Shoe Alternatives Review

Here, I'll be adding my thoughts on various alternative shoe products, such as shoe covers, sole replacements, DIY stuff, or reappropriating non-dance or non-traditional materials for dance uses. I'll be adding to and expanding this post as I try or learn about additional products.

This would save dancers from having to carry around 2 pairs of shoes. Imagine being able to walk from the car to the dance floor with only your purse (or however you carry your valuables), sitting down at the side of the floor, peeling off a little layer of fabric and stuffing them into said purse (or pocket, or whatever)? No more taking off your shoes in public venues. No more keeping an eye on street shoes while you're supposed to be off dancing. No more second bag.

So, maybe having a second pair of shoes isn't always a bad thing. But, like my dance shoes, my Crocs aren't cheap and they come in only a few colors so I have a very limited collection with which to match outfits. Plus, dance shoes are still more comfortable than most street heels. So maybe I might not have exactly the right pair of Crocs to match an outfit and these covers can fix that by just covering up my dance shoes before and after dancing?

I also wonder if the slip resistant pad on the ball of the shoe could be cut out without damaging the integrity of the cover so that they could be worn over *dance* shoes while dancing, thereby increasing one's dance shoe collection? Dance shoes are expensive and for non-competition social dancers, it's a bit cost prohibitive to have a bunch of high quality dance shoes in different colors to match different outfits. Usually we have just a couple of pairs that we know fit us really well and we wear them with all our dance outfits. But if these could be modified to dance in, that could increase our wardrobe without breaking our banks.

The website includes an instructional video, as well as their current color selection and an explanation of the two sizes available. There is Style 1 for heels 1-3 inches and Style 2 for heels 4+ inches, stilettos, and platforms. The only examples shown so far are classic pump style shoes, so I'm not sure exactly how they'd look on a ballroom or Latin shoe that is either strappy & open toe, or that only has covering across the toe and the heel cup while the arch is exposed like the basic T-strap offered by most popular dance shoe companies. It would be nice if they just stretched naturally into that full-foot pump shape so that it didn't matter if the shoe underneath actually covered the same places on the foot as the cover did.

Now if only they came in black, royal purple, turquoise, forest green, and metallic silver too! Or in wedge styles! And I'm sure others would like metallic gold, yellow, lime green, pastel blue, and other colors as well, and even other patterns besides the leopard print - maybe classic wingtip or polka dot? Perhaps they'll expand their color selection over time.

Which is kind of dangerous if I'm outdoors or if I'm showing a partner who has never danced before and might step on my toes! So I thought these looked interesting. The basic premise is that the smooth floor sock is just a little tube of fabric that goes around the ball of your foot over whatever shoes you're wearing. The sock fabric is chosen to give you the right amount of "slip" for spins and slides while allowing the rest of your shoe to act as a stopper since the rubber isn't covered. They primarily advertise this for zumba, where you might need to stop suddenly and where you might prefer sneakers to dance shoes. It sounds pretty good for Lindy Hop & swing as well.

When I'm at a party in someone's house and the floor is carpeted and I'm asked to dance, I'll usually dance in socks instead of bare feet just to protect myself from blisters, but even in socks, dancing on carpet can hurt. So, I decided to test these Dance Socks out. At $10 a pair, why not?

I got both the carpet and the smooth floor versions (the smooth floor version comes in a 2-pack for $10, as I pleasantly discovered). I gave one of the smooth floor pairs to one of my partners who is learning how to dance and happened to be at an event with me on the day mine arrived, and we tried dancing in the garage at an Easter party. They actually allowed him to lindy hop in hiking boots!

Then I went to a friend's house where I was teaching him and his fiance to rumba for their wedding. We had been doing the lessons on their living room rug, but they had new leather-soled shoes for the wedding so they were able to do it. I kept showing up in sandals or sneakers because, well, I wasn't doing all the dancing, I was only demonstrating the steps, so I could cheat. But, I figured, I have these new carpet socks so why not?

I put them on over my sneakers, and it happened to be on a day when the bride was too sick to dance, so I gave the lesson to the groom while she watched from the couch. Which meant that I had to *actually* dance. Let me tell you, I was dubious about these carpet socks. I've spent a LOT of time dancing on carpet in different kinds of shoes, bare feet, dance paws, socks, etc. Other than leather-soled shoes, I've never been happy with anything on carpet. I even went out and had a pair of dance shoes re-soled in leather (over the suede) just so I would have at least one pair of shoes I could dance on carpet in!

But these Dance Socks did the job. I was quite surprised at how slippy they were, without being dangerous. They maybe weren't *quite* as slippy as a brand new leather sole that hasn't been roughed up yet, but they were definitely slippy enough to do point turns in!

So far I love these socks as a backup. I'm planning on keeping these in my car (if I had a purse, I'd keep them there) so that when I'm out "in the wild", if dancing opportunities just happen to come up spontaneously, then no matter what I'm wearing, I'll have the proper shoes without having to actually carry around a pair of dance shoes with me everywhere! Because who then wants to go out to their car, come back in, change their shoes, all because your date's favorite song came on at the jukebox and they want to dance right now? Plus, a former dance partner of mine used to keep his dance shoes in the car, but with the heat in Florida, the glue turned brittle and the shoes fell apart! With these Dance Socks, I just have to pull them out of a purse or pocket, slip them over whatever I'm wearing, and hit the impromptu dance floor!

So, since I've actually tried them out, I'm recommending them to anyone who might find a use for having a pair of "dance shoes" with them no matter where they are but who doesn't want to actually carry dance shoes with them everywhere they go. They're small, washable, fold-able, and incredibly convenient, not to mention affordable! Go get yours today! Seriously.