Sansha Woes

Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!

That's how I feel whenever I need to buy pointe shoes. Not because they are painful, but because the act of getting the right ones is painful.

You may recall I recently discovered Sansha shoes, which I wrote about here. I have been dancing in these shoes for 3 weeks now and they are just fantastic. Dare I say it - the perfect shoes? The only issue is the shoes have no indication as to what model they are. I wanted to buy them again but not a clue as to which ones to buy.

I phoned the Sansha store in London to see if they could have a guess as to which model I have by me describing them. They thought perhaps I have the Recital but couldn't be sure, so they gave me the number of the Sansha warehouse who would know the models better. I called and described the shoe and I was told it was indeed the Recital. I immediately ordered 2 pairs - 2 pairs of Sansha shoes are more or less the same price as one pair of Grishko - and eagerly awaited their arrival. 

When they arrived I visually comparing them to the ones I have and they look very similar. Not identical but I put that down to the fact I have an old version of the Recital. I bought the same size and same width but when I tried them on they seemed far tighter.

All the pretty shoes. The annoyingly too small shoes

I put it down to the model being made slightly differently to the ones I have and perhaps they would loosen up after a class, as new shoes are usually uncomfortably tight.

I wore a pair on Monday and only made it half way through the class before having to change into my old ones. I felt as though the circulation was being cut off to my feet. They have updated the model but seemed to have slightly changed the sizing too. If I wear them with no padding they are too big and with padding they are too tight.

Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!

My pointe teacher said they are incredibly hard and that I should give them a good hammer to loosen them up. I have been sitting hammering the shit of these shoes but to no avail. And really, really stupidly, I cut the elastic drawstrings down on the second pair so I can't even return them.

Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!

Shit like this always happens when you're broke. So thanks Sansha, kick a woman when she's down.

However it's not all grim. As many of you will know, I am working with my chum Dust to launch a new balletwear label called Danseuse. The launch date is getting very near and in the meantime I have started a Danseuse blog. It'll focus on Danseuse product stuff and general ballet chat. Some ballet posts will be on both Danseuse and KoS. Check it out here.

QMichelle