Can I fix my cobras?

[Pirou]

I have Capezio Cobra canvas split sole shoes. I have kind of narrow feet, and after trying dozens and shipping them all back to Discount Dance and also visiting all the local dance stores in town, they are the only canvas shoes that fit. (I wear Bloch Prolite hybrid for my leather shoe.) But - they have a half-inch band of foam fabric directly under my demi-pointe area which is really annoying. It's like I'm balancing on a bunch of marbles. Okay, not that bad, but it's not good.

 

I had heard about people trimming the pleats inside their shoes, so I pulled up the insole to look underneath and - ! - it appears to be a piece of foam glued quite strongly to the leather sole and the upper - cannot see any pleats at all, and I don't see how I can trim it out. But - it's very clearly a ledge of about 1/8 inch from this padded insert to the rest of the sole of the shoe under the metatarsals, which seems like a recipe for injury for me. I showed this to a dancing cousin (not ballet) who suggested possibly adding moleskin to the rest of the metatarsal area so that it was all one height. That seems like a good idea, but then again, adding bulk to the shoe, particularly in the metatarsal area, seems like it would affect how the shoe looks when the foot is pointed...

 

Has anyone else had this problem or have any ideas?

[Mel Johnson]

Turn the shoe inside-out, it was made that way. Take any offending outcrops of material and trim them off using a razor (X-acto) knife. You may then cover the trimmed area over with moleskin or duct tape, or whatever strikes your fancy. Or not. Pop them rightside-out, and you should be ready to go.

[Pirou]

That's what's strange! Inside there, I expected to see the leather pleats, but instead, there is a band of foam glued to the sole of the shoe. I might have to rub it off with an emery board?!

[Mel Johnson]

Give that a try - see how it works.