Tango Shoe Divas

Here is my long awaited post. I will try to keep it short (for me) on words and sweet…

I joined Greta Flora’s Facebook group, where they have a running list of limited edition shoes they have available and saw a really great pair of shoes that I instantly loved.

These were the shoes I saw:

I saw them about 2 days before I got my first pair of Greta’s (in October) and as soon as I saw that the size was right, I wrote to find out if they were still available. They were not, but the shoes I got from Kathleen were great. Greta Flora is a respectable company…so I asked if they could make another pair for me, in a slightly lower heel. They said yes.

After almost 3 months of waiting, this is what arrived at my doorstep…

And if I loved the UT Longhorns (I hate football), and orange patent leather, these would be great but did I mention just ow much extra work I had to do to save up for these???

They do fit, and are very well made. The flower is HUGE (but not the red suede I loved on the other pair)…and they do have the saffron foot bed and straps I wanted…but all that other PUMPKIN color…OYE!

So, I love Greta Flora. They couldn’t even make all orange look truly horrible. I will still buy their shoes (from places I can return to). But I am seriously unhappy that they didn’t tell me they were out of the reddish reptile material for the heel….

Now what to do? Tell me readers…do I leave them alone, and glory in their orange-ness?

Do I make some effort to at least change the flower color? (Patent can’t be changed.)

Stone the back and flower with Swarovski?

Combination of any of those?

Comment away!

This past year was the year I decided to go back to wearing open toe shoes. I don’t know why I ever stopped, except that needing lower heels, I never had many choices about the shape of the front of the shoe before and didn’t really think that much about it until late 2008.

I am seriously hoping that 2010 will see some changes and  hopefully more tango shoe manufacturer’s broaden their somewhat narrow outlook of this aspect: “low heel shoes means closed/peep toe”.

I am glad Greta Flora broke this mold- and good on them. I know a couple of other brands like Tango Brujo, Nueva Epoca and Darcos also make pretty, open toe, lower heeled shoes so good for them too!

In 2009, I was determined to decrease my foot pain so I ruthlessly sold most of my higher heels and switched to lower ones. Unfortunately, this didn’t really help much and I was convinced it was just about time to give up dancing before I crippled myself, but got a chance to pre-order some low heeled open toe Greta Flora shoes from Kathleen at Diva-Boutique. (She’s great by the way.) The shoes were great; my feet mostly forgave me and now I can continue dancing.

So I scrimped and saved, taught private lessons on my days off, did special orders when I didn’t really want to and sold ALL but one pair of the shoes I had previously bought  (9 pairs), including my 2 pairs of Comme Il Faut, I’m sad to say, and have been slowly replacing them when I get a chance and find something that will work.

Here’s what I have now:

There are 2 pairs of Greta Flora, soon to be 3- a special order (oh no) directly from them that hasn’t gone well (what a surprise). There is one pair of Nueva Epoca, a pair of Darcos and a new pair of Jorge Nel’s. The raspberry pair (middle of the second pic) I bought in 2008, sort of a harbinger of things to come.

Now  a quick review.

Greta Flora- Overall, I love Greta Flora. The neutral pair required about 1 hr break in. Theya re very soft, shape to my toes and I can dance for hours in them. The black/red pair has potential but is a bit stiffer and tighter, I’ll probably need to have them stretched a little. The 3rd pair (more later as it will need it’s own story) is on its way from Argentina.

Nueva Epoca-The model I got is “Palma”. Carmen at Carmen’s Dance shoes has them on sale right now. Apparently the price is going up so I don’t know that I’ll buy them again with the new pricing, but if you can catch a sale, Nueva Epoca is good. Carmen is easy to deal with and returns are simple. They are flexible, comfortable, quality materials that aren’t stiff and are nicely made. I had 1/4″ taken off the Palma model to bring them closer to 2.5″ .They are actually 3″ up the back and not the 2 3/4″ listed. (The higher models have the height up the back posted so I am not sure why the lower heel ones don’t do the same.)

The Palma model I got is actually metallic purple (not the posted patent) with a iridescent pleated satin front- quite pretty! Lined in pale gold. I wore them for New Years and didn’t even bung up the metallics.

Jorge Nel- I got the raspberry pair in 2008 and added some trim (can’t help myself on that). They are comfortable, with a 3″ heel (up the back). They’re also rock solid stable.

So I special ordered the purple pair (yes, purple is my “black”) with the silver and black  star back…yes…note to self…stop doing that in 2010…The purple pair turned out nice on the surface. The suede is nice and the lining is soft, but he made them about 1/2 size too long for my foot (and he measured my feet himself!) and I just can’t get used to his heel placements (too far towards my heel). Overall- I’d only continue to get Jorge Nel shoes at a festival, where you can get a bit better price and try them out first.

Once bitten on special order shoes, twice shy, but 3 times I’m just dumb! So my resolution for 2010 is to NOT special order shoes from ANYONE and only buy from people whom I can return an item that doesn’t fit properly.

