Light, Comfortable Ballet Shoe
Update:Some re-sewing of the straps and adjustment of the drawstring elastic seem to have largely solved the rolling problem -- that, or else, it may just take a little while for these shoes to conform to weird feet. At any rate, it's much better now, though I'd still really like to see them in a narrow size.One more thing: considering that these are little slips of shaped leather and elastic, I find that the arch support is stellar. Durability also seems good. These have now been doing three classes a week for the past couple of months, and they're in great shape.Upgraded to five stars.--Original Review--I should begin by saying that my feet are somewhat hard to fit -- narrow, with high arches and insteps and very narrow heels. This means that while the fore-aft fit of these slippers is pretty much spot-on, the lateral fit is a bit iffy for me. The elastic around the top allows for a fair amount of adjustment, but I still have some issues with my shoes rolling off at the heel when stretching on the floor (in class, this is not a disaster, but it can be distracting). They can also feel a wee bit squirrely on turns sometimes. However, I really think that's a function of my feet, and not the shoes. Mine came with the straps sewn in; I may try re-sewing them to see if that helps.Other than that, these shoes are pretty stellar. The leather is light, butter-soft, and sufficiently flexible to keep up with my very-flexible feet. The fit in the arch feels really nice. The split-sole design offers reinforcement and additional grip where you need it (the grip can actually be a bit much on some surfaces when they're brand new; expect to stick to marley a bit). Durability seems to be good, though I haven't been using them long enough to say for certain.I do think these might run a little large. I normally wear a 41 or a 42 in Euro sizes, so I ordered an 8.5; I'm wondering if going with an 8 instead might have resolved the problem in question. Eventually, I plan to purchase a pair in size 8; if that and/or re-sewing the straps resolves the issues I've been having, I will definitely upgrade my rating to 5 stars.Oh, yeah. They also look great. For me, that's a good motivator -- I feel like I need to live up to the promise my equipment makes :)