BALLET SHOES
Fitting a Ballet Shoe
One mistake that so many people make when they buy ballet shoes is they get them too small. Do be careful because some stores, or fitters at the stores, will have reputations of sending dancers home with shoes that are clearly too small.
They use the excuse that "leather stretches." The truth is that while leather does stretch, it doesn't stretch that much [probably less than a quarter of a full shoe size].
You need room in the shoe to let the toes spread out on the floor -- without this room balancing on demi-pointe and working the foot correctly is more difficult. When you are in the store try a few ballet steps to make sure the shoe will work. Do a frappé or a tendu and then try balancing on relevé.
Try to be fitted for shoes at the same time of day that you dance so that your feet will be closer to the same size. If your feet are still growing don't get shoes that are overly large either, expecting to grow in to them. The extra material and bad fit will be distracting or even dangerous.
Sewing Elastic on a Ballet Shoe
Sewing Elastic on the ballet shoes should be sewn on the same way as on Pointe shoes. While some people will just sew the elastic straight across the top of the foot, this does little to hold the shoe on properly. One way to sew on the elastics is to first fold down the heel of the shoe and flatten it out. Trace the seam the fold makes from the inside of the shoe. It should be a semi-circle. Use this as a guide to sewing on your elastic. Practicing your sewing on a pair of ballet shoes is much better than making mistakes on a new pair of Pointe shoes.
Another way to sew on your elastics that is popular with male dancers is to cross the elastics. You simply need two pieces of elastic, and just sew them across the top of the shoe in an "X" shape. This is a good idea if you have tapered feet. This technique can also be used on pointe shoes, especially with shoes that do not have a drawstring.
