Tango Shoe Divas

I’ve been on the search for the “perfect tango shoe” for a couple of years now. Even as a ballroom dancer I searched for the “perfect shoe” and I’ll be the first to admit I have spent WAAAY too much moeny on shoes. But, Tango woldn’t be the same without the cool shoes and since I get asked lots of questions about shoes in general (since I know so much from having SPENT so much!), I wanted to get something solid down. Maybe if someone reads this they’ll make better shoe decisions than I did and get better shoes the first time instead of 2 years down the road.

 Here’s my little collection so far:

and

Here’s what I’ve learned:

Comme Il Faut ROCKS! And when I found out I could get a 3″ heel, I was so exctied. I’d only ever seen the 3.5 and 4″ ones and I can’t wear them. Plus the ones I tried on at a show were very stiff and it felt like wearing a board on my feet….Now…when I went to look at the burgunday suede pair I have, my feet have never known such comfort! (well- not outside of a Earth Shoe sandal that is). They were light, flexible and the suede has just the right amount of give in it so my toes don’t hurt. This euphoria induced a spate of quick shoe selling of pairs that I was only slightly to moderately happy with (problem feet) and so led to my second pair with the pony print velvet. So far I am finding suede is the softest and stretchiest, then velvet, then leather. I don’t find the satins very stretchy.

 Next up- Neotango. I have 2 pair. One was too high in the heel and I had it cut down (shoe near-disater story coming soon) and the other is a little too narrow in the toe so I will probably sell them. They are very comfortable otherwise, both of them, with good flexibility. Maybe they changed their cut on the toe or sole area recentely becasue I was expecting them to fit the same….too bad…I guess I need a replacement.

Tango-wear. The purple shoes came from Tango-wear and were on sale and I can’t pass up metallic purple. I’d love to have the so called “metatarsal padding” ripped out and have real padding put in, but am not sure I care to spend anything else on them. They fit pretty well, flexibility is good in the sole, heel is not as stable as CiF for a stiletto. The straps were too long and instead of doing the right thing and NOT wearing them to the milonga, I cut them myself and botched the leather. Now I am too embarrassed to take them and try to get it fixed so I put a bow on it. I rather just save my money for another pair of CiF.

Traspie- I love the pretty brown and flower pair of TRaspie shoes I have. Got them on eBaybee. Fit is a little big for size and the blue pair I bought I didn’t like very well so I sold them. I found it weird that the sizing ran so big on the brown pair but almost ended up too small on the blue pair, despite them being the same size…so…it seems to be a pot shot. I’d ask for inside shoe lengths before making a size selection with them- they do answer questions.

Tara- these black and silver shoes are my biggest disappointment. The amount spent and the hype about their comfort gave me HUGE expectations, which have not been fulfilled and I can’t return them now. I can only hope that dratted stiff platform will eventually become more flexible. But the fact that the are cut more narrow than the narrowest of my shoes when I thought the shoes were supposed to be “modeled off a real woman’s foot” can’t be ignored. Most likely my one and only purchase from Tara, though she was a nice person on the phone.

Other shoes: Darcos- I’ve had 3 pair of Darcos. All sold due to various issues (foot measurement wrong not once but TWICE and the third time the measurements were right but they were too stiff and Darcos seems to have gotten rid of their nice padding they used to do).