A New Pointe

I decided if I was going to start trying to get back en pointe in the near future, I needed new shoes!  My last pair were from 2005 and looking very shabby.  A pair of threadbare socks would have given me as much support as the battered boxes on those babies.

So back into the confusing realms of pointé shoe hunting I go.  Always so many questions - especially if it is your first pair.

1. What size?
2. What width?
3. What brand?
4. Full shank, half shank, 3/4 shank?
5. Vamp shape?
6. Padding - what type lambswool? toe caps? gel support

I always used to just go with what I knew and try not to deviate from this too much.  Freed shoes, 4.5, medium vamp with beige gel toecaps and a bit of thin elastic around the ankle to stop the back slipping off.  This time I decided to see if anything else took my fancy. 

In terms of fitting, I think that was pretty straight forward.  Always go to a shop with a variety of makes.  This way, you can try on several designs and know what suits your foot the best.  I tried Freed, Capezio, Bloch and Grishko.

Freed - I always knew were ok for my feet and it is just what I knew.

Capezio were generally too bulky and 'wide' a feeling for my feet.

Bloch weren't too bad but I felt way too 'in' the shoe and it seemed to hurt in awkward places once en pointe.

I tried various widths, boxes and vamps in all shoes too.  If it is your first pointe shoe fitting - be prepared to set aside an hour.  A good pointe shoe fitter will take you through certain positions to help you feel what shoe is right for you.  There will always be a little pain -especially if your feet have never seen a pointe shoe -  but it is good to start to feel 'right' pain and 'dear-lord-wrong!' pain.  

The 'right' pain is just the rubbing on certain joints in a pesky toe maybe - you may get a few blisters etc.  However the 'dear-lord-wrong!' pain is the type that radiates to your ankles or metatarsals.  You might feel a 'twisting' feeling if your shoe is slightly too big, for instance.  

A good fitter should also be able to see the shank isn't centralised up to the back of your heel, if that is the case.  If it is moving off -centre - then the shoe is too big.  They may also grab at the excess fabric to see if there is too much at the heel.  Or - if the shoe has a short vamp and you have longer toes - this may cause pain and definitely wouldn't be the right shoe as it may push the front of your foot too far forward, not giving you enough support around your lower foot. Sounds a bit complex but, again - a good fitter will guide you through this.

My experience was somewhat different.  I'd been through a good few pairs and fittings in my late teens and remembered it well to know what I was looking for.  After trying on several pairs to compare, the Grishko Nova jumped out at me.  The shoe felt like it was actually made for my foot!  I could wear it with just a toe cap and an iddy biddy one for my pinky.  I probably wouldn't do this when dancing a lot so tried it with a thin gel pad too and it felt just as nice.  If anything a little more comfy.  I know that many people say these days that you should wear as little padding as possible so your toes can actually have a bit more space - but I think I found a happy medium.  I can always remove the gel pad if they feel too cramped anyway.

Even though I hadn't been en pointé properly for a verrrry long time - who can resist holding a chair back and doing a few relevés to see how beautiful they look.  So shiny and new!!  I gazed at them for hours, appreciating them whilst I could.  I knew that after a month or so they would be starting to look very scuffed and marked.  

The next task would be the darning - could I remember how?  Should I used a suede cap instead?  Should I try a different method altogether?  I'll address all in my next blog post ;-)  So watch this space.

Oh and if this helps anyone - here is a great little article on finding the right pointé shoes for your feet and how to discover what foot type you actually have - you might be surprised! 

Read the full article  HERE :-)

(example image from the article below concerning foot shape and your box shape)

P.S - DON'T just start hopping up onto pointe if it is your first pair  - I only did because I was taking a lot of weight off my feet and my joints had been used to the movements in the past.  You should really be supervised by your teacher when you first start out.

xxx