Tango Shoe Divas

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!***

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…)