I was about to give up on being able to find shoes locally, and yet hearing/reading everyone's reviews about trying to obtain shoes mail-order from Argentina was pretty disheartening as well - but thanks to Monica at Esquina Tango, I finally found a pair of shoes that fit perfectly! And they're Flabellas which are not especially popular, but about the only shoes that I've been able to find that fit me very well. Sort of.
The problem is consistency. Comme il Fauts don't fit the shape of my feet, but they don't fit in consistently the same way. At least that's reassuring. I tried on 6 pair of the same size, similarly styled Flabellas, and only 1 pair fit. I've found the same problem with other brands that I've tried at festivals - even when styles are nearly identical, the same brand in the same size can fit quite differently. Very frustrating. And people have told me that getting "made to measure" shoes from several companies in Argentina aren't much more consistent.
Anyway, pictured above are my new silver and blue Flabellas, with my flower shoe clips that I'd meant to take off before photographing them, but I forgot and I'm too lazy to take more pictures of them right now lol. I wore them in practica last night and, after a full weekend of dancing, my feet weren't sore - and they aren't sore today. I can't believe my luck!
Plus, after wearing my new Flabellas, I realized why my old Flabellas were starting to hurt my feet - the soles have gotten so much softer (and thinner) compared to the new ones (and, I suspect, than they were when I originally got them). So I'm going to take the old ones to be resoled and then I'll have two pair of great fitting tango shoes! Woot!
Comments
When I first started coming to BsAs, Flabella's was about the only game in town and I've always loved their shoes. The heel is put on in just the right place.
You reiterate what I've always said: never order or take comfort for granted. No matter what the make, try before buying and make sure they are comfortable in the store!
Happy dancing!
Bastet