I'm not *really* experienced (been at it for a little over a year), but I've found my pair of Latin shoes fantastic.
Open shoes (open toes) are what you usually see, but when you just started dancing it's best to just try every possible pair there is. I started with "closed shoes" and worked through a total of three pairs (in 10 months) until I found my ideal shoe.
Mine are open, simply because there is "less shoe" to get in the way: you need every possible "space" to move flexible and to your fullest! Do buy real danceshoes though, I started out (probably like almost every beginner) with a nice pair I bought in a local store. However, the shoes you use for the streets do NOT carry the same requirements a danceshoe does. (Then again, this is complete self-explanatory 
) Either case, it's better to look for a Dance Sport-store and get real life advice there.
I'm not saying this should be done by everyone, but I buy my danceshoes 1 to 0.5 size smaller than what I usually wear (for the streets). It hurt like HECK the first few times and I thought I didn't make the right decision, but after three to five practices I found that it gives me the support I long for. (I did walk around in my new pair in the house first, so it already had *some* flexibility before I started dancing in them.) Please ask a Dance Sport-specialist about this, because this is what I did out of own experience with STREET SHOES, so I was only guessing.
Hope this helped Good luck! 
"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." - Horace