It was a seven month quest, but I finally got myself squared away with a pair of low heeled, (non-boring) neutral shoes.

These are from Greta Flora via Diva-Boutique and I wish I’d had them for Tangofest.

I love them. They are very well made. The materials are soft and not too stiff (unlike I find Comme Il Faut texture leathers). Greta Flora does half sizes on request though these are a regular size 36. Kathleen was able to give flower placement and color options as she adds them herself upon purchase.  The lining is excellent and the heel is lined in soft suede. The padding is average and about the only thing I could wish for a little more of (as usual).

These are a silvery taupe lizard texture suede with light cream accent and flower on the heel (my choice of placement). The heel measures a comfortable 2.5″ up the back (the 5.5cm heel).

Overall, I am very pleased and happy to recommend Greta Flora. Sizing runs similar to Comme Il Faut or Neotango for those who are concerned. Maybe just a hair wider in cut to similar band sandals for CiF, but similar in footbed length (size 36 is 9.25″ insole length).  CiF size 36 band sandals often bind my toes unless it is suede or velvet, but these were very nice in cut- not binding at all.

Yay for Greta and Flora!

Next step…a colorful pair of low heels!

***Update: I just wore these out to a milonga last night and despite the fact that they have less padding than I would like, this is the first time in quite literally years, that I have come home and NOT felt the need to ice my feet (though I did it anyway).****

How depressing. I have no luck when it comes to tango shoes.

No. Really…no luck at all…I think that is why I am so obsessed with them.

If I had easy to fit feet, could wear any heel height I wanted, and was happy with monotone shoes…I’d be such a happier person. But that is not the case.

My feet are small, but wide. I have foot problems and can’t wear high heels,and I HATE monotone shoes.

So I saw a preview for this pair:

They were supposedly going to have a heel cage that had light colored detailing to offset the leather (which looked a lot more golden yellow in the photo) and a flower which I decided to nix because the detailing on the strap and heel cage should have been enough. (Don’t know whether the distributor or Greta Flora made that change.)

The heel cage is from a different model and they are beige. No getting around it. Beige beige beige…all over….even clipping the crystal flower on isn’t enough…

The heel height is great- love it-

well made…check…

Flexible sole…check…

Fit…true to size for the size it is but on the verge of too big for me unless I add a small insole (I ordered this size on the distributor’s suggestion and we were CLOSE, but close doesn’t count here.)

I do highly recommend Greta FLora shoes. This rant is in no way something about them…it’s just why can’t low heel shoe designs also be pretty? Why?

They are returnable (yay…) but that still leaves me with, yet again…no useful low heel tango shoes, and about 4 pairs that are too high for regular use.

Any suggestions on what I could do with these? I think the next half size down might end up too small (maybe not)…

After a very long wait, I am happy to say that there are some people making decent looking lower heeled tango shoes. And…to deal with my biggest shoe pet peeve…they are ALL returnable if they don’t fit me!

I have a couple of pair of low heeled shoes on order with Kathleen, from Diva Boutique, who has recently invested in some Greta Floras (one of the few companies making lower heels). Below is a purple pair I am considering and a black pair:

She’ll be getting a range of styles and heels heights for the shoes she ordered from Greta Flora and I am very happy she was thoughtful to order both the 5.5cm heel and 6.5cm styles also. I’m looking forward to them.

Another company (Werner Kern) produced a newline of tango shoes called Nueva Epoca. This year they came out with a new set of shoes in lower 6.5cm heel heights (though they nixed the style I really liked in the higher heels). So I am trying to fit a pair of one of these in my budget somewhere also.

I tried a pair of the higher ones on back in the spring, and found them very well made, and even lightly cushioned from heel to toe…which is a very rare thing in a tango shoe. I hope they kept that aspect as it will bear heavily on my spending $200+ for them.

One pair I am considering is the Ilaria, in red and black suede. My only reservation is about the strap going through the back of the shoe. Other shoes I have tried on in this ankle strap arrangement haven’t fit me in the heel very well. But I really like this shoe…

And then there is the purple and black pair…a color combo I really love and I like the ankle strap arrangement and heel cut outs.

And then the last- I love the crossed ankle straps, not so sure on the purple and brownish-gold color combo…

I’m just happy to have some choices now where I don’t have to beg or plead with a distributor for something special, then end up with something a little too boring, or not at all returnable.

***Update- I’ve decided on trying the red/black Ilaria pair out. I sure hope that heel cage is comfortable!***

I decided a couple of months ago to give Tango Wear one more try after a lukewarm first experience last year.

I have mentioned before that one thing that bothers me about most of the tango shoe makers is that they usually only have a couple of options for those of us who can’t wear the 3.5 and 4″ stilettos, and then usually only red or black.

This gets very boring for your wardrobe.

SInce I saw that Tango-wear had a knock off version of my very comfortable black Neotangos, I somewhat reluctantly decided to give them one more try.

