Shoes

Beginner Shoes

As a beginner, dancers only need soft shoes, called Ghillies or Reel Shoes, or just Irish dancing soft shoes. It is perfectly acceptable at the beginner level to wear ballet slippers, preferably in black. If your child is very small, sometimes it is better to use ballet slippers because it can be difficult to tie the Irish Dancing soft shoes.

Irish dancing soft shoes can be ordered online at
http://www.fayshoes.com/products_shoes.htm 
When ordering for a beginner, the best choice shoe on the Fay’s website is the: Soft Shoes – Platinum Suede Soles – which sell for $42.00

The size chart is not always accurate so the best way to ensure a good fit is to have your child stand on a sheet of paper with all the weight on one foot and trace their foot. You can then fax the outline to Pat Fay, fax # 914-662-1224 and he will match you up with the right size shoe.

When buying soft shoes you want them to fit snuggly because they will stretch A LOT! You do not want to buy them with “room to grow”. When your child puts them on, have them point their toe. If there is a big gap at the toes when they point their toes then the shoes are probably too big!

Advanced Beginner Shoes

Please see the Beginner Shoes section for information about ordering soft shoes.

In the Advanced Beginner level, the children will start learning Hard Shoe.

They will have a Hard Shoe Workshop on Martin Luther King Day in the early afternoon where all AB dancers will come together to start learning hard shoe all at once before moving forward with hard shoe in their classes. Dancers will need hard shoes by this time.

Dancers who are new to hard shoe should purchase the Rutherford Inishfree Jig Shoe which can be found here:

http://www.rutherfordshoes.com/productSection.asp?station=1&section=7&prodFilter=13 

This shoe is less expensive than the regular hard shoes and easier to break in for kids just learning hard shoe.

It is also possible to purchase used hard shoes if they are available in your size. Please refer to the section Used Shoes to learn more about this.

Upper Level Shoes

When dancers get to upper levels and are competing regularly, we have shoes that we recommend. For soft shoes we recommend the Hullichan Pro soft shoe which can be purchased on the Fay’s website http://www.fayshoes.com/products_shoes.htm or at a feis.

At upper level’s we recommend the Fay’s hard shoes, preferably with the white leather straps. These come with 3 different types of soles. The black suede soles offer the least support but are easiest for toe walking if your child is old enough (Feis age under 13). The gray suede sole’s offer medium support and are a little harder to get on the toes with. The brown leather soles are the most supportive however the most difficult to break in and get on toe’s with. Any of these are acceptable, after a while your child will probably develop a preference of their own.

Used Shoes

Buying used shoes is a less expensive option than new shoes but can be hit or miss depending on availability. We have a used shoes for sale area in our Stamford studio where shoes are segregated based on size.

When selling your used shoes, you need to follow protocol to make sure your shoes don’t get mislabeled or misplaced. We require that you only bring in one of your shoes for sale and keep the other shoe at home. You must label your shoe securely ON THE SHOE with your name, phone number, and asking price. The best way to do this is to use a very adhesive sticker on the bottom of the shoe or securely lace a tag through the shoe laces. Putting your shoes in a zip lock bag with your name on the bag is not advisable as many people try on shoes and then don’t always put them back in the correct bag. If someone is interested in buying your shoes, they will then need to contact you to get the other shoe, at which time you can make arrangements to exchange the shoe for payment. On average, used hard shoes sell for $50 depending on the condition they are in. Used soft shoes sell on average for $20 - $30 dollars depending on condition.

When looking for new shoes to buy, please be respectful of the seller’s shoes buy ensuring the label stays on the shoe and that it goes back into the correct cubby hole according to size if you are not going to buy the shoe.