How long do your DD's shoes last?

[interestedparty]

My dd has strong, flexible feet and ankles and a high arch, and her shoes last a long time too, even though she dances about 23 hours per week (albeit not all en pointe.) She was worried too that there was something wrong with her. We were told there are several factors that are helping her shoes to last: she can use a strong shoe, which lasts longer; her feet don't sweat much, so the glue doesn't break down as quickly; she is very light and doesn't sink into her shoes; she has been fortunate to get an excellent fit. Maybe these factors are helping your dd too, Narthaki. We are very grateful for the decreased pointe shoe cost.

[firedragon0800]

Dd, gets ridiculous life from her pointe shoes, I would estimate that she is getting close to 150 hours from each pair of her toe shoes. She just rotates two pair, and dances easily about 10-12 hours a week en pointe, 20+ all total. She's been wearing the same maker now for two full years, and has been dancing en pointe for approximately 4 years including SI's.

 

Starting out she was more likely to out grow her shoes than wear them out, and I have brought this up previously because she was able to dance six months before introducing a new pair into her rotation.

 

I thought for sure that by this time, she would be going through a pair a week as what seems to be realistic, but it's still not the case. Interested-party seems to have a similar experience. So I was just curious what is the experience of other folks in this forum is with pointe shoe longevity.

 

Believe me I am not complaining at all, but just curious is this really unusual?

[Mousling]

What shoe is she in? That is great and very unusual from my experience with students (including my daughter) and professionals.

[dancemaven]

One of DD's buddies at pre-pro school was able to use her pointe shoes for a ridiculously long period of time. As DD went through them like water and I was sweating how to pay for them all (the worst patch was 40 pairs of Freeds in 9 months), her friend's mom was quite serene with seldom having to replace her DD's (usually maybe 2 pairs a year). I was sooo jealous.

 

It really was simply a matter of the difference in their feet.

[Clutterbug]

the worst patch was 40 pairs of Freeds in 9 months

Eeeek! DD has just gone from approx 5-6 hours/pointe per week and roughly 10 pairs of pointe shoes a year to 35-40 hours of dance a week, a lot on pointe.She's also in the process of changing shoes. I thought she was joking when she said she might be end up going through one pair of shoes a week........perhaps not......!

[buzzandmoo]

My DD (13) has settled into a comfortable use of 2+ pairs a month. She has aprox 7 hours of pointe a week (including rehearsals). The "plus" part is sometimes it is 2 pairs over a 4 week period sometimes it is 3. When we were limited to Freed (classics and wingblocks) she went through more shoes; she has found that if the shoes fit perfectly they last longer. During summer when she is on pointe 3 hours a day, it is about 2 pairs a week

[firedragon0800]

Mousling, dd has always worn Freed Classics, mainly because the school where she started pointe had a great program for Freed toe shoes... she's had different makers... but latest maker is Fish... never saw this maker until 2013 though.

 

Dancemaven good to hear of another outlier... I thought at the beginning that she was just not recognizing a dead shoe, but I've learned since then she's pretty careful. She does use jet glue and rotates two pair, but she only needed 4 pairs last year... 2 pair she just got this month, but the last two pair she got in May.

 

Buzzandmoo...ouch!

[tutumama]

dd (15) is very easy on her pointe shoes. She dances about 25 hours/week (10 of those at her Performing Arts High School). She is en pointe about 7 hours/week, plus an additional 5 separate hours a week in rehearsal, some of which is also en pointe. She is currently rotating 3 pairs of Suffolk pointe shoes, which are in various degrees of broken-in. She has been in these since November. One pair is about to go, so we will rotate in a new pair. I can't believe I used to worry when other mom's would say she must be doing something wrong.Her teachers assured me she is fine and her fitter is happy with the shoe she is in, so I don't worry any more!

[Mousling]

Your daughter's feet are a magical gift --- especially in Freed -- that is amazing.

 

Yumiko (yes, that Yumiko) Takeshima talked about how she wore Freeds --just five pairs in one season and some that lasted over a year or two because she used bubble wrap for toe padding. She is interesting to listen to -- and slightly wacky -- and also disliked/didn't take m/any company classes she said. There are always exceptions and things that work for some people. Be thrilled!

[firedragon0800]

Well I guess I am feeling a lot better about this, Thanks mousling for that story about Yumiko!

[MelissaGA]

Interesting thread!

 

Dd has had a range of pointe shoe lifetimes. She always seemed to go through shoes much faster than her classmates. She switched from Grishko to Freed about 1.5 years ago. We went through a lot of shoes at first as she narrowed down the style and then the maker. She was actually rotating 6 pairs of shoes at a time last year and it was hard for me to get a good handle on how long they were lasting. She is very good about jet glue and letting her shoes dry out. She'll even let formerly dead shoes sit for quite some time before tossing them because thinks they reharden when they have a long time to dry. She's been known to squeeze out a few more wearings from those with the aid of glue and spray shellac.

 

I bought her 15 pairs of shoes back in early July as her 2 favorite and hard to get makers suddenly appeared at the Freed warehouse. We have finally figured out that she averages just under 2 pairs a month. She is en pointe 6 days a week, but with rehearsals, it is usually 7 days a week.

[Victoria Leigh]

Seriously, bubblewrap??? Wouldn't that be interesting noise when they bourrée across the floor! And if the shoes lasted that long because of bubble wrap they must have been wrapped in it, not danced in it!

[DianneC]

My DD goes through about 15 pairs of Freeds a year. She has been able to reuse a few pairs (for approx. 2-4 weeks) after letting them re-harden after a few months.

[Mousling]

Seriously, bubblewrap??? Wouldn't that be interesting noise when they bourrée across the floor! And if the shoes lasted that long because of bubble wrap they must have been wrapped in it, not danced in it!

Haha... She said in the link she experimented with bubble wrap brands to minimize the popping sound. I remember telling DD about trying bubble wrap when I first saw this and she said kindly "um.. I think I am happy with what I use, thanks." The takeaway for me is that heat and moisture wear down paste, so the less sweaty (wet) you allow the box to remain, the more life you can get. Rotate, rotate, rotate.

[Nikkivs]

My 13 year old DD wears Grishko 2007's and dances en pointe anywhere from 3-6 hours per week (depending on rehearsals) - they last about 4-6 weeks and we use tissue paper inserted in the shoe loosely in between wearings to help absorb some of the sweat to let them dry out completely between classes - this was recommended to us by a fitter in L.A. and seems to work well

 

We also rotate between 2-3 pairs to make sure they dry out completely and so she always has a pair that is broken in somewhat.