You are ready for your first pointe shoe fitting if you have received approval from your teacher to begin pointe classes. In order to achieve the best fit, we recommend that you come in for your fitting no earlier than 4-6 weeks prior to the start of your pointe training.

We recommend that young students wait to begin pointe until around age 11, when the bones of the feet have hardened and are ready to support the challenges of pointe work. Some teachers will approve particularly strong students before this age, and we are happy to help those students find a shoe that is supportive of the developing foot.

If you are an adult student interested in starting pointe training, ask your studio if they offer adult beginning pointe classes. You should have a solid foundation in ballet training and be taking ballet technique classes frequently to ensure that you have developed the strength to do pointe training. If you have any foot, ankle, or knee injuries, you should also consult a physician, as pointe work can put a lot of strain on these joints.

When you have received approval to begin pointe, ask your teacher if they have any requirements or recommendations for the pointe shoe style, brand, padding, and ribbon/elastic. Some teachers have very specific requirements, and we appreciate it when that information is available right away! You can also ask if your teacher is willing to come with you to your appointment to provide guidance on the fitting and approval of the final choice. We always welcome a teacher's input and familiarity with you as a dancer!

If you have previously been in demi-pointe/pre-pointe shoes, please bring those shoes as well as any pads and spacers you currently wear.

At your fitting, please wear clothes that allow your fitter to see the alignment of your leg clearly (such as tights, a skirt, leggings, shorts, etc). Pants that hide the ankle and knee joints may need to be rolled up during the fitting.

If you are able to wear convertible tights to your fitting, please do! Otherwise, we have fitting socks available at the store. Footed tights are not recommended, as we will want to see your bare feet and potentially add toe spacers to your padding.

Upon arrival, check in at the counter. Your fitter will show you to the fitting floor and have you remove your street shoes and socks. They will take a look at your feet to assess whether you should use a toe spacer for bunion prevention and size you for toe pads. They will ask you for your street shoe size and/or use a Bannock device to determine your size if you don't know.

For a first-time pointe shoe fitting, we will try 3-5 styles of pointe shoes to find one that is the best support for your foot shape, alignment, and training. Because we will be working to find the best fit in each style, you may end up trying on more than a dozen shoes during a single fitting. This is normal. It is also common that the first style you try on is the best one; however, we will still try at least two other styles in order to help you familiarize yourself with how different pointe shoes feel on your feet.

As you try on each shoe, your fitter will ask you to come to the barre and hold a demi-plie in the first position to check the length of the shoe. Your fitter may run their finger along the drawstring or squeeze the shoe near the metatarsal joints at the ball of the foot.

If the length of the shoe is appropriate, you will be asked to carefully step up onto the pointe shoe platforms in parallel while holding the barre. While you are standing on pointe, your fitter will inspect the shoe and your alignment on pointe. They may ask you to try to correct alignment by engaging muscles in your feet or ankles or by straightening your knees. They may also try to adjust the alignment of the shank, pinch the satin at the heel, or pull back the heel of the shoe. This part of the fitting can be quite tiring, especially when it’s the first time you’re standing on pointe!

After you’ve gone through this process with each style of shoe that you’re trying, you and your fitter will make a decision about what shoe works the best on your foot. If you have multiple options that seem to work for you, your fitter can make a note on your customer file in case you want to try one of the other options at a later date.

Pointe shoes are intended to support your foot on pointe by putting pressure on the sides of your toes and metatarsals. Because of this, the shoe must be fitted closely to your foot with very little extra room and will feel very different from other shoes you’ve tried on before.

Your fitter will ask you if you feel any sinking or floating. Sinking could feel as though your foot slides into the shoe when you step up on pointe, or that you have a lot of pressure on the ends of your toes. It could also feel like your toes buckle underneath you. Floating feels like your toes don’t get to the end of the shoe, as though there’s a gap between the end of your toes and the floor. An ideal fit means that your toes will touch the end of the shoe, and you can “feel the floor” but not feel much pressure on your big toenail.

Your fitter will also ask you about pain, particularly stabbing, shooting, or sharp pain. Dancing in pointe shoes isn’t really something that could be described as “comfortable,” but sharp pain in your shoes can lead to misalignment and, by extension, development of poor technique.

The alignment of the shoe on the foot is also very important. You should be able to get squarely onto the box of the shoe, with the shank following the line of your foot and bending at the height of the arch. If the box of the shoe sits on either the top or bottom edge of the platform, the alignment is incorrect.

A traditional satin and leather pointe shoe will cost around $120 on average. Pointe shoes made from non-traditional materials (e.g. plastics) will cost around $160.

At your first pointe shoe fitting, you will also be purchasing accessories such as toe pads, spacers, ribbons, and elastics. We will recommend purchasing a mesh shoe bag and a sewing kit with heavy-duty thread and needles, which will last you several pairs of pointe shoes. All told, a first-time pointe shoe transaction can run from $180-200 with sales tax. After that, however, the cost of replacing your pointe shoes will be around $130-140, which includes your shoes, ribbon, elastic, and sales tax.

Traditional pointe shoes are designed to last around 15 hours of use.

In your first year of pointe training, that can often mean that your shoes last the whole season, as you will likely be using the shoes once a week or so and be doing less challenging exercises. If your foot grows, however, you will need to be re-fit into new shoes, even if the old ones haven’t fully worn out.

After the first year of pointe training, the time your shoes last will depend on how frequently you dance on pointe, what kinds of choreography you do, the strength of your feet, the hardness of your pointe shoes, etc. Some dancers find that they end up replacing their shoes twice a month, and some find that the shoes continue to last for several months.

At your first-time pointe fitting, your fitter will take you through the care of your pointe shoes, including advice for helping your shoes last as long as possible.

After you and your fitter have decided on the right pointe shoes for you, you will be able to try on several different types of padding. Some teachers have specific padding they require, but if not, your fitter will help you determine the best padding for your feet and your particular shoe. Padding varies in shape and thickness, which affects the fit of the shoes, so it is important to try on everything together the way you will wear it in class. Your fitter will then take you through the care of the shoes, including preparing the shoes by sewing on ribbons and elastic.

Important​: Before you sew ribbons and elastic or use the shoe at all, you should take the shoe to your teacher for approval. Pointe shoes that have been worn or sewn may not be returned. Since the shoe requirements of various training styles differ, your teacher may ask you to come back for a second fitting if the shoe doesn’t match their preferences. You can avoid this by asking your teacher to accompany you for your fitting or be available to respond to texted images or a video call at the end stage of the fitting.