BlochWomen's Cushioned Insole Suede Forefoot Outsole, Short Shank with an Elastic Panel, Superior Fit

I am a beginning dancer about to start a musical theatre conservatory. I needed a pair of character shoes to wear for shows and dance class. I have previously only worn character shoes without elastic, like the Capezio Manhattans. I wasn’t a big fan of those because they felt slippery and clunky.I was a little scared to purchase these because some reviewers said they felt unsafe and unstable and didn't recommend them for those who are not advanced dancers. However, I was pleasantly surprised when they arrived, as they don’t feel unstable at all IMO. I immediately ran around my house in them and felt secure the whole time. I also really like the suede bottoms.I wear a street shoe size 7.5 and have a normal width foot with a narrow heel. I ordered an 8, which fits well. The only thing I don’t like is that the ankle strap is comically long. I have to tighten it to the tightest hole to fit my ankles, but then the strap sticks way out and looks a little ridiculous. I’m considering cutting it off but I don’t want to ruin the shoes. Decisions, decisions.

Oh my gosh, these shoes are AMAZING! Coming from someone who wears capezio normally and bought these for a ballroom dance class, they are so comfortable and fit perfectly. I went up half a size like they said to and they fit better than any of my capezios ever have. Gorgeous shoes and I can’t wait to wear them in my class! Completely worth the money, I’ll definitely be buying again.Edit: I still love these shoes but I wish they had more holes for the buckle. Also, the shoes aren’t exactly like the image (black insides instead of the tan parts) so keep that in mind. If you aren’t experienced on heels or don’t put pressure on the balls of your feet when dancing, you may loose your balance due to the little surface area of the heel bottom compared to shoes like capezios!

I am editing this review - formerly a one-star review entitled "Broke after 3 months :-("Because the shoes were out of the 1-month return window, I contacted Bloch, who emailed me initially to contact the seller, so I tried again with Amazon, and within 30 minutes (!) heard back from a representative that they would exchange the defective shoes at no charge! That is some awesome customer service! Then yesterday, I received a follow-up phone call from Bloch, apologizