If The (Pointe) Shoe Fits....

New year, new pointe shoes, new Yumiko. What a way to start ballet again!

Last Monday was my first proper class back after tearing my calf muscle and I was thrilled to be back, especially with the aforementioned new shoes and new Yumiko.

The shoes though have been a bit of an ordeal, even before I got to wear them in the studio. I got fitted in a little dance shop when I was visiting the Duchess in Aberdeen and whilst the shop is great, with a wide variety of brands, it sadly it only caters for the students of the large dance school nearby, so all the shoes were far too soft for me.

I was there for an hour and a half trying on every brand. Nothing he had was strong enough for my feet so I'd put on my coat to leave and I just happened to mention K.H. Martin shoes, which I really love but are hard to get, and he said he did have an old pair of hard Sansha shoes in the store room, which are quite similar. He went and fetched them and I was surprised by how lovely they looked. I wasn't hopeful they'd be right for me but I tried them on anyway and, low and behold, they fit like a glove! I bought them right away.

When I got them home and started to break them in, simply by gently bending the shank a little, the inside sole split from the shank on one of the shoes. I ended up having to superglue it back together. I didn't hold out too much hope of them holding up in an actual class, but I was rather surprised to find that when I did take class in them, they held together fine. They are also fabulous to dance in - comfortable with a quiet, stable platform. This is extremely frustrating because they are clearly very poor quality. I had heard this about Sansha shoes and I did have that reservation when I bought them, but since he'd spent over an hour with me I felt guilty about not buying something.

Of course now it leaves me in a bit of pickle. I feel they will last only a few classes, so I would probably go through two pairs a month easily, which is more expense than I'd care to spend, especially now I face potentially not having a full time job for a while. 

However, it wasn't all bad. My new Yumiko, which I ordered in a size large, is the best fit yet. In all honesty it's slightly too big, but I'd rather it was too big than have to experience boobgate again! It's the Sofiane in Charms velvet with Candy techni trim.

I also ordered, before Christmas, the Elise in the now retired colour of T-Mori with T-Sea trim. I really feel I suit best the higher necked models as they seem more flattering on a frame which isn't stick thin. This one should arrive by the end of the month.

I also have a terrible velvet obsession. So far, I have 4 velvet leotards. The fabric is just so flattering and also helpfully hides sweat marks. Sometimes, with a tigher leotard your boobs get squashed and take on the unfortunate appearance of two squished melons but the velvet disguises the unfortunate silhouette. So basically, velvet solves everything! 

QMichelle