My Tango Diaries

One of my favorite things about designing custom shoes for Mr. Tango Shoes customers, was being able to tailor the patterns to clothes dancers enjoyed wearing to milongas. What an easy way to set your look apart! I stopped designing shoes because it was so time and labor intensive, but I really missed doing design work. So now I've turned it around and I'm on RedBubble, designing clothes and accessories that match dancers' shoes instead. I wish I'd found this site ages ago! The tough part right now is not designing an entire wardrobe of accessories for myself! So save me from myself and give me some ideas of what you'd like to see. I'm already perusing the latest, greatest shoe models hitting the stores here and in Buenos Aires - as well as taking a peek at Pantone's upcoming color features. In my store, Infinite Tango on RedBubble , also look for my artwork making its way onto tote bags, t-shirts and even scarves! While I haven't been able to ...

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...

Periodically someone, usually a man, will be bring up the topic of "proper tango shoes." If he's referring to the problem (and dangers) of trying to dance in flip-flops, or mules, or platform shoes etc., those are definitely valid, and very helpful points to be made. The likelihood of damaging your feet is very high without the proper support of high quality shoes. My problem comes with the idea that the *only* proper tango shoes have 4" stiletto heels on them and fetish-worthy embellishments. (Okay, I'm pretty keen on the embellishments myself.) "goofy ballroomy shoes are a turnoff... get rid of them..." - Alex Tango Fuego (granted this is from 2007), http://alextangofuego.blogspot.com/2007/10/to-dance-or-not-to-dancebrutally.html And, in the comments on a blog post, Anonymous said... " This is a controversial one. If a follower isn't wearing tango shoes then it's usually a good sign she's not particularly good." From Ms. Hedgeh...

I love tango shoes with decorations, but I don't have the moolah for Greta Floras with the adorable leather flowers, or Comme il Fauts with bows and lace (even if I could find a pair that fit) so I found a vintage(ish) solution - shoe clips!! Why didn't I think of this sooner? I love the vintage clips from "Not Just Musi Bows" on Ruby Lane - they're very nicely priced and have lots of unique styles. The backs are c-shaped (and very flat) to fit the shape of the shoe well, and priced very nicely - starting around $11. The selections are a bit limited but have lots of pizazz. You can get new, really glitzy ones from Absolutely Audry like these, for about $25. Absolutely Audrey has a pretty impressive selection in just about any color imaginable - but the price is a bit higher. It's really a matter of what kind of look you're going for. If you need to match a particular outfit, Absolutely Audrey is probably the way to go. (Pictured above "Juliette...

And just for fun. . . Music: Flaunt by Girls Love Shoes

I've been having trouble consistently nailing my ochos. As soon as I stopped having such a wobbly axis, I seemed to have trouble pivoting enough - and with enough disassociating to make the step look and feel smooth, graceful .. and precise . I got a bit of advice from my instructor Monica, who I believe she said she got from Silvina Valz, regarding turning during ochos. She said pivot until you can see your butt (over your shoulder). How literally you take that is, of course, up to you. To my surprise, I found it incredibly helpful in remembering to disassociate my hips and first of all, not use my partner for leverage, and second, it gave me something more tangible to monitor my consistency. Do you have other ways you monitor how a step or movement needs to "feel" or look to know you've completed it correctly? (PS - that's me looking for my ocho booty and modeling my new Flabella tango shoes. :) )

In the beginning (the very beginning, since it's going to be the beginning for a really long time), tango was like dessert. This wonderful sweet thing that gave me a little rush. Then it became food - like fuel. Tango (classes/practica/milongas) gave me energy. I could go for little while without it, but I'd start to feel tired and... we'll put it nicely, a little cranky. Soon, tango was like water. Constantly moving, flowing, finding new places - and I found myself thirsting for it. I couldn't go as long without it as I could before without getting restless, listless. After class today, I felt like I had just started breathing again. I had class *and* practica just yesterday . Now I have two more days until the next milonga. So has tango changed again for me? Is tango air? In other news, sometimes my writing about tango gets me into trouble. Well, not so much trouble as gets me into unrealistic expectations. I've met several people now that have read my blog and I...

I dreamt of these shoes. I cradled them in my arms as I ran down a tarmac to catch an airplane. (It was a strange dream.) Too bad I didn't actually get to dance in them.

My excuse of bad dancing due to inappropriate footwear will now be a thing of the past. Now my clumsiness is all me. Hopefully, though, these superior fitting shoes will help my balance and stability a bit - and they should help me be able to keep dancing longer than trying to keep up the pace in my regular 3" heels. They're not fancy in the least, but they feel amazing, and that's what really counts.