07 Mar How I Keep My Pointe Shoes in Tip Top Shape!
Everyone breaks in their pointe shoes differently. I have Freed Classics, so they die quickly. I thought I would share my process of keeping my shoes alive while still being able to shape my foot. I hope this helps you! Here, you can find a video tutorial on everything I am going to explain to you!
I sew my shoes very particularly. At the highest point in my arch, I sew the ribbons because otherwise, it makes them baggy. I also sew my elastics on top of my ribbons (it cuts a lot of time and hides the elastic!). I do criss cross elastics, and when I go the heel of the foot, I sew the two meeting as close I can without them touching. My heels would always fall out before I did that, and now doing that and a few other things really helped.
As for breaking in my shoes, I first jet glue the inside of the box. For me, that’s the first thing that dies. Boxes breaking can be very dangerous so I make sure they are secure! Second, I darn the boxes. I typically go around twice when darning unless I haven’t worn them yet. I can really feel a difference, and it makes my feet look better too!
On to the shank. I used to just bend the shank below the seam, but my heels were constantly falling out of the shoe. So I tried 3/4ing the shank, or rather a version of it, and it perfectly cupped my heel! I have done that ever since. I don’t cut out the rest the bottom part of the shank because I worry it will hurt my arches, and I don’t have a problem with the whole shank in there.
After my first day of wearing new shoes, I will re-darn my shoes (if I darned them before my first class with these shoes), and re-JetGlue the boxes. I’ve noticed that if I don’t reapply JetGlue to my shoes, they only last a matter of days. When I do reapply, they have lasted as long as 3 weeks, which is almost unbelievable for Freeds!
My favorite maker of Freed is the heart, but I order them on Discount Dance, so I don’t get to choose. I really like the way my pointe shoes fit me. What pointe shoes do you wear? What do you like about them?
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