Some Thoughts on Getting Well-Heeled
TH asked me to write something designed to do two things: firstly to offer some advice to post beginners seeking their first pair of tango shoes and secondly to talk about the acceptability or otherwise of women dancing in flats. Both of these topics are juicy and interesting so let’s dive into first shoes first.
You’re hooked, you’re practising ochos in the kitchen and the supermarket aisle, you attend every práctica, every milonga, you dance to everything with everyone, your confidence is growing, you feel you’re getting it, but what you don’t have is The Shoes. The way I see it there are two possible choices: bonkers and practical. Bonkers is 9cm heel Comme il Fauts in purple with white polka dots. Practical is any shoe that is comfortable. And here’s the truth – the more comfortable the shoes, the more they will look like they were designed by an orthopaedic surgeon on a wet Wednesday. The heels will be low and stumpy, the toes will be closed and the colour and style will make you lose the will to live. High heels might be tolerable, but they are not comfortable. There are hundreds of women out there who, when asked, will swear that their beautiful, stylish shoes are exceptionally comfortable. Uh-huh? Translated this means “They don’t hurt quite as much as others I’ve worn.” Or “I don’t feel a thing once the endorphins kick in.” Dancing in high heels hurts sooner or later, and the higher the heel, the hurter the pain. But there are benefits to heels which we’ll come to, and it is possible to make reasonable compromises along the comfortable-bonkers spectrum. Meanwhile, let’s rewind to look at practical considerations.
Are you used to wearing heels? Most women I know don’t wear heels in everyday life and haven’t since they were teenagers, so putting on a pair of heels to dance is a true rite of tango passage. High heels say I’m poised, sensual, up to the mark, serious as hell about this dance and worthy of consideration Mr. Leader. If you aren’t used to heels, and if you have yet to achieve a stable axis, then the heel height you choose will be significant in terms of either buoying up your confidence or increasing your milonga anxiety. So sexy skyscraper heels at this point are understandably tempting but probably a daft idea. Go for a heel height you feel you can truly manage. The big plus about heels is that good quality shoes have the heels in exactly the right place to maximise your axis stability and are easier to dance tango in than flat shoes – but more on this later.
Stylewise. Choose any style that makes your inner Cinderella glow but with a few provisos. Closed toes may protect your feet but sandals are infinitely more attractive. If you go for sandals, avoid very strappy fronts because your toes may get pressed through the straps as you dance and as your feet swell with the warmth. If the toe design is a single bar, make sure there’s enough clearance for your toes, so that your nail bed doesn’t catch on them – particularly the big toe. Shoes that have ribbon ties are dodgy because you need to tie the ribbon fairly tightly to achieve the correct fit. As you dance the ribbon starts to bite into your foot and you’ll end up with a painful furrow by the end of the evening. Peep toes need to be big enough for your toe to peep without rubbing or compression. Sling backs are lovely but don’t offer as much support as a closed heel box.
Fitwise. Don’t believe any shoe salesperson who tells you they’ll stretch. They might and they might not, but who knows how they will stretch if they do stretch, and that’s the hypothetical future and this is now and they’re too tight – get them off! The heel box should be snug but not pinch, and the arch of your foot should touch as much of the shoe bed as possible. And when you stand in your shoes, approx. 1cm of sole needs to be visible beyond your big toe and/or the toe next to it to allow your feet to spread. One other thing: check the insole thickness. Insoles usually end just where your toes begin or maybe a little further back. If they are too thick, they will form a ridge and be really uncomfortable under the ball of your feet. Overall you’re looking for snug, but not tight, supportive shoes with no obvious style glitches that will irritate, chafe, trap or dig.
Strapwise. T-straps and straps over the arch are more supportive than ankle straps. Two ankle straps are more supportive than one. Manufacturers never make enough holes in straps – your local shoe mender place will make more for you.
Solewise. Chromo = suede. Leather = leather. Chromo will give you more grip on slippy floors, can be rebrushed to get them grippy again and will eventually turn into leather soles anyway. Leather are good for sticky floors and you can wear them out to dinner too.
I’m not recommending particular brands of shoes because one woman’s treat is another woman’s – well I was dying to get a neat parallel in here but you get my drift.
OK, so flats v. heels. Sorry, it’s a no-brainer – flats are for prácticas and classes, heels are for the milonga. Sure some women are going to put flats on before the milonga ends because they can’t stand the pain from their incredibly comfortable Commes any more, but that’s at the end of the evening. The beginning and middle is heel time girls. Not wearing heels sends an interesting series of possible messages including:
I prefer to dance in flats, take me or leave me.
I’m intending to lead tonight.
I’m on my way home.
I’m a beginner.
I’m tall and I don’t want you to notice.
My feet hurt.
High heels? Are you crazy? Don’t mess with my feminist ass.
If you are ok with transmitting any of these, wear your flats – otherwise pile on the agony with the rest of us. Nobody said this was fair.
A word about height: Don’t apologise in word or gesture. Tall and petite and anything in between is human. Tall women be proud, petite women be proud. Any attempt to compensate physically will compromise your axis.
Petite women: If you wear flats, the temptation is to rise up high on your toes to try and match the height of your partners. It’s very difficult to maintain your axis like this and you’ll find yourself bobbing up and down, on and off your toes with the effort. You are less likely to do this in heels.
Tall women: You’ll still be tall in flats and you may not feel like you’ve really come to the party. Even CIFs now do a 7cm heel. Wear heels, soar, be glorious, never stoop.
Lynn Collins
http://www.tangokombinat.de/index.htm
2 Responses
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Kat says:
Whilst your explanation was fun to read and provides some help, there are many other aspects one has to consider when choosing the first pair of proper tango shoes. And rather than needing tanguera’s advice, she needs to know more about her own feet. Plus some general knowledge about materials and shoes by someone who has worn high heels all her life and not only in milongas. Are your feet wide or narrow/ high or low? For narrow feet – peep toe sandals are better than the ones with open-toe. For wide feet vice versa. For low foot T-straps are the best as these stabilise the foot, for high feet one strap may fix the shoe well enough. An advice that there has to be 1 cm of space over big toe is not wrong. Shoe, especially very high-heeled, has to fit like a glove, if its even tiny bit too big, you risk with a ankle twist or more serious injury when dancing. Besides, width-wise leather (and suede) always stretches. However, patent stretches very little and fabric not at all. This has to be considered when trying to predict how your pair of shoes feels after two milongas. Even more so, if you want this pair to serve you well for a year or two. Although I agree about wearing low heels for lessons and practica, higher heel is better for the posture and 7- 7,5 cm should be fine for milongas if the lady is not too tall. To wear 9 cm (especially on the slippery floor), there is very little importance how comfortable is the shoe, as dancing with such high heels is affordable not only for advanced dancers, but also very experienced heel-wearers.
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Great post, Lynn. I’d just like to add a couple of points. I would definitely avoid closed-toe styles. My own experience is that your feet will feel more relaxed in an open sandal. And, if you are getting more than one pair of shoes, get two different heel heights. If you are really going to dance a lot (I dance for many hours a day) you can spare your feet by not always wearing the highest of heels. You can often get the same style of shoes in different heel heights (you may have to ask, as it isn’t always obvious), so you can have a slightly lower heel without compensating sexiness. And remember the most beautiful shoe is the one that makes you look like a beautiful dancer.
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