Are my latin shoes too small?

[Wangcincay]

I recently bought a pair of ray rose kalahari. I’m quite new to ballroom, but this was my 5th purchass (all aliexpress shoes) so from my experience, an ideal latin shoes make the toes hang over it slightly. So when i point my feet, the sole elongates not pass my feet to make brushing easier.
The problem is my right foot is a cm larger than my left. The left side is tight but more on the snug side. The right however feels like cutting into my foot. I do understand that satin shoes expand over time, but i just don’t know if it would expand that much over time.
I’m confused whether my case solution is:

1) just a little bit of wear to loosen/expand the strap

2) to exchange for a bigger size (i’m currently 2.5 and since increasing size means longer sole, i’m afraid that the sole length difference would be too much and obstruct me from brushing)

3) bigger width around the toes box (ray rose called it as medium +, marketed for people with ‘wide’ feet)



I do think that the length of my sole is right, so i’m not sure if solution #2 is right. Hanging sole when pointing the feet is painnn.

I don’t think i need a significant extra width to make my shoes comfortable. Maybe just 0.5 cm larger on the toe box is enough (and that applies only to the right side. The left side is tight within reason. 0.5 increase would make my left feet to loose i believe) so i’m not sure if my feet count as ‘wide’ and require the medium + fitting. And that made me not sure about #3

And finally i could use them for a while to see if they loosen, but if i take that choice than if it turned out the shoes won’t loosen enough, then i could not exchange them to ray rose anymore.

Here are some pictures to help:
The left one (tight but still okay)

It does cut but not past my pain treshold. You could see my pinky skin sinking inward.


Aaand the right side which is the real problem.


Here’s the side view, just to show that the sole is on the right side.

Would really appreciate the help

 

[bia]

Thanks for the detailed pictures; they really support your description. I agree that the sole length looks good. And the right shoe does look painful. One option you didn't mention is to get a shoe stretcher and let it take care of stretching your right shoe rather than making your foot suffer through the process. I don't have personal experience with Ray Rose latins, so hopefully someone else will chime in on how much stretch you can expect. If they're going to loosen up a good bit, I'd vote for the shoe stretcher; if only a little, you're probably better off exchanging for the wider size. I have heard that Ray Roses run narrow as a rule (that's one reason I've never worn them, because my feet are legitimately wide), so you may want "wide" sizes for them even if you don't in other shoes. If you have any chance to get somewhere to try shoes on (a vendor at a comp, if there's no store anywhere near), of course that would be the easiest way to know. Good luck!

(Or you could win the lottery and then buy two different sizes every time you buy shoes...)

 

[rels77]

Actually, those are still looser than my shoes look when I first get them. I have really wide feet so in order to get the length right, I practically have to pry them in at first.

The best thing is to go to amazon and get a high heeled shoe stretcher and some stretch spray. Spray the underside of all the straps, put in the stretcher and turn the handle to pull it. In a day they’ll be perfect!

 

[Wangcincay]

Actually, those are still looser than my shoes look when I first get them. I have really wide feet so in order to get the length right, I practically have to pry them in at first.

The best thing is to go to amazon and get a high heeled shoe stretcher and some stretch spray. Spray the underside of all the straps, put in the stretcher and turn the handle to pull it. In a day they’ll be perfect!

Hey rels, thank you so much for your tips. i felt very assured.
However, may i know if said shoes you are using made from leather or satin? I knew that shoe spray could stretch leather, but since i bought satin based shoes, i’m worried if it could work at all

 

[rels77]

Hey rels, thank you so much for your tips. i felt very assured.
However, may i know if said shoes you are using made from leather or satin? I knew that shoe spray could stretch leather, but since i bought satin based shoes, i’m worried if it could work at all

Yep, because there’s some leather underneath the station on the straps over your toe box. I have satin aidas and have been doing it this way for years!

 

[Wangcincay]

Thanks for the detailed pictures; they really support your description. I agree that the sole length looks good. And the right shoe does look painful. One option you didn't mention is to get a shoe stretcher and let it take care of stretching your right shoe rather than making your foot suffer through the process. I don't have personal experience with Ray Rose latins, so hopefully someone else will chime in on how much stretch you can expect. If they're going to loosen up a good bit, I'd vote for the shoe stretcher; if only a little, you're probably better off exchanging for the wider size. I have heard that Ray Roses run narrow as a rule (that's one reason I've never worn them, because my feet are legitimately wide), so you may want "wide" sizes for them even if you don't in other shoes. If you have any chance to get somewhere to try shoes on (a vendor at a comp, if there's no store anywhere near), of course that would be the easiest way to know. Good luck!

(Or you could win the lottery and then buy two different sizes every time you buy shoes...)

Thanks for your feedback Bia! That was some really good insight.
I was wondering about your suggestion to use a shoes stretcher if i want to stretch them significantly or to switch for a wide fit if i want just a little extra space. Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around?
Doesn’t wide fit usually have a significant difference, and shoe stectcher could only expand the shoes a little bit?

 

[rels77]

I’ve managed to add almost 3/4 in across with the stretcher- after I already have Aida triple wides.

 

[bia]

@Wangcincay, I think my wording just wasn't clear. What I meant was that your choice to stretch or to exchange would depend on how much difference stretching could make, which I wasn't sure about. So rels77's specific info on that is helpful!