Anonymous asked: hi! so I was wondering.. you do a dance-heavy show (an understatement!) in character shoes, and you wear all these tall heels and wedges...how do you keep circulation in your feet? I have a job that involves wearing/ dancing in character shoes for long hours, and every day my toes are absolutely numb. how do you keep your feet alive without walking around in sneakers when not doing the show?

Ah, shoes- my great love- I keep mine organized in their own individual boxes from the Container Store. It’s a sickness, and an absurd collection. Maybe one day I will do a post about it.

My cardinal rule applies to shoes as well.

FIT!

if the shoe doesn’t fit you properly, if the balance is weird or the tightness is beyond anything you think you can break in, DON’T BUY IT no matter how much it hurts your heart. However- there are, and always will be, exceptions to this rule.

I happen to have incredibly strong feet (I owe that to being put on pointe when I was eight years old), and I tend to break in and kill shoes really quickly. My ballet background makes me not notice blisters as much, and I just kind of deal with them and move on. I am also naturally really comfortable in heels and wedges. The way I’m built lends itself to being on the balls of my feet, and that’s a happy place for me.

However, since not everyone has a wacky skeleton and crazy ballerina pain tolerance, here are a few tips for shoe-buying:

-If you are between sizes, buy the larger size and put in an insole. Or two. Make sure it is a quality insole. The kind of insoles you like will be a trial-and-error thing, and will vary shoe by shoe. Some shoes only require a basic Dr. Scholl’s- type foam thing, some may require an orthotic. I am also a huge fan of heel grips and gel ball-of-foot cushions. You will occasionally require a combination of these things.

-Wear shoes a lot in the store. Make sure that any reservations you have are addressed before you lay your money down. Have a game plan for caring for your shoes.

-I have dance rubber put on nearly every pair of street shoes I buy (okay, I didn’t do it for the Louboutins, but that’s a special exception)- it cushions the blow of walking hard, plus keeps me from slipping on a variety of surfaces. I am incredibly clumsy and need all the help I can get.

Roll out your feet and ice when you get home. During the day, keep moving around. Point and flex, roll your ankles. Warm up for a day of walking the same way you would for anything else!

-Fight for higher-quality character shoes at work. Slam them in doors, bend them around, make them soft and easier to mold to your feet. Bend them to your will. That is a dance shoe’s job. Don’t let it win. If it wins, it is the wrong shoe.

In both of my pairs of show shoes, I have three different kinds of insoles PLUS a heel grip to keep them on my feet. Custom shoes stretch out really quickly because the leather is usually wonderful, but it makes keeping them organized an…adventure.

Hope these tips helped! Please let me know if you have any more questions, and good luck with your shoes!