Irish dance shoes are the most important piece of gear for the sport. That’s why it’s so important to make sure they fit right. Everyone has heard horror stories of loose shoes causing blisters or, worse, flying off in the middle of a kick. On the other hand, having them too tight can also result in them falling off if the dancer’s foot pops out of them, along with causing issues with blood flow and serious pain
The most accurate way to size for dance shoes is to try them on in person with someone who knows how they should fit. That isn’t always possible or practical though, especially because there really aren’t all that many shoe vendors who can fit shoes. The next best thing is to measure your dancer’s foot and send those measurements to us so we can work out what size you need.
But what measurements do you need, and how do you take them?
At Irish Seams, we get a ton of questions from moms and dads and dancers alike who are trying to order shoes from us online and aren’t sure how to measure their feet to get the best fit possible. So we put together this article to walk you through the process and help you get the gear you need.
You can also watch this video that will explain the process:
Before you start, here are a few things that you’ll need:
2 sheets of standard printer paper.
1 pen or pencil
1 pair of socks
1 ruler
1 dancer
1 helper
To get an accurate tracing of your dancer’s feet, follow these steps:
1. First, print out two copies of the form at the bottom of this page for best results. It has a copy of the instructions on it, as well as all the information you need to fill out. If you don’t have a printer, a blank piece of paper will also work.
2. Have your dancer stand on a piece of paper on a hard surface wearing only socks. Make sure that they’re standing straight, exactly like they would before they dance.
It’s important to stand normally because your feet spread out differently depending on how you put weight on them. This is also why getting an accurate foot tracing needs two people: if you bend over to trace your feet, they’ll be a different shape.
3. Trace around your dancer’s foot. Trace closely to the foot; don’t leave extra space.
Irish dance shoes need to fit very tightly to avoid blisters and other potential problems. Also, the less space you leave the more sure we can be about the size you need.
4. Write your dancer’s name, dance level, and age on the paper.
We need the dancer’s level and age because a younger dancer might be better off with shoes that have some room for them to grow into, and a higher-level dancer will probably be used to tighter-fitting shoes and probably needs them because they have more complicated steps that are more likely to throw shoes off.
5. Write your contact info on the paper (name, phone, email)
It’s good to include these in the email as well, but we like to have this information directly on the document to make it easier to keep track of.
6. Measure the tracing from the tip of the toe to the bottom of the heel and write that measurement on the paper as “length”.
You need to measure from the longest toe. For some people that’s the big toe, and for others that’s the second toe.
7. Measure the tracing across the ball of the foot at the widest point and write that measurement on the paper as “width”.
8. Take a picture of the paper and send it as an attachment to BJ@irishseams.com
Make sure to use “Shoe sizing” as the subject. Also, make sure to put a note telling us which shoes (hard or soft) you are looking for and which brand and style you want if you or your dance teacher have a preference. Some schools are very specific about this, so it’s important for us to know from the start what we should be looking for.
But you might not be sure what brand or style you want. Maybe you’re having problems with your current choice, or your school doesn’t have specific guidelines that they want you to follow and you aren’t sure which one to go with. In that case, or if you have any other information or concerns that might affect shoe selection, please let us know.
If you would like to browse through a selection of shoes to learn more about what types we sell, you can check out our store page here.
And here is a handy form you can fill out with your dancer that has all the information we need and all of the steps for measuring your dancer’s foot included.
So now that you know how to measure your dancer’s feet for more shoes… but how do you tell when you need new shoes? Luckily, we have an article here that will help with that.