What to expect at your first pointe shoe fitting!

Getting fitted for your first ever pointe shoe fitting can be difficult and time consuming. I recently just got fitted for MY first pair! Your first time is very different than any other time. When you go back, you already know what brand you like on your foot as well as how you personally like them to fit. Make sure that you are trained in ballet and possibly pre-pointe and a ballet teacher has given you the okay to go on pointe. This is very important because they want to make sure that your feet are mature enough to handle pointe and not affect your growth. Also, NEVER buy your shoes online, no matter what!

For me personally, I like the brand Suffolk. But before I had tried on a Suffolk shoe I tried on about 7 other shoes. Some were Capezio, Russian Pointe, etc. I found for my foot that Russian pointe was too narrow for my foot due to my wide foot.

Did you know that your feet are probably different sizes!? My right foot is bigger than my left. You actually probably didn't know that your feet were different sizes until you get fitted because in daily life, its too small to notice. Pointe shoes, however, are tight and not stretchy. No worries though. You can just tighten the tie on your shoes. Professional ballet dancers sometimes buy two different pairs of shoes, one for each foot, but that isn't necessary for beginners. Pointe shoes cost a lot of money and buying two pairs is pretty pointless. As a beginner, you won't be spending THAT much time in your shoes as a principal ballerina.

When you go to your fitting, you are going to make sure that a teacher is with you if possible. Ask the teacher who is going to be teaching your pointe class to come with you. They may also have a preference on how they want your shoe to fit, how sharp your box is, and how you ribbons are tied, etc. It may seem like they are being picky, but they know best and know what shoe will best support you and help you with what your doing in class. Sometimes its good to have that because often you won't notice if something is wrong with your shoe. You will probably think that its supposed to be that way because you don't know any better. The person fitting you may not notice either because if you don't point it out(because you don't know) they won't be able to correct it.

The first thing that you will do when being fitted are some relevés and tendus. This is to see if you need spacers between your big toe and second toe. If you have a big gap, you can get

bunions. The way that your foot is positioned inside the shoe, your foot can shift and you can get bunions. Bunions can also be hereditary and you could have been born with it. Its nothing serious and will not affect your health. Spacers are gel like things put in between

your toe and keeps that space open. I don't use spacers because there isn't a big gap in between my toes in the first place.

You also want to buy tape so you can tape

your toes where it rubs to prevent blisters. The tape should be thick and sticky.

Next in your fitting, you are going to want to put on your toe pads. If you have already bought a certain toe pad, make sure you tell the person fitting you so they can give you that exact pad for the fitting. You don't want to go home and try them on with your toe pad just to figure out they don't fit as well. This is another reason that you want your pointe teacher there, because they have a preference of what they want their

students wearing.

Some teachers like their kids to use toe pads. Others like lambs wool, paper towels, or bare. You may be surprised at going bare in pointe shoes, but it builds your pain endurance and helps you feel

the box of the pointe shoe.

The next step is definitely the longest step. Be prepared to try on at least 4 pairs of pointe shoes. The first couple of pairs are to find your shoe size. The next pairs to find your width. (And so on). Once you find a pair that relatively fits and you want to see if it fits while you are on pointe, your teacher or fitter will tell you to hold onto a barre and go up. There will probably be a mirror so that you can see and you want to make sure that there is not a huge amount of gaping around your heel. There may not be a gap when you are flat but a lot of the time when you go up, it will gap. Looking in the mirror you can also make sure you are all the way up on top of your box.

Once you find your perfect fit, you are going to want to buy you ribbons, elastic, and sewing kit. Again, your teacher has their preference on which brand off ribbons, how its sewed, and if you even need the elastic band. Your also going to want to buy a mesh bag either from the dance store or from a department store like Walmart. Your shoes need to air out after you wear them. Another tip is to not leave your toe pads in your shoes because they also need to air out.

Thanks so much for reading! See you next week! ~K