Tango Shoe Divas

There is one sporting event that I eagerly await every 4 years (which is 3 years too long, in my opinion) and basically schedule my work and  life around- and that is the World Cup. I played soccer for 8 years and my brother played it for longer. My dad coached us. For us, soccer truly is “the beautiful game”. When South Korea hosted the WC in 2002, my brother and I got up at 4 in the morning everyday to watch the matches live. In 2006, we were in the Virgin Islands, and while my mom complained that she wanted to go the beach, my brother, dad, and I didn’t go anywhere until we watched the games. This year, I bought a DVR just to record all the games. I LOVE THE WORLD CUP.

Today is my 24th birthday, and I’m sitting here in bed watching the Netherlands versus Brazil quarterfinal match (and rooting for the Netherlands because they are the underdogs compared to the Imperial Dynasty of Soccer that is  Brazil) and browsing my birthday messages on Facebook and also looking at tango shoes because, let’s face it, when do I not look at those? And I happen to  come across THE pair. You know what I’m talking about. That pair of shoes that just catches your eye and you think to yourself, “Oh my God. I have to have those  RIGHT NOW”.

I have not experienced a moment like this in awhile. Ms. Muniz and Ms. Coltrinari have just not been impressing me with their last few lines of shoes- many of them have been “Oh, that’s cute, can I justify getting that pair? Nah” kind of shoes, not “MUST HAVE” kind of shoes.  If you will recall, I lusted after a striped T-strap pair of Comme il Fauts that had long sold out and have never been able to find them since.

Where are you??

For some reason, these stripes SPEAK to me. I don’t really understand it, but I must get my hands on a pair of CiFs that are striped (or “Rayos” as all the websites that sell CiF like to describe them in Spanish in order to maintain some modicum of authenticity. As a Spanish speaker, I must say it works about half the time). And here they are, casually hanging out at the bottom of JuliaBella’s website.

So the moment of Must-Have hits me during the game and my attention is diverted, which is no easy task because the Dutch are putting up quite a fight and the Brazilians are getting angry and losing their composure and yellow cards are being handed out like candy- it’s an intense game! But JuliaBella has this shoe and IN MY SIZE. I whip out my MasterCard and fill out the online order form because I am justifying this as my birthday present to myself. I hit “Place Order”.  Suddenly, a window pops up that says my billing address doesn’t match my card. WHAT?! I try different addresses (my nomadic existence as a college student entails many addresses), to no avail. I try to log in to my online card account, only to get locked out because I mixed up my pin numbers. I don’t have time for this! I look at the JuliaBella website and, Lord have mercy, my shoes are gone. Is that because they are in my online shopping cart or because somebody bought them? PANIC.  Suddenly, the Netherlands/Brazil game is completely out of my mind- and tango shoes are apparently the ONLY thing that can do that to me.

I call ING and talk to a very nice gentleman who unlocks my account and changes my billing address, but when he tries to get me to open a savings account, I wave him off because I am “kind of in a rush”.  I quickly put in the correct address, and hit “Place Order” again, and fervently hope that another  message doesn’t pop up saying something devastating like “These shoes are no longer available”. And then, my order confirmation loads, and  I feel ecstatic, overwhelmed, VICTORIOUS, almost as emotional as I was when Landon Donovan scored that epic US goal versus Algeria in injury time. Almost. (I cried during that game. Don’t judge me).

And so, I  impatiently wait for the shoes to come in the mail.  Behold, my victorious birthday shoes that distracted me from the World Cup:

Stripes!

PS. The Netherlands just defeated No. 1-ranked Brazil in one of the biggest upsets of this World Cup. It’s a good day.

Sometimes you simply fall in love with a pair of shoes, but it isn’t meant to be… I love the cut and the snakeskin. And the color… I mean when you try on a shoe that already matches your toe nail polish you have to think that it might be a sign!

I wanted these shoes. But look very carefully and see if you can figure out why they are not mine… Give up? Look at the heel cage. There is about a half centimeter gap between my heel and the shoe! I briefly considered whether I could put in heel padding like I have done with a couple of the used pairs that I have bought. But I reminded myself that $200 shoes should fit really well, and not be made acceptable. So I left them there and made it through the entire Hot Winter Tango festival without buying a pair of shoes!

I have been mulling over whether I might be a 37, not a 38. I have a lot of 38s that fit me pretty well, but I tried on some sling back 37s that fit me better than my 38s. So here is the problem. When I got home, I found the same pair in 37 at Felina! They are gorgeous! But can I wear a 37 in a closed heel? Grrrrrr. I liked it better when my feet seemed easy to fit!

I don’t really need any advice. I just wanted to share my pain… I am sure you have all been there! Rock on shoe sisters!

As of late, I’ve had to seriously curtail my shoe-buying ventures because I just moved to DC and am in the process of applying for my PhD in political science- and those applications are expensive! There goes all my shoe-buying money.

That being said,  there is a pair of Comme il Fauts that I just cannot get off my mind. I saw them on the Lisadore website in size 34 a few months ago and I have been lusting after them ever since and I have not been able to find them anywhere let alone in my size! I have checked all the websites and I have asked all the distributors I know and they are just…. gone. This is one of those times that I curse Alicia Muñiz and Raquel Coltrinari for being so smart and frustrating by only manufacturing limited batches of their designs!

Here they are- and I realize that they may not be everybody’s favorite because they have stripes, but I love stripes and T-straps and purple is one of my favorite colors, so in other words, they are perfect:

Where are these shoes!? Has anybody seen them anywhere in size 37? Let me know if you find them, I am going to find these shoes if it’s the last thing I do! I will even halt my shoe purchasing hiatus if I can get my hands on them. I suppose I will just have to keep an eye out in case somebody decides to sell their pair somewhere.

In the meantime, I might buy these because they are gold and pony print and fabulous and I love them almost as much as the purple and striped pair:

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a baby Tango Shoe Diva. I’ve danced on and off again for about 4 years but about a year ago I reentered the tango scene with a vengeance and have been working really hard at it ever since. That being said, I  decided about 5 months ago that I was going to graduate from my salsa shoes and finally buy some “pretty shoes”.

Since then, I’ve done much research on many of the styles and brands that are popular these days (many thanks to America, Bastet, and all the other contributors for such great advice), seriously depleted my college student bank account in making purchases, and consequently developed a reputation among my classmates and close friends as a “shoe crazy person” (their words, not mine).  I don’t even have that many shoes! Whatever, if you are reading or contributing to this blog, you know exactly what it’s like to be “shoe crazy”.

I first started with this used pair of Neotangos from a very nice lady on eBay (I LOVE eBay, by the way):

Behold, my first foray into tango shoe shopping! They are beaten up and old (I don’t think NeoTango even makes this style anymore), the insole is red and stains everything, but they were my first and they will always hold a special place in my heart.

I subsequently lost out on another pair of shoes to some powerseller on eBay:

As you can see, they are fabulous and I was very sad I lost the auction at the last second. Incidentally, I recently ran into the exact same pair at a milonga in DC- and they happened to be on the feet of my very MALE DJ friend who was practicing his following! Apparently they were the only pair left in his gigantic size.  And you only can imagine how these looked on a grown man (and of course, I was green with envy and incensed at the cruel irony of it all).

Next, I bought my first pair of Comme il Fauts while living in Atlanta. Katherine of Diva Boutique was in town and brought her enormous shoe trailer (yes, friends, an entire trailer full of CiFs). On the advice of a few people, I bought a simple pair of nude pink leather slingbacks that match everything:

They’re not nearly as white in the picture- more of a very very light pink. I also should probably get the straps cut down but haven’t yet because I am lazy and I don’t know any good cobblers yet up here in DC.

Then my birthday rolled around and I decided that I had a been a good girl and bought THESE off eBay from a fabulous Diva in Seattle for entirely too much money:

They are my FAVORITE- and I am perfectly willing (more…)

I think every little girl at some point in her life dreams of being Dorothy. I can’t believe that I made it this far in my tango career with no red shoes. I have a pair of zebra and red and a pair of burgundy and black, but nothing just red. I recently bought 2 great black dresses with red accents and they just scream for a pair of red shoes. One would think that it would be easy to find a pair of shoes in one of the iconic colors of tango… but when you are a diva… nothing is easy.

		I used to covet this shoe from Tara, back when they were the be all and end all of tango shoes. But one of my shoe advisors said that she thought the platform looks unbalanced with the open back. Plus they are only 3.5 inches!/td>
I can’t remember the last time I bought a shoe that didn’t have a stiletto heel!
I can’t decide what to think of this shoe… It is definitely unique, the heel is 4 inches, it has a platform, and I love the color. But it looks like it is not very flexible. I have one other platform that is patent wrapped and it is impossibly stiff (though it is not a Tara). And the knots are a little bit much.

Of course there is always Comme il Faut
(more…)

I was stalking an ebay auction, for shoes of course… when I saw these:

OMG LOVE!!!!

The heel cage is gorgeous… I covet them greatly! But unfortunately not my size. After I briefly considered whether I could stretch them out (strappy fronts don’t suit me all that well either – but I would have coped if they were my size) I started thinking about which of my friends needed them… because if I couldn’t have them, those shoes simply had to be owned by someone close to me, so I could at least visit them and worship them…

Part of being a true shoe diva is knowing the sizes of half the women in the community (gotta know who the competition is!), what sizes and styles they like, and even their favorite colors. It rapidly struck me… My tenant has been looking for teal shoes forever since she bought and I subsequently stole the blue h**ker shoes she has been searching for a pair of teal shoes. They are even her preferred height (We both have a great love of the 9 cm heel.) These screamed her name!

I promptly emailed her a link to the auction. And then a picture… Her email came back within seconds. (She is a Crackberry Addict)

“Oh Jesus. Those are awesome. I’m at the DMV right now. Boo hiss. Do they have a buy me now option?”

I sent her the buy it now price and the auction details.

“Oh shit. I better get them stat.”

I told her that I could buy it now for her if she wanted… “no problem… need someone to get a good Cif deal!”

To which she responded “Amen, sister.”

Not quite as great as getting a new pair of CiF for myself at a great deal, but it is close, especially when it is for a good friend! I’ve had very good CiF ebay karma and it is good to share!

I very publicly gave up buying shoes for Lent. Now, I am not Catholic, but a friend was talking about giving up her snooze alarm and I thought I should play along. I though about giving up caffeine or chocolate, but that seemed too ambitious. So I resolved to not buy any more tango shoes… hard than it should be… I am the tango shoe diva after all. When I mad that resolution however I knew that I had a new pair on the way… sort of a Mardi Gras for my feet. And these shoes definitely suit the Mardi Gras spirit… (more…)

Emma writes:

I have a problem with my slingbacks and, since you have so much experience with different shoes, I’m hoping you’ll know somthing that can help. When I lift my foot, the stiletto stays on the ground and there is a 1/2 inch gap between my foot and the shoe. Needless to say this makes dancing in them very unstable. The ankle strap is fine, it is the strap that connects the ankle strap vertically to the shoe that is too long. These straps are not the thicker, slingbacks I see on your page – they are as thin as the ankle strap. What can I do? Should I have someone cut them and sew them shorter? Should I atatch another strap vertically from the bottom of the shoe over the top of my arch? They are Comme Il Fauts and I don’t want to ruin them when I tried them on they “stuck” to my feet perfectly but once I start dancing they unstick themselves.

I wish I had time to properly answer this question, but since I don’t I am going to throw it to anyone who is listening, and then maybe I will have time to come back and add my own thoughts!

BTW I deserve to be MIA, this is what my life currently looks like:

I’d SOOOOOO much rather be thinking about tango shoes!!!

I got these pony print shoes a couple of months ago from Jennifer at Maleva shoes. Luckily, I got to go over and try them on at her place to find out if they’d really fit before I bought them. Yes, indeed, they fit and were comfortable…but…she had JUST gotten new models of Comme Il Faut in when I arrived and there were these fabulous shoes with little lace frou-frou over the peep-toe and tiny little pom-poms on the slingback. They were awesome! But they had a 3.5″ heel, which I can’t wear. So…I got the ones I originally intended..the velvet pony print shoes…but I “had a plan”.

 I would find some nice lacy bits and see what I could do since I had been suddenly overcome with “lace envy”.

 I found what I needed at a local fabric store. In fact, it was even BETTER than what I thought I’d have to deal with. An organze ruffle on both edges of a stretchy velvet ribbon. Perfect!

 I set about sewing my very own special trim on to the peep toe of my pony print shoes. It really gives them that little bit of extra black on the front that I felt they needed…plus the extra little bit of femininity of the organza is what I love.

 A very happy ending…

Before:

And after…over the top??? Well- at least I didn’t try to fnd any pom-poms for them.

I saw these shoes on someone a few months ago and since I have a thing for purple…and paisley or florals…and stilettos…and Comme Il Faut shoes…well…I had to try to find these. I looked all over and did find them, just barely! The stars must have been aligned or something….I got these through Diva Boutique and they *just* fit without being too big. (She’s pretty good to talk to on the phone. A little harder to get ahold of by email but she got her site working again for online orders.) I think these must be an older style because the newer banded sandals are cut a little wider and these are cut the same width as the peep toe ones I have. The current cut of the band sandals seems to be wider than the peep toes. Usually I have to try a sandal in the next size down but I got lucky on these because of the (older??) cut. DOn’t know- either way- I was VERY glad they fit.

The build on them is a little differnt than my other stiletto pair. On the pony print pair with the black stilettos, the leather sole joins with the heel under the stiletto and on this purple pair, the sole stops at the stiletto. So I guess I’ll find out which build is sturdier as time goes on. The only problem I have found with the slingbacks is not enough holes! On both pairs of slingbacks I have had to add holes almost halfway up the strap because the 3 holes that come with the shoe are near the ends- not even close to being snug when buckled- so I have to put more holes in them- a minor detail. Ohterwise, they are as fabulous as ever.

 Purple, aqua and gold paisley brocade banded sandal with sling back (my fav!) and 3″ (YES!) gold stiletto heel.