Tango Shoe Divas

Darcos (Ebay) – “Mariela” – $60 (on sale) + $17 shipping – Green and Silver – 3 inch stiletto heel – ordered 2/12/07 – received 3/1/07

These shoes have grown on me. I bought them in February, wore them to my Grandmother’s St. Patrick’s Day party (where I was working in the kitchen and serving food) and by the end my feet HURT and I had huge blisters on my toes. I hung them up on the wall and glared at them every so often, but I didn’t feel like dealing with them. I recently DJed a spring themed milonga however, and that led me to take them down, add some strategically placed gel inserts, and give them a second chance.

I didn’t get any blisters this time and I danced quite a bit, considering that I was DJing and hiding in the booth much of the early part of the night. I think I may have even led in them.

First the good:

They sparkle like “whoa”. I was a little wild that night, dancing late with a near empty floor with a well chosen combination of partner and music. These made my boleos really eye catching. I’ve avoided glittery shoes in the past, both because it just seems like TOO much (this coming from a woman who has made it her life’s work to collect shoes in every animal print available) and because they seem a little too sandpapery for someone like me who likes to FEEL my feet brush each other when I collect. These, however, have the glitter under a lacy fabric layer, and manage to avoid that fingernails on chalkboard sound I had been fearing. So between the glitter and the metallic heels, these really attract some attention right where I want it.

Then the neutral:
The heels are not quite like they were in the picture. The ones I got were a solid chrome (not a crackle like it appears here) which I actually like better, but it always makes me nervous when something is different than advertised. Next time I buy something how will it differ from the pictures. There are a pair of Darcos shoes with a heel that fades from black to pink. I covet them, but if the heel was different than the picture I would be really disappointed. So this experience makes me a little more leery of getting exactly what I expect.

Finally the bad:
The sizing is off on these shoes. They are at least a half size too big. I put gel pads at the metatarsals and in the heel cage and they fit for now (and are pretty comfortable – other than the nuisance of slipping gel pads…) but when they stretch any at all, they will be too big and I will have to find a way to pad them further. My friend just ordered another pair and she ordered down a half size on my recommendation (and I saw other ebay buyers saying the same thing) so soon we will see if it is a consistent size differential.

They are no Comme il Faut… The balance just isn’t quite right on these. The heel is too straight down from the back of the heel cage, making a greater angle between the heel and the foot. (Once I get my camera working again I will show you a visual explanation – but this will have to do for now.) Because of this (and possibly a less stiff construction) it feels like the heel and the foot are flexing apart slightly as I step (ie that the heel is going backwards, away from the foot). When I first wore them I thought that this was a deal breaker, but I did get used to it after awhile. I do suspect that this will lead to an early demise due to catastrophic heel failure at some point, but at least they will get the chance to see a few dance floors first…

These will never be my favorite shoe, but for a frivolous “spice” shoe to throw in a funky color occasionally, I like them well enough. I would like to pin down the sizing issues of Darcos though because it would be nice to have my future frivolous shoes actually fit…

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.

I bought this hole punch on ebay. There are a lot available, but I picked this one because it was 1.5 mm. Most of the multi punches only go down to 2.0 mm. I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I figured the smaller the better since I have had straps rip in half at the hole. I carry it in my shoe bag all the time, and it has rescued many a night of dancing for me and my friends. I got this one from Jewelry Tools, but they don’t seem to carry them at the moment.

Try these two searches and see what you can find:

Hole Punch in Jewelry and Watches

Leather Hole Punch in Crafts

I recently took my second favorite pair of CiF to have the heel tips replaced. Given the frequency with which I have to have these replaced on my shoes I was beginning to regard this process more like a dental cleaning than major surgery. I am a major heel dragger (in a good embellishment sort of way), and the tip on a pair of stilettos sometimes only lasts me 4 wearings, so my shoe guy and I have gotten very close. I needed to have some more complex alterations done so I decided to try someone that came very highly recommended by one of my favorite fellow Shoe Divas.

Big Mistake.

I had the poor judgement, or the positive among you might say trust and faith, to not closely inspect the shoes until I got to the car, where I opened the bag. I don’t want to come off as an overly emotional, weepy woman, but I can honestly say that I was holding back tears when I saw them. I was divided between going back in and screaming at him in all my womanly fury or going home quietly. In the end I chose my usual path of non-confrontation – the damage was already done, what good would losing my temper do? But as I drove, I got more and more upset.

This is what I got back:

EEEEEEEEKKKK!

