Ouch!! New Shoes!!

Dancing multiple times a week, after three months, and they still hurt? Find another style/size. Are the straps at the toes satin? Those are pretty much not going to stretch very far--if it's still cutting in, it's too narrow.

I sympathize. It took me FOREVER to find a Smooth shoe that I could even get my foot into, let alone dance in.
 
No, they're leather. They don't seem tight when I put them on; my toes slide into them easily. But after a while, ouch.

I have the same problem with open-toed pumps - the edge of the opening tends to cut into the side of my toes.

This is why I usually wear sneakers! :)
 
If dance shoes don't feel good within 30 minutes, they never feel good. I once bought the exact same brand, model, and size as my most comfortable dance shoes. The replacements hurt, so I tried to break them in 15 minutes/week for a year before giving up and discarding them.

This is why, once I find comfortable shoes, I repair them. I've danced over 7000 hours in my most comfortable pair, and have had them repaired at least 12 times. The typical cost of repair is 50-100% of the price of new shoes.
 
Hank said:
If dance shoes don't feel good within 30 minutes, they never feel good. I once bought the exact same brand, model, and size as my most comfortable dance shoes. The replacements hurt, so I tried to break them in 15 minutes/week for a year before giving up and discarding them.

This is why, once I find comfortable shoes, I repair them. I've danced over 7000 hours in my most comfortable pair, and have had them repaired at least 12 times. The typical cost of repair is 50-100% of the price of new shoes.
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I don't thinkk ths is universally true....I think it depends upon where the shoe is hurting and how likely that particular area is to stretch....I have never bought a court shoe that wasn't tight for at least a month and then too loose for just about the rest of the time I wore them...but I have also had shoes where the area in question was some sort of bound edge what wasn't ever going to become less abrasive...I have also had time where the shoe didn't adapt but the foot did...and times when neither adapted....it varies...basically you keep trying new stuff til you find what works ...then buy as many as you can afford
 
Leather and they hurt AFTER you've been wearing them? I'd think it's the shape of that shoe. I'd try and find another style. Especially if the pressure's around where you'd get a bunion.
 
the best advice i have ever gotten for breaking in new shoes is to wear fishnets. (also, if you currently get pedicures, stop. they ruin your feet.)
 
Sorry about the delay... my thread got combined with this one and it took me a while to find it!

I don't think I'm in danger of getting bunions from these shoes; they're pretty lightweight (just straps, mostly). And it's not that the straps are too tight - rather, they rub when I dance, making sore spots. When the shoes were new the straps really dug in too; now they only do it a little, just from my weight pushing forward in the shoe.

I'm not used to wearing heels, or dress shoes of any kind; my feet have always blistered very easily so I almost always wear sneakers of some kind. This isn't helping me now, since I have no callouses.

I guess there are two issues: one, I need to build callouses and it doesn't seem to be happening. I just blister in the same spots over and over. And two, the fact that the left shoe blisters worse than the right, and my left foot is larger than my right, makes me wonder if it's too small. But it feels comfortable to put on and walk around, and I'm pretty sure a larger pair would be too loose on the right. So I'm a bit stuck as to what to do.

Ultimately I need to have someone who knows what they're doing look at the fit, but I bought them at the best shop around here (I live near Portland, OR) so that may have to wait until I travel to somewhere else.
 
if you wear the fishnets while you dance, you will build callouses without cutting up your feet. eventually you wont even need the fishnets anymore. avoid pedicures like the plague.
 
Re: Pedicures, I don't get them often, but on the odd occasion I do, I really emphasize "Leave my callouses alone, I need them, I'm a dancer." And the aestheticians actually seem to get this, and then of course they ask about dancing! Trying to build them, though, I'd definitely skip the pedicures, and you might just have to suffer through the blisters to get them...
 
Is there a brand of soft fishnets you would recommend? I've only worn them a few times and it wasn't terribly comfortable, so I must not have had the soft ones.

I have only had one pedicure in recent memory so I don't think that's the problem.
 
I personally only use the heavy-duty (55% lycra) Capezio fishnets with solid foot bottoms, and I certainly wouldn't consider them "soft", but their ability to hold everything in place is unmatched. I suppose cheaper fishnets with lower spandex content would be softer, maybe some of the cheezy ones you see in stores around Halloween time. Perhaps thin trouser socks in a fishnet weave would suit your purpose if you're wearing slacks.
 
am with you..if I am going to bother with hose, I am going to get the heavy duty stuff that actually holds stuff in :)...while it may feel mildly binding, it's worth it..though I do like the feel of dancing without them in terms of how I apparently use my toes
 
While I need holding in as much as the next gal, I can't stand the heavy duty stuff. Especially this time of year; the place we dance the most is not very well air conditioned, and most of the women are wearing capri yoga pants and tank tops. Of course, most of the WCS dancers are quite a bit younger than me, too, but I pretend not to notice that. ;)

I'm going to go see if I can find some bamboo socks in knee-high, in some wild colors so they look like a fashion statement and not just a dork wearing socks with short pants. Bamboo is very soft and usually very thin. But I still want to get to a point where I can wear my shoes barefoot! So any tips on building up callouses would be welcome.
 
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