WIDE feet!!! and ballroom shoes

danceislove said:
Ok I've already searched the old threads and didn't find anything. I desperately need to find some shoes that fit my feet. I have fairly big, wide feet and a high arch. I wear a size 10 street shoe, typically a 9.5 dance shoe (haven't figured out my correct UK size yet). My feet are wide across the toe box and I have a high arch. I'd like a flexible shoe that is really bendy and easy to point. To make things more complicated..I would prefer a 2.5" heel or lower, but I would wear any size heel if the shoe fit correctly!!
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I've been searching for court shoes for my narrow feet. I wear Werner Kern Laura and have not been happy with the fit. There is not enough padding in the sole and the shoe isn't very flexible...I can't use my toes like I would like. I just got off the phone with the owner of TNT Dance Designs in FL and he was very helpful - they make custom dance shoes to your specification. We spoke for over 1/2 hour about shoes. Their prices aren't any higher than some of the off-the-shelf high quality shoes. They mainly sell Very Fine, but the custom shoes are made by cobblers in the U.S. and are of a very high quality. I've decided to order the Elastic Court Shoe in a narrow.

They make open toe shoes in wide, extra wide, regular heel with wide toe box, extra sole padding, flexi-options, etc. Tons of options. You should check them out: http://www.tntdancedesigns.com/
 
Celebrity makes a variety of widths. A friend of mine has super-narrow feet, that's the only brand she can wear, because they have at least 5 different widths (from extra narrow to extra wide), and most other manufacturers have only 3.
 
latingal said:
I have a fairly wide forefoot and wear Ray Rose in their wide sizes for latin (labeled as "M+"). Only certain models come in wide. You might want to try Earthquakes in wide, they have the widest forefoot that I've tried in that line of shoes. Has very nice flexibility for pointing and does come in 2.5" heel.

www. rayrose.com
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I've been looking at possibility of getting the Ray Rose Earthquakes and have a somewhat wide forefoot. It's not wide enough for wide width street shoes and regular width street shoes fit just fine. But I've noticed that some of the regular width ballroom shoes are a little to narrow. Is the M+ a true wide width or just slightly wider? And how much stretch happens in the toe area?

Everyone I have spoken to tells me that satin doesn't stretch as much as leather, but all of the satin shoes I have purchased have stretched to the point of being to loose within a few weeks of dancing. When I get them they are tight enough to turn my toes red. Does anyone think this could be happening because they are cheap shoes or the wrong size?

EDIT: I guess I should mention that all my shoes are satin lined with leather.
 
DanceAngel, I've never tried a regular width RR, but they're known for running a bit narrow. As for the Wide Earthquakes, it's going to be a matter of how wide your forefoot is. I wear a regular width street shoe, but wear the wide in RR. But, I like the forefoot area to be a bit looser than most I believe. I want to be able to spread my toes and the ball of my foot in to the ground (I just make sure to have a tight under arch strap to keep the shoe on snug).

As for which strap stretches more leather or satin, I have no idea. I always wear satin reinforced with leather.
 
Thanks for the help latingal. Like you, I wear regular width street shoes, so this is sounding more like the right shoe to get. Thanks.
 
I wear the Ray Rose Blizzard in the M+ and they're perfect. The satin straps are not lined, and they do stretch a little bit, but not very much. But what I like about the Blizzard is the straps all come together in a big "knot" on top, which actually allows you to somewhat regulate the width! (I am between a Regular and Wide in street shoes.) Hope this helps!
 
I thought of another question about the RR shoes. How many sizes down from the US sizing do you suggest?

I currently am wearing a 5 1/2 US but am beginning to think this may be a bit big because even though my toes hang off the ends of the shoes when standing, when I go to point the bottom of the shoes then sticks out past my toes by almost an inch. Shouldn't the toes still be at the end of the shoe when the foot is pointed?
 
DanceAngel said:
I thought of another question about the RR shoes. How many sizes down from the US sizing do you suggest?

I currently am wearing a 5 1/2 US but am beginning to think this may be a bit big because even though my toes hang off the ends of the shoes when standing, when I go to point the bottom of the shoes then sticks out past my toes by almost an inch. Shouldn't the toes still be at the end of the shoe when the foot is pointed?
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I wear a US size 6 for my street shoes, and 3.5 in my RR. I used to wear 3 thinking I wanted a super snug fit, but I was having a lot of foot pain. Finally, my chiropractor told me to go up half a size and it's made a huge difference.

I personally don't like it when my toes hang off the edge of the shoe more than a tiny bit. And I definitely want my toes to stay inside the shoe when I point my foot. Just as an example... try doing a press with a hip roll barefoot and see how painful it is for your big toe. That's essentially what you'd get if the toe is at the end of the shoe when pointed. But if the toe is "inside" the shoe, you have that extra support from the shoe!
 
I wear a street size 6.5 in US sizes and a 3.5 in RR UK size. My toes hang off a bit when standing, but not much. When I point the shoe extends slightly past my toes.
 
I'm not sure if anyone still needs help with this but I have wide feet and I've had a ton of shoe drama since I started dancing. In a very very short time, I've been through 4 pairs of international shoes! I realized that whatever shoe your dancing in makes a HUGEE difference in the way you dance so choose wisely!!! And if possible, go to a dance shoe store and try on as MANY shoes you can/want. That's what the stores and sales people are there for.

I went to Worldtone Dance and was there for about 2 or 2 and a half hours. I finally settled on Supadance 1401. The truth is, I bought a half a size smaller than what I needed bc my feet sweat a lot a satin stretches a lot. The top portion of the shoe KILLED my feet for the first 2-3 weeks. I was taping my toes to prevent blisters almost everyday. Despite that, I loved the snug fit and felt very grounded in them. Now, after wearing them in, I love them even more. I even bought the same pair (as an extra pair) and instead of killing myself for the first 2 - 3 weeks, I put a shoe stretcher (the ones that stretch the widness of the shoe, not the length) in the shoes (5 days for each shoe) and they've stretched enough so they won't cut off the blood from my toes.

Also, I wear 2.5" (which I recommend to be the shortest heel for international latin unless you have knees,ankles,feet problems) but I'm looking to move up to 3 inches. Since most Supadance 3" heels don't come in W (doesn't make sense for them money wise), you have to put in a special order for it.
 
I tried searching, but I couldn't see that this was addressed specifically (if someone else finds it in 5 seconds I'll feel pretty stupid). I have a student who has REALLY wide feet. I don't know what size, but I know she's looked around a lot and the only shoes she's found that work for her are latin shoes that have a strap across the top (over the ball of the foot) that makes it adjustable. Given that she's mostly interested in smooth dances, it's a bit of a problem. Does anyone have recommendations for a smooth shoe or a practice shoe that will fit a very wide foot?
 
No guarantees for her, but I've had success for my own wide feet with shoes made by SoulDancer USA -- you can get them various places, but I generally use the Dance Sole website. I think all of the styles come in wide sizes; I also use a shoe stretcher on them before first wear. Not the highest level brand, obviously, but I've found their standard shoes to be perfectly acceptable quality for me, and the affordable price is nice, too.

Another thought: I just checked the "Dance Connection" website, because DH just bought a pair of shoes from them at a comp, and he raves about the comfort in comparison to any other dance shoes he's ever had. (He doesn't have wide feet, but I thought the vendor might have something appropriate, since they appear to really focus on fit and comfort.) According to their website, all of the "Comfort" brand shoes come not just in wide, but also in double wide. (That said, the brand's own website doesn't list the double wide size for all styles, so I don't know what's up with that.) Maybe worth looking into.
 
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