Remember how often Claudia's outfits involved ballet slippers? Sometimes customized? Stacey talked about Claud's sneaker collection, but inquiring minds really wanted to know about the ballet slippers. I took ballet classes as a child* (didn't we all?) and I could not wrap my head around the concept of anyone wearing those things in public. I mean, they're very cute and comfortable once they've been broken in, but they're super thin leather with a suede sole. They can barely handle a year on the wooden floor of a dance studio. How was she commuting to Stoneybrook Middle School in those things?
My theory was that she either only wore them inside her bedroom or it was a semantic issue -- Ann M. Martin was actually trying to describe ballet flats, and her limited fashion vocabulary caused her to use dance shoe terminology.
Then I saw this entry on No Fashion Victims and nearly did a pas de bourrée of joy. I'd recognize that peach-y nude shade anywhere!
The perfect hybrid of dance shoe and real world flat. They exist. Topshop makes them. And they look super cute with boyfriend jeans. Go make your Kishi fashion dreams come true.
* I was no Jessi, unless Jessi was small and pointy and often had underwear bunching issues with her leotard. Also once in a while I got sent out of the room for fooling around too much. What a shocker.
I love love love London Sole ballet flats. They are crazy expensive, but also insanely durable: I just, tearfully, threw out a black pair I wore almost every day for three years. Sometimes you get lucky with the sales: http://www.londonsole.com/ballet-flats-stock.php?style_id=10
ReplyDeleteThis post is totes relatable to me right now. I was looking for flats on Zappos the other night and all these ACTUAL BALLET SHOES came up, which made me wonder who the fuck would think that I would want to wear them when I searched for "ballet flats." Obviously Claudia works at Zappos.
ReplyDeleteHi! I just wanted to let you know that I did wear actual ballet slippers to school in the late nineties-early 2000s. I promise. Suede sole and all.
ReplyDeleteActually, "ballet slippers" can be a synonym for "ballet flats." In one sense, 'slipper' is just a synonym for 'slip-on.' Kind of like how when Cinderella wore glass slippers, they were really just glass pumps (in the cartoon version, they actually look a little oxford-y to me).
ReplyDeleteP.S. Anything labelled "fold-up flat" is usually as soft (and therefore hard on the heels when walking on hard surfaces) as actual ballet slippers. A few years back, I bought a pair of Redfoot flats when it had a line out based on the Sex and the City characters as a promo for the first movie. They are kind of cute, but the scrunchy part on the heel and the thin sole scream "last resort shoe," as in if your heels are truly killing you during a night out.
ReplyDeleteits really informative blog i like your to choose this ballet technique about shoes i loves like to wear full sole because its reliable for me thanks .
ReplyDeleteBallet equipment |
Ballet business