The other one isn’t quite as bad (maybe half the length) but what really got me is that he managed to crack BOTH of them. One is bad, two is unforgivable…

The truly ironic (hopefully not in an Alanis Morissette sort of way) part of the story is that these heels didn’t need to be done all that badly, but I was headed in to the shoe guy already and I figured I would take these in and get them done before I over wore the tips and marred the perfect finish on the heels, as I am prone to do… And I got this.

SIGH.

So I guess the moral of the story is if you find a shoe guy that you love, don’t let him go. And if you are local, stay away from “John’s Shoe Repair” at 3007 H Clairemont DR, San Diego, no matter what my Russian friend says…

Tango Wear – “Osscira” – $69 (on sale) + $12 shipping – Black and Silver – Platform – 3 3/8 inch “Thin Flare” heel – ordered 8/19/06 – received 10/10/06

From the picture on the website (shown in red and black below) I thought that this shoe would be a lot more delicate. I also ordered it with a “Thin Straight” heel and I am pretty sure that this is a “Thin Flare” heel. It is the identical heel to my Uva shoes that I ordered at the same time. The Uva I requested with the “Thin Flare” so one of them came with the wrong heel, and I think it is this pair. The sizing on these shoes was pretty accurate (though they fussed at me about my measurements and I had to tell them – “Just make them a 7.5, it’ll be fine.”)

I just couldn’t wear these shoes. The straight cut across my foot made the front of my foot look about as puffy as they have looked since I was pregnant. Then the ankle strap made my calves look fat, and was uncomfortable to boot. I wish I had a “before” picture of just how off they looked when I put them on. I tried a couple of times to wear them, but they just made my feet feel not pretty… Not a good thing for a Tango Shoe Diva. So these shoes hung on my Shoe Wall for 6 months, would occasionally get put in my shoe bag and go for a ride to a milonga, but there they would stay until they were returned to the Wall.

It was a waste of a good pair of shoes that were otherwise ok and pretty comfortable. I messed around with them for a while, with some ribbons and such, and formulated a plan. I took them to a local shoe repair place that had come highly recommended from another Tango Shoe Diva. I didn’t like him as much as she did, but that is a whole different story. I got a little bit of last minute inspiration and explained to him what I wanted. He said $10 and two days. I wore them for the first time last night and I was pretty pleased with the results. Do you see the difference?

I had him add the T-strap. It pulls the ankle strap down from the crease of my ankle enough that it is way more comfortable. And the strap breaks up the straight line so that the front of my foot doesn’t look nearly so broad and puffy. The last minute inspiration was to attach the T-strap through one of the cut outs. Even though the leather wasn’t a perfect match, attaching the loop this way made it look more unified. They are quite comfortable now and much more attractive. I wish the shoe man’s other work had been as competent (the stitching isn’t that straight, but it is much more obvious in the pictures because of the flash).

Tango Wear – “Uva” – $70.50 (on sale) + $12 shipping – Purple Platform – 3 3/8 inch “Thin Flare” heel – ordered 8/19/06 – received 10/10/06

These shoes are fun to look at. I love the color. I got the 1 cm platform added and they didn’t charge me extra. The heel height is a good one for me. The fit is fine size-wise, but I just can’t love them. The bands across the toe don’t come quite high enough on my foot and the outside of the ball of my foot comes out. Strappy sandals don’t work particularly great on me regardless. My baby toe tries to make an escape and the bands dig in. I’m going to stay away from this style from now on.

I had to have the insole replaced because the original came loose and bunched up under my toes. This seems to be a pretty common problem. It isn’t a big deal (about $8) but it is annoying.

The biggest problem with these shoes is the color wear. I collect my feet very well. The insides of my heel cage take a LOT of wear. After the first wearing these were already starting to show some pretty significant marks and now, after about 10 wearings they have marks all over the heels too (most of which I acquired last night). I don’t know how that happened, I don’t usually hit my heels on things. Possibly embellishment accidents… That probably explains it, though this is the ONLY pair I own that has gotten bad marks on the heel. So maybe it was just the stress of wearing them to an outdoor milonga which caused me to have to do a lot of strange things to compensate for a very sticky floor surface.

This seems to be a universal problem with their metallic leathers since I am having the same kind of wear on The Blue Hooker Shoes. It is very unfortunate because I LOVE the color of the metallics. I would probably have bought the Green Diva by now (certainly in time for St. Patrick’s Day) if I didn’t know they would have the same problem. I’m going to have to stick to suede on the heel cage.

