Anyone have a thought on this? I just looked at the heels of 2 pairs of shoes and was shocked at the wear on the LEFT heels. It was practically worn at a 45% angle, toppling to the left. Very little if any wear on the right. No wonder I was struggling to stay upright after every "tango close"! Now that I've noticed it, I can't wear them without falling over! (I may try to "fill in" heel covers, but the shoes are heading to the cobble asap.) Any ideas?

It means I'm driving with that foot.

Another thing that a male dancer, who takes his partner shoes in to have them re-heeled, told me to do is ask for the hardest plastic heel they have. Quite often, the cobbler will match the color of the heel tip to what he has, which could be a softer heel than you want.

Haven't tried it myself, as I started buying heel caps. The ones with the suede lasted for a quite a while.

As far as ideas for fixing how you use your feet and legs so that you don't move unevenly, I don't have any advice. But I do have an idea to help your shoes last longer between trips to the cobbler: get some suede heel protectors. Not the plastic ones that come from Supadance or Freed or International -- those wear out very quickly. Rather, get the ones that look like crosses made of suede, these are cut out of the same suede that is used on the soles of the shoes. The arms of the suede crosses fold up along the sides of your heels, and you use cellophane tape, wrapped around the heel two or three times, to hold them on. It takes me several months to wear through the suede, at which point I just replace them.

I used to have to take my shoes to the cobbler to be re-heeled once a month. Since I started using the suede heel protectors, I've never had to take a pair of shoes in.

Laura

Hi:

1. Wear of heels:
Cross-shaped suede heel covers is a good idea if you dance in casual shoes or as a quick fix. If you have "dedicated" dance shoes, ask your cobbler to glue suede pieces on top you your heels. But you need to tell him two things:
(A) The glue must be the strongest possible but flexible (e.g., various "superglues" and epoxy-based are bad).
(B) The suede piece must slightly overhang the heel rather than flush. This overhang will protect the edge of the heel. However it must be small enough not to be torn off by an accident.

2. Uneven wear of heels:
If your anathomy is OK, I hope, then I might guess the problem is with your dance patterns.
The simplest example is basic steps in hustle as I was taught:
counting &123, lady: '&'- RF together, '1'- LF forward, heel lead.
I don't know what you dance, but in Standard/Smooth dances, you may have a similar albeit milder "skew" step distribution.

;mikalai
'

Thanks ladies! I'll give the suede covers a try.