During my time as a professional dancer, I worked weekend hours in a local store managing and overseeing pointe shoe fittings. There is an art to have a great pointe shoe fitting experience. Whether it's your first time trying on pointe shoes, or your an experienced student looking for a new pair, check out these awesome tips to make your pointe shoe fittings great!
Call and Schedule Right Away
It's an exciting time when your student is ready to start pointe! But what comes after being told that? Schedule a pointe shoe fitting at your local dance store. Call and schedule an appointment as soon as you are able to. Try to pick a date as early as possible if your school is promoting many students to start point. Additionally ask if they plan on getting any more pointe shoe inventory in soon. You will want to time your fitting when the store has the most styles and sizes available. Don't procrastinate on getting in to get fit or you may be stuck with something that doesn't quite work.
Why: A beginning pointe class may be full of 11 year old girls all excited to get their first pair of pointe shoes, and all in a street shoe range of size 6 to 8 US. A ballet store however, might not carry that many pairs of the same styles to fit the needs of the entire class, and some students may have to either settle for a shoe that doesn't fit quite as well, or wait for an additional order to come in. The earlier you schedule your appointment, the higher chance you will have to get the shoes that you need.
Wear Ballet Attire
Show up to your pointe shoe fitting dressed as if you were ready to take ballet class. It's best to be in convertible ballet tights and a leotard, with some comfortable clothes to cover over your ballet attire. The pointe shoe fitter will probably want to see your feet outside of the tights and will want to see the line of your legs therefor wear something over your tights that can be rolled up to about knee height.
Why: The pointe shoe fitter wants to see your bare feet so that they may determine what shape of foot your have. This will give them information on what style of shoe they should try first for your feet. Additionally, you want to have on attire that you can move in and not be hindered by. The fitter will ask you to do pliés, tendus, and relevés to demonstrate the strength of your feet, and you wouldn't want an awkward pencil skirt getting in the way of testing shoes (yes, I've seen this happen).
Prepare your Feet
It's probably obvious that you don't want to show up to a fitting with stinky feet, but how else can you prepare your feet for a pointe shoe fitting? Remember to clip your toenails a day or two before your fitting. Don't cut them too short or leave them too long as it will feel uncomfortable to stand on pointe. Don't put lotion or any other products on your feet before a fitting as it may ruin the pointe shoes.
Why: Long toenails will feel awful in brand new shoes, may dig into the skin of the toe next to it, and will make it harder to tell if you like a shoe or not. When cutting your toenails, trim them straight across the top and avoid curving in the sides. This will help prevent ingrown toenails later.
Speak Up
For a younger student, finding a voice to express your opinion might be uncomfortable around instructors and pointe shoe fitters, but it is a must. In the car or on the way to the fitting, practice speaking your mind out loud about what you like and don't like about things. The fitter is going to ask you many questions about how your feet feel in certain pairs of shoes, and you want to be ready and confident to give an answer.
Why: Expressing your opinion about how a pointe shoe feels on your foot is the best way you can help the pointe shoe fitter find the right pair. Don't be afraid to say that you like or dislike a particular shoe, nobody will be offended by how your feet feel. Also don't be afraid to say "I don't know" if you are unsure of how something should feel on your feet. Ask any questions you might have about any of the process if you don't understand.
Know your general street shoe size
Not a lot needs to be said here, but it's really important to know what regular street shoe size you wear before your fitting. Some may have measuring mats available, but others will not, and it's always best to be prepared.
Why: This will save time and your pointe shoe fitter won't have to guess around at what size you might be.
Don't talk about buying online
This tip is less about having a great fitting and more about proper etiquette when at a fitting. We all know that there are a ton of places online where we can get shoes cheaper, and that small businesses will have a markup that can't compete with online retail. If you are going to use their pointe shoe fitting services, please be ready to buy the shoes fitted through their store (unless you don't find a pair that works). Please don't talk about how you are going to find and buy it cheaper elsewhere. That is extremely disrespectful of the service you have just received in the store, and is a large part of why more and more stores are adding very expensive fitting fees to their service. Ordering online is fine once you have figured out what shoes work best for you, but the small business that depends on your sales to survive is no place to brag about the deals you can get without them.
Don't feel rushed to settle
This is a tricky one because it's understandable that every student wants to walk away from their pointe shoe fitting with the perfect pair in their hands. For some dancers however, this might not be the case, especially ones who are located in a small town with limited access to pointe shoes. If the local store does not have necessary sizes for you to try on shoes, don't settle for something that "kinda" works. Ask them if they can order more shoes and wait for additional pairs to come in. You can also ask if they can set aside shoes that potentially work in the event that the new ordered shoes don't. This will largely depend on the policies of the local dance store. Eventually you and your fitter may need to decide which pair will work best, but try to exhaust all of the options for trying additional pairs first.
Bonus tip: If you don't have great access to a local dance store that sells sufficient stock of pointe shoes, look for other opportunities to get fit for a great pair of shoes. These can include scheduling a pointe shoe fitting during a family vacation when out of town or checking out online pointe shoe fitters.
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