Anyway I really wish I liked these shoes better. I’m trying to find something to repair the color damage, but it has proved difficult to find something that looks decent. They may end up with a contrasting heel eventually…

*(edited 6/18/08 – Excuse the **, but I’m still trying to find a way to make my point without getting porn spam. We’ll see if the spam stops…)

These shoes are special. As it was put by the woman who actually selected and originally purchased these shoes, I was fated to have these shoes. So here is the tale of my blue h**ker shoe destiny…

First a little back story, I rent out a nice little studio apartment in my basement. I had one Italian woman who lived here for over two years and learned to tango while living here. When she told me she was moving out my female practice partner immediately snapped it up. I like having someone who dances tango living there so I may have to make it an application requirement after this. Anyway, my most recent shoe buying frenzy spanned their move in and move out dates. Both women had also been eyeing shoes for the longest time and when I got the notice for a 25% off sale at Tango Wear we all decided to jump at the chance and make a group order to reduce the cost of shipping.

We tortured the customer service representative for days. “OK, but can I get it with just the front part of the trim in silver, and the rest in black? Can you do the heel in silver? Wait I don’t like that silver, too glittery. What others do you have? I like the style of this shoe better, can you add a platform to that one, oh and change all the colors and materials.” Yes, we put the custom in custom order shoes. This poor man had to get not one, but three women to all make up their minds about shoes, at the same time. I have a great amount of sympathy for him.

Each of us had one pair picked out, a very plain and elegant black suede sandal, with an attractive diagonal strap, for the Italian woman, a wild strappy sandal in four colors of metallic leather with a pencil heel for my partner, and for myself, something in between, a closed toe black suede with silver trim and heel and my obligatory platform add on. Then as we were finalizing our orders those evil tempters released new shoe models. Damn them.

I was really coveting something purple. I like purple, I have some great purple skirts and black is just too dark with them. So when this model came out, I showed them to the Italian. “The cut of them is odd. They look like H**KER shoes.” I always take the advice of Italians when it comes to footwear, so I sighed and settled on a different pair of purple shoes (which I am quite fond of after all, good choice).

Then my partner came over for her final measurements. I showed her the shoes now dubbed the “hooker shoes”. “Those are HOT! I wonder if they can do them in turquoise…” After a bit more harassment of our customer service guy she picked out a metallic blue with a black patent pencil heel. Everything was finalized, our money sent and the waiting began.

We waited, and waited and waited. We waited closer to six weeks than the typical three to four and in the end these shoes came three weeks after the others. All the other shoes fit decently, but when these came they were too big for my partner, though the other pair, made to the same measurements, fit perfectly (in fact her other pair was the best fit of the bunch). Sending shoes back to Argentina just isn’t a good option. By the time you subtract all that shipping, you are better off finding someone here to buy them from you. She was extremely disappointed since they really did look great, so she decided to try to have her cobbler cut the side straps and sew them tighter.

We both got busy, I left the country for two weeks and somehow the shoes never made it to the cobbler. As I have said, it was destiny.

When I got back we started thinking about the upcoming festival and the fact that Carrie Chelsea would be bringing her supply of coveted items to further empty our shoe budgets. I was worried that I wouldn’t even like dancing in such precarious contraptions and the $190ish that they cost would be wasted. What if there was a way to try dancing in pencil heels before dropping a small fortune on Comme Il Faut? But how? Then it struck me – the hooker shoes are too wide for her and my feet are less than a half size bigger…

I couldn’t wait until she got home. I stalked my window waiting for her to appear. When she did I tried to be cool. After all, she had really wanted these shoes, I didn’t want to steal them out from under her, yet it really did seem to be a perfect solution.

“Hey, would you mind if I tried on the blue h**ker shoes?” (yes that really is what we call them when we talk about them).

“I guess not.”

We went down to her house and she found the shoes. I had to wiggle to get my foot in, but once I did they clung absolutely perfectly to the curves of my feet. Her eyes narrowed slightly, “You should try them out at a milonga.” I waited a second to try to read her genuine emotion. “I hate you, but they really are perfect on.” I took them upstairs and tried walking in them. The skinny heel was odd, but it didn’t seem like a disaster waiting to happen. They were actually the same height as my other shoes, just no platform. I couldn’t wait for my next milonga…

Thursday night came. I set up the music and the food and then I changed my shoes. I walked over to the mirror to take a look and the reactions were instantaneous, both from my fellow shoe divas and from men.

“WOW!”

“Those are amazing!”

I just kept looking at my feet in the mirror. I was in love. I admit, they aren’t the most comfortable shoe I own, but man are they worth it. I call them my good luck shoes. They draw attention to my best feature when I am dancing (I’ve been told that I have “pretty feet”) and I swear I get better dances when I am wearing them. I think they get me noticed and remembered…