my Freed insole fixed my cobbler put new and thicker foam in the box of the shoe and they were so much more comfortable!!!

 

[pygmalion]

Hmm. I've had two pairs of practice shoes that both lasted about eight - nine months at ten hours a week. (Edit: That's before I started noticing a problems with foot support. I actually didn't throw them out for a few months more. A year or so, total.) Maybe they last a long time because practice shoes ARE pretty tough in construction. And I alternated them with other dance shoes, and also practiced at home mostly in socks or bare feet.

I can see that, the better you get at the dancing, the shorter time the shoes might last -- if you're actually using the proper foot action, etc., your shoes DO tend to get rubbed more in certain spots. The leather in the Romas I've had for the past year certainly stretched out more quickly than my previous pair of practice shoes.

(I love Romas, by the way)

 

[SDsalsaguy]

Also keep in mind, as has already been suggested, that the better you get the more flexible a shoe you'll tend to use... which also translates into less durable.

 

[ballroomboilergirl]

Also keep in mind, as has already been suggested, that the better you get the more flexible a shoe you'll tend to use... which also translates into less durable.

Amen to that...my faculty advisor can tear through a new pair of Tinas in under 6 months! :shock: Maybe it's time I should invest in a pair of practice shoes as well...I dunno if I can afford to rip though my Tinas that quickly! I'm a broke college student :cry:...hmmm, I need to find an occupation that makes enough $$ to support my shoe addiction lol :lol: Jen we should charge showtime and Freed for all the advertising we've being doing for them!

 

[pygmalion]

Hugs, Courtney!

Practice shoes are nice, because they have a lower, more supportive heel than the dance shoes most of us wear -- less wear and tear on the feet, leg muscles and back.

But you're right. It does get expensive trying to maintain multiple pairs of shoes. What's a girl to do? :cry: Plus, I doubt Freed or anybody else will pay me. :lol: I'm an equal-opportunity dance shoe addict.

 

[golddancer]

Ok now I have to ask a q which has probably been asking a million times. How long do you expect your shoes to last and is that a reasonable expectation. I expect mine to only last 3-4 months a pair before they start to break down and lose support.

I have found that my dance shoes last about 3 months when I was dancing about a minimum of 15 hours a week in them before they needed serious maintence. These were 3" heeled shoes not practice shoes. I had one pair of german court shoes that I wore only on special occassions and they lasted about two years before they were too stretched out and I needed to wear the clear straps with them. I have recycled that pair to street shoes. :wink:

 

[golddancer]

Tasche: "Amen to that...my faculty advisor can tear through a new pair of Tinas in under 6 months! :shock: Maybe it's time I should invest in a pair of practice shoes as well...I dunno if I can afford to rip though my Tinas that quickly! I'm a broke college student :cry:..."


Definitely invest in practice shoes! What I have done in past is 1 buy a pair of dance sneaks and two buy capezio character shoes that have hard dance leather soles--if you have $ but the all leather ones so that your feet breathe. This has helped me stretch my dance shoe budget. $$$

I am such a dance shoe junkie and I have been really disgusted with the quality of the street shoes that I have been recycling my old dance shoes that aren't covered with glitter to street shoes.

 

[tasche]

I think ballroomboilergirl said the comment about her faculty advisor ripping through pairs in 6 months

I ahve practice shoes and like them but I still prefer when possible to wear the shoes I'll ultimately end up dancing in just like a runner always trains in the shoes he'll compete in

It seems to me that most people wear their shoes until they fall apart. This may not be the best thing for your feet though I do understand the fiscal ascpects of it being a former broke AND starving student.

I thinking about converting a pair of black leather t staps ( latinas of course) into street shoes as they fit like no other heels I own. I'll need to add more padding and touger soles

I was browsing a website and found this site that offers imitation brand name dance shoes. Anyone know anything about this. I saw some cute social shoes that for that price I wouldn't mind buying just for fun but was wondering about the quality. I guess I should just be a guinea pig and try them

 

[ballroomboilergirl]

I ahve practice shoes and like them but I still prefer when possible to wear the shoes I'll ultimately end up dancing in just like a runner always trains in the shoes he'll compete in

It seems to me that most people wear their shoes until they fall apart. This may not be the best thing for your feet though I do understand the fiscal ascpects of it being a former broke AND starving student.

I was browsing a website and found this site that offers imitation brand name dance shoes. Anyone know anything about this. I saw some cute social shoes that for that price I wouldn't mind buying just for fun but was wondering about the quality. I guess I should just be a guinea pig and try them

More and more I am beginning to think that it would be worthwhile for me to invest in a pair or either practice shoes or jazz sneakers...both financially and physically, as I will not be wearing down my Tinas as quickly and I won't be torturing my feet as much. However, Brian (advanced guy on our team) is a BIG advocate of always dancing in the shoes you are going to be competing in, as you need to get used to the way they are balanced. But at least one girl on our team practices most of the time in Supadance jazz sneakers and practices in her Tinas only once a week, and she doesn't seem to have any problems with the transition :? And the sneakers would be good for social dancing as well...but I don't want to be "un-used" to my Tinas, either! And I worry about my feet...I'm going to the doctor next week to talk to her about my dancing and if there are any precautions I need to take to avoid causing permanent damage to my feet. Does anyone have any experience with the long-term effects of dancing in heels all the time? Gahhh, this is mentally taxing, worrying about whether to wear practice shoes or Tinas! :cry:

My main concern with "running my Tinas into the ground" is that once they get really worn out, it will negatively impact my dancing (hehe, I guess I'm not so much worried about my feet after all...as long as I can dance for the next 50-some years I'm good!). Is it harder or easier to dance in shoes that are "worn-out"? My faculty advisor seems to prefer very "broken-in" shoes, but it seems weird to me that it's easier to dance in them after they have lost their shape. Any comments?

Hmmm, don't know about the imitation brand shoes...definitely curious, though. Let me know if you find anything :wink:

 

[pygmalion]

Gotta love a shoe fanatic!

No offense intended, but I bet Brian isn't dancing in 3 inch heels! :shock: :lol: Practice shoes are much better for your feet, and alternating between them and higher heels every couple days seems to work fine for me. I have no problem performing in the higher heels. I switch into my heels a couple weeks before a performance. Other than that, it's practice shoes most of the time, with high heels every couple days so my feet don't "forget" them.

I saw an Argentine tango web page some time back that talked about the effects of high heels (Oh my goodness. You should SEE the heels those AT ladies wear -- 4.5 inch.. No exaggeration). I'll see if I can google and find that article again. There's also a thread here somewhere on dancing in high heels.