Ballet...right ballet. That...wasn't the way I thought it was, although in retrospect it was stupid of me to think it would cost so little for a month of ballet lessons. And after I told people, every single one of them was like "Ah. I thought that was the case. o.oa" "WELL, WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?! TT____TT" I'm still going to go to them, once my dad pays for it, but I have to wait for that to happen before I can do anything with that. As another note, Sami sent me her pointe shoes for use during cosplay since they were too big for her and I'm a half size bigger, annnnnd...

*drumroll*


Sami's satiny Bloch Aspirations on my brown hairy legs. Tasty. And before you get impressed, my other foot was positioned out of the picture. No arabesque for me. Fail.

They were too small. 8D;;; Just a little bit, but...too small nonetheless. And since I plan on walking around in them and posing and going enpointe and stuff (with absolutely no training, gah hur) and those hurt just to STAND and WALK IN...yeah, I have to get new ones. People talk about how painful pointe is, but those shoes were so bad that going en pointe wasn't THAT much more painful by comparison! =D;; It was good to get them though, because I think have a better idea of what my foot is like (based on my terribly unexperienced observation) and since I'm going to buy a pair, they might as well be good for my feet. Long feet, short (in comparison to my foot) tapered (meaning, my big toe is the biggest and they all get smaller from there) toes, average width with wide, stiff metatarsals (that's the foot knuckle above your toes for those not in the know, gah hur), and medium to strong arches with inflexible ankles.


*steals bandwidth from some random ballet site*

So, this is all pretty Greek, right? Well, short toes means I should get a low vamp, tapered toes means tapered box instead of a square box (as many of seem to be), I need a lower heel so it doesn't bag up like it does in the picture, medium to strong arches means I should get a strong shank (which is the backboard in the inside of the shoe, and the part that supports you, essentially) so it'll last longer,  yet a medium shank because I have inflexible ankles and no training to speak of. (Plus, I'm wearing it for a con, not actually performing in them.) Sami's shoes are also noisy as hell they sound like freaking HEELS so something quieter was also something to look into.

So it's between two shoes that I'm willing to pay for: *steals moar bandwidth*

Ignore the colors because them bitches are getting dyed black anyway.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages, which I've done extensive research on.

Sansha Etudes: $30, notably flexible shank, comes in either wide or normal width, comes with elastics (most shoes don't), comes in whole sizes, low profile (meaning, wide from a profile view of the shoe)
Pros: Low Vamp, flat platform for good balance, whisper toe so not as loud, guaranteed to not be too small even with padding (I'm a 9 1/2), low heel so it doesn't bag up, cheaper of the two, and (random nitpick) but I think these are more accurate to Kraehe's pointe shoes.
Cons: Square shape (designed for square feet as opposed to tapered ones), designed for people with more shallow arches than mine, site doesn't have customer reviews like the other one so I can't really get outside input, pointe shoes are supposed to fit snugly.

Bloch Suprimas: $42, medium shank, comes in B, C, and D widths, medium vamp, low profile (meaning, wide from a profile view of the shoe)
Pros: Tapered platform for tapered feet (me),  flexible wings for those with wide metatarsals (also me), tapered heel to stay on better, same brand as Sami's shoe so I know what width to get (C!), aesthetically pleasing, look like they're better for strong feet, used the site before and they were good plus the shoes had imput from customers, good for lateral balance when standing flat footed (which i assume I'd be doing a lot since I'd be walking around in them at cons).
Cons: Verrrry small platform which is not the best for balancing (although, I'm not bad at balancing, really), vamp is higher than the other shoe, more expensive than the other, reviewers mentioned difficulty balancing (and I assume they have more experience than I do >>;;), and a few mentioned FALLING in them. Not cool. x___X;;

Thus, I'm still deciding. As of now, I'm going with the first ones (since, a square box can always be cushioned to put less weight on my big toe), but that may change seeing as the others seem better for my feet (with the obvious exception of the tiny platform). In the meantime, I'm still practicing in the other ones, working on my balance, staying en pointe and the whole deal. (Which is probably unwise, but meh, I want to get used to them.) I've since moved the ballet ribbons to make them better for my feet in particular (I had them in the same place as Sami's when the picture was taken) and I'm getting much better at walking and practicing in them. I'm somewhat afraid that I'm going to break them in soon (i've been practicing for at least 30 minutes almost every day, plus Sami had already broken them in some) and then they'll fail because that's the way pointe shoes go apparently, but since they're just for practice, I suppose it doesn't matter. (Although I was somewhat planning on donning them with my Rue costume if I opt not to wear my pink leather ballet slippers. But enough ballet rambling.