I went through a lengthy discussion with them about my foot size and what was didn’t fit in the last 2 pairs I had and thought we had everything sorted out so I did some color adaptions in Photoshop of 2 models, emailed them for confirmation and sent them my very hard earned cash.

Granted, they did actually get the shoes in to me in the specified 4-5 weeks they claim on the website, and the purple pair fit at least adequately….but the other pair is a complete disaster, and they refuse to take any responsibility or attempt to fix the mistake.

The purple pair:

This pair was a little wider than I thought it would be, seeing that they seemed so familiar with the neotango model I have. The heel cage is a little low (and my friend who also ordered a pair of shoes with a non-standard heel cage ended up with the same issue). I will never love these shoes. The strange heel cage height makes them not very comfortable and the fact that i had to add extra padding in to make up for the width isn’t helping as there was already double padding in the shoe (which I requested).

Now for the disaster… The pink and black shoes. These were supposed to be made to a picture specification I sent and had approved. It was supposed to be a black suede shoe with pink accents. Black suede base, black heel, black strap…pink toe box piping and heel cage accent. It came with the heel and strap the wrong color and even more unforgivably, TOO SMALL. I can barely squeeze my foot in there, even after switching the insole padding out to something thinner. These were supposed to be long haul work shoes, black with pink accents…not a pink and black shoe, and I need the double padding so I can’t remove it.

In the photos, you can see how my big toe is quite over the edge, even with no weight on them, and yes, I pretty much have to cram my feet in there, they are so narrow, and completely unsellable as I have small feet to begin with and these are even smaller.

 They are now even more unsellable as I started thinking “I know how to sew on leather” and they are only connected by a little tab, maybe I could put a wider one in there…this is how much extra space it needs to fit my chubby little foot. I really need a forgiving shoe person at this point if I am going to attempt to salvage this situation. I am so unhappy. I sold almost all my nice shoes…for this. And so my original opinion still holds after this very expensive and unhappy lesson- buy nice shoes from a well known maker whose shoe sizing is dependable.

UPDATE—- 9-12-08- I found a shoe person who can help me put them back they way I got them. Guess these will go up on the auction block when he gets that new tab in. And I found out Neotango is going to start doing more of their new styles in the 6.5cm heel. So that’s one silver lining to this big dark cloud. I’ll take Neotango any day.

I haven’t shared a shoe story in some time and so here goes. A shoe story of my favorite shoes- Neotango. No, they don’t have all the cool styles that Comme Il Faut has, but they do deign to make shoes at a heel height lower than 3″, and offer a tad more padding than some of the brands out there which makes me pretty happy.

I had been going to try some Delie shoes out, after hearing they had decent foot padding, and couldn’t get a reasonable match in sizing…so gave up. Then I saw these pretty shoes….

I had seen some on the Diva boutique website, but with heels too high and so I ignored them, then I found these through Felina shoes. They are suede (my favorite), style #113 with a sparkly lame’ woven heel cage and a very comfy and stable 6.5cm heel (though you can get them higher) that is slender and sexy but not a stiletto. I swear, it’s like wearing flats after torturing my feet for so long in heels over 3″ high! The front end is rounded, which is nice becasue you don’t get your toes squished together that way, but they are still a peep toe so your toes have some protection.

These are classy and dressy. I really love them but would also love to see Neotango release some more colorful styles in the 6.5cm height. The only current 6.5cm styles are red and black, with one purple metallic sandal in the style I don’t like becasue your toes fall out the side….and that’s my only beef with Neotango…otherwise…I actually prefer them to Comme Il Faut. The soles are very flexible, I can get a lower heel that isn’t ugly and is very stable, and they’ll last a good long time.

Here’s my most comfortable pair of shoes. These are  burgundy suede, envelope front, sling backs by Comme il Faut I got from Jennifer at Maleva shoes. I have to admit, sling back, ankle strap shoes are most definitelty my favorite. No rubbing of the heels (I’m in between sizes) and this suede is butter soft. Fits like a glove. The louis heel is very elegant and not what I thought it would be. (I was thinking, thick and curvy like a salsa heel). This is thin and elegant. It’s a little harder to do some of the “foot flip up” embellishments without the stiletto, but that’s ok, I have another pair for that!

She’s also got some nice new models coming in with fun lace trim and pom-poms…I tried them on a couple of weeks ago. Wish they had been lower heel because they were really fab. Maybe next time.

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).

From the Diva Boutique (no affiliation) FAQ a listing of the relative stretchyness of various shoe materials.

“An order of “give” or stretch would be, from most to least: velvet, suede, soft leathers, thicker leathers, leather-lined satins, silks and brocades and finally, patent leather.”

I know that sometimes I am in a quandry over what size to buy and I have to take into account the material that the shoe is made from. It is helpful to have it all laid out like this. She has some other good shoe care tips there, so you can check her out.