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So for some reason I got it into my head that I wanted to wear gold shoes at my wedding. I don’t know why. I also knew I wanted comfy shoes that were easy to dance in, so I’ve been cruising dance supply stores and websites. Ballroom dance shoes are rather expensive. But, on the other hand, I’m going to be standing most of the day, and I want to enjoy myself without (too horribly) aching feet, so I’m willing to pay a little more for good shoes.
Tonight I found a place in Ohio that makes custom dance shoes. You choose the basic style, the heel type and height, the color and the material. Then you give them your foot measurements and a tracing of the outline of your sole. Among the possible combinations of style and heel type is exactly the shoe I’ve been looking for. And one of the material choices is metallic gold leather. o_O
And . . . get this . . . it will cost 25% less than the closest approximation to what I want that I’ve found ready-made.
Dancing shoes! We wants them! *looks around nervously for Hans Christian Anderson*
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Right now Tony and I are unloading gifts (a ridiculous amount) from the car.
Tomorrow we are off on a mini-honeymoon until Thursday - so the long stories will wait until then. I will post photos as soon as I have access to them.
But for now - enough thread-jacking. Shiny shoes!
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
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There's no picture of the combination I'd be getting. It's a closed toe with a strappy ankle and a 1 ¾" cuban heel. Kind of like this but with a different heel and in gold.
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You dweeb. I meant to the site, 'cause I want to go shopping. I know you knew that, but still. Give it up. Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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A note -- not really for ElJay, but for anyone else who might be in the market for shoes -- all the shoes at that site have indoor-only soles. They're dance shoes, not street shoes.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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But although there are some really cute shoes on there, I'm looking for some pretty basic practice shoes for when I start tango lessons, and I don't really think any of these will work. Sad, sad sad.
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At the wedding I recently attended (which as an all-day, 10 am to 1 am affair, the bride wore ballet slippers (of the soft variety). She was still going strong when I left the party.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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The only shoes I can wear anymore are sneaker, Earth Shoes, and Birkenstocks. Any type of dress shoe is too painful. I doubt I could put my Spenco cheapo orthotics n a ballet shoe. Luckily, I am a teacher, and the general style is "frump."
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I thought about ballet slippers, but for dancing with people a little bit of a heel helps me keep my balance better.
I was a little worried about whether it was worth it to buy dedicated dancing shoes when I haven’t been dancing in a long time (like, a decade). So we had this conversation last night: “Uh, sweetie?” “Yeah?” “If I were to buy ballroom dance shoes for the wedding that I couldn’t wear outside, would you go dancing with me so that I’d be able to wear them again?” “Of course!”
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Ballet slippers are popular for brides to wear through the weddings now. The company I work for offers three different types and they are pretty good sellers.
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I wore some ballet shoes (not the ones actually for ballet, but that style) for our wedding, since I didn't want shoes with height (my husband is only about 2" taller than I am). Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I'm jealous, ludosti. Whenever I wear anything formal (or, really, anything, full stop), I need to have shoes with some kind of heels on them, because piece of clothing is made for someone much, much taller than me. Moreover, for my wedding, I HAD to have heels, because Jim is 6'3" to my 5'0".
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Megan, I have exactly the opposite problem. Unless my husband is at least 6'4", I will be wearing ballet slippers at my wedding. I'm 6' in my bare feet. I also wear a size 12, so it's hard to find shoes for me in the first place.
I would love to have a ridiculously tall husband, but I'm not going to count on it. What's with all the short girls taking up all the tall guys anyway? *wink*
I've actually thought about it and I would love a pair of ballet slippers with wide ribbon that wound up my calves...I guess I could stand a tiny heel, but I'd rather not have one. Has anyone ever seen anything like that? In a size 12?
[Whoa I3, that was creepy, I promise I hadn't read your post when I wrote mine!!]
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Hey! My husband is only six inches taller than me. Five inches if I'm wearing shoes. (I'm five four without shoes, he's five ten).
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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quote: What's with all the short girls taking up all the tall guys anyway? *wink*
Sorry!
Since I did, in fact, date a series of relatively tall guys prior to meeting Jim, I have no excuse to offer. It just sort of worked out that way.
Anyway, if I were you, I'd go with the ballet slippers, especially if you're going to be dancing. I actually wore a pair of strappy payless sandals, because payless is one of the few places that consistently sells wide shoes. My feet are funky-shaped...they're about a 6.5 in length, but they're so wide, I usually have to wear a 7 or a 7.5. My feet? are square.
Edited to add:
quote: Has anyone ever seen anything like that? In a size 12?
Actually, I have quite a number of tall (female) friends who managed to find very nice shoes at shops aimed at, well, transvestites. That may or may not work for you, but it was a solution that my roommate in college (who was 6'1") used when she needed really nice shoes.
quote:I was a little worried about whether it was worth it to buy dedicated dancing shoes when I haven’t been dancing in a long time (like, a decade). So we had this conversation last night: “Uh, sweetie?” “Yeah?” “If I were to buy ballroom dance shoes for the wedding that I couldn’t wear outside, would you go dancing with me so that I’d be able to wear them again?” “Of course!”
