• This style is a fabric covered flat with a very flexible suede-bottomed rubber sole.

ABOUT SUEDE SOLES:

• These are made with Suede Soles which are wonderful to dance on but require occasional upkeep (it's usually a problem with catching the edge on a piece of hardwood that is sticking up on the dance floor).
• If you need to re-glue the suede many people just use crazy glue gel. We have also found that commercially produced shoe repair glue (available from the shoe repair shop in your local mall) works great.
• You're not supposed to wear suede soles outside - but every swing dancer knows that you can make suede soles faster by wearing them everywhere to get them dirty, then dance in them until they're shiny on the bottom.
• If you prefer them less zippy you can dull the "mirror finish" they can get by roughing them up with a wire brush periodically. Just remember that when they get wet in the rain they won't spin very easily (conversely - if they're too slippery just spill your drink on the floor and step in it!).

After field testing these on dancers of many sizes we found that these fit almost a full size larger than the size marked on them. And they seem to be a bit narrow. Everybody said they felt "long" when they wore their size or the smaller of the two sizes they normally wear.

Because this style has a shoelace closure - you can customize the width by loosening or tightening them - it should work with most widths.

Most women know which two sizes they fit best (like 6.5 & 7 or 8.5 & 9). To figure out which size you'll fit in these:

• Narrow to Normal width = you'll probably wear the larger of the two sizes you usually fit.
• Wide feet = you'll probably fit one half size larger than the two sizes you usually fit (and because it is a round toed shoe, once in a while one whole size larger than your normal size).