Ballet Shoe Fitting Basics.
Dance wear is an important part of every dancer’s life.
An experienced dance professional will almost instinctively know the correct fit for a particular item of dance clothing. For the dance beginner – and especially a parent trying to choose the correct size for their child’s footwear, this can be a difficult task.
Normally parents can buy a slightly bigger size than their child needs, this being both cost effective, and also giving the child space to grow. However with dance wear, this isn’t advisable. Dance wear is intended to be fitted; also a dancer’s uniform is designed to allows the shapes a dancer is making to be clearly seen. Being able to see the dancer’s form not only looks amazing while performing, but while learning and practising it allows the instructor, teacher or director to spot any potential postural issues and avoid injury in the future.
In this blog, we will look at the correct fit for ballet shoes. If you’re still unsure after reading we’d recommend getting in touch with your child’s tutor or teacher for advice.
When choosing ballet shoes, please be aware that ballet shoes aren’t necessarily the same size as outdoor shoe sizes. With our shoes we recommend going between half a size to a full size DOWN from your normal street shoe size.
Ballet shoes are arguably the most important piece of dance wear to fit correctly. Ballet shoes should be supportive and flattering to the dancer’s feet. Much like outdoor shoes, unsuitable or poorly-fitting shoes can adversely affect your child’s foot health.
Ballet shoes come in a range of materials and fits. Each brand of dance shoe is different. Every dancer will develop a preference as they grow and develop, before eventually settling on their favoured brand and style, we secretly hope we’ll become your favourite!
Ballet shoes that are too small are uncomfortable to wear, not to mention unhealthy for your feet. The way to tell if a ballet shoe is too small is if the big toe joint is bent. You may also feel as though your foot isn’t sitting flat.
Ballet shoes that are too big can be dangerous, not only as a trip hazard, also shoes that are too big won’t offer support to the foot or arch. It’ll also stop the teacher from spotting any potential form issues due to excess fabric or material.
Your ballet shoes should always be comfortable and supportive.
We have a size guide to help with choosing your size, but if you’re still a little unsure we’d recommend placing a piece of paper on the floor next to your skirting board, place your foot on the paper, and draw a line or mark where the big toe ends. Then using a ruler measure from the edge of the paper to the line you drew, then simply match that against our size guide and voila, your perfect fit has been revealed!