So spoiled.
You guys are just so cute.
Somewhat tangentially, I start my ballet classes tonight. Yay! And I found shoes to fit. Yay yay!
Narnia, I sympathize. Although only 5'5.5", I run size 10.5 to 11. Do you ever get the feeling that shoe manufacturers assume that anyone over size 8 has no sense of style whatsoever?
There's a great women's shoe store for only 10+ sizes up in Canada. I have a rockin' pair of Heidi boots from there that I've worn for 4 winters.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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quote:I would love to have a ridiculously tall husband, but I'm not going to count on it. What's with all the short girls taking up all the tall guys anyway? *wink*
Hmm...Narnia, I have a guy friend who is 6'6" - and cute, educated, and LDS.
*goes off to write a Mark Twain e-mail*
[ January 24, 2005, 01:23 PM: Message edited by: Lady Jane ]
Posts: 1163 | Registered: Jan 2005
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quote:Narnia, I sympathize. Although only 5'5.5", I run size 10.5 to 11. Do you ever get the feeling that shoe manufacturers assume that anyone over size 8 has no sense of style whatsoever?
YES!! I also get bugged that they don't make very many flat styles in those large sizes. In your case, heels are great, but in mine, I'd like some choice, you know?
I3, don't worry. I'll only walk my dog in FRONT of your house.
Megan, I haven't tried the transvestite avenue. I'll have to.
Katie, you are hilarious.
Dana, sorry to derail your thread. I didn't wake up this morning with a desire to talk about my feet. But I am jealous of your comfy gold shoes. My friend got me into swing dancing last summer and I loved it, but it was hard to find comfy shoes. He had a pair of special dancing shoes that he had made with a pair of nice skechers with suede on the bottom. Comfy and slippy at the same time!!
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If you want good swing dance shoes, try the link I posted above (the one in the smilie). They go up to size 13.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I hear you, Sara! They assume that people with huge feet are probably social outcasts anyway and expect us to get through life in velcro sneakers.
I also hate the fact that the huge-platform look makes no exceptions for size. I mean, I understand that it's cute for the little size 6 girl to suddenly be 8 inches taller but for most of us who wear 10 and bigger, we probably don't need to be any taller. They really need to invent shoes that make you shorter, is what they need.
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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kq, I've got width and the high instep...I totally sympathize. And doesn't it seem like no place at all sells wide shoes? The only place I've found that consistently sells wide shoes is Payless; I wouldn't mind paying a bit more, but no place else has wide shoes.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places the few times I do go shoe shopping but I have a hard time finding shoes in size 6-6.5 that don't look like they belong on a 12 year old. There's very little variety in the places I've been to unless you have a size 7-9.
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I'm in the I-had-to-wear-heels-to-my-wedding-because-my-husband-is-so-much-taller-than-me camp. He's 6'5'' to my 5'4''. I wore 5'' platforms that I've always meant to have dyed black. I didn't have to have my dress hemmed. I'm pretty sure they hurt my feet because I never consider comfort when I pick out shoes. My mother explained to me that beauty is pain at a very early age and I believed her.
I do have a pair of gold ballet flats that I love. I have a thing for gold shoes, always have.
CT, Chanel and Ferragamo both make shoes that go up to 11. You can get them for a reasonable price on eBay.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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There's something else that's annoying...they always go up to 11.
And I wear a 12. Nordstrom (bless their hearts) makes up to size 14 in women's, so I shop there, The Norstrom Rack, and Payless. Megan, you ought to check there for wide shoes as well, they carry more than any other place I've seen.
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Megan, I shop at Payless, too. I usually end up trying on about 15 pairs of shoes before I find one that fits. Nordstrom's doesn't usually have high-instep friendly shoes, I've found. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Doh! Ah, well. When I go shopping, I tend to aim for shoes that have velcro or some other kind of strap across the instep. That tends to make fitting a little easier. And by some utter miracle, I managed to find a pair of black boots and a pair of brown boots (both at payless) that fit, so I'm shod for the winter.
The sad part about all this is that I really, really love shoes. My parents used to call me Imelda (as in Marcos). My room was in our finished basement, and I'd put a pair of shoes on each step and still not have enough room for all of them.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote: The sad part about all this is that I really, really love shoes. My parents used to call me Imelda (as in Marcos). My room was in our finished basement, and I'd put a pair of shoes on each step and still not have enough room for all of them.
I just got a reply to my e-mail -- they can put leather soles on any of the custom shoes. So now I don't have to worry about ruining the suede walking from the church to the car and the car to the reception. (I was thinking of getting galoshes, but this will be easier.)
<----- if you squint, some of their shoes look gold.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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The cats are Jack and Wallflower. They were partially mine, but my former housemates now have full custody. (Mike and Patty, who you met at the party at my house last spring.)
Edit: yes to the stripey tales. Jack is ring-tailed like a raccoon.
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I know you knew that, but still. Give it up. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Okay. Thanks. Brat.
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There's very little variety in the places I've been to unless you have a size 7-9.
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<----- if you squint, some of their shoes look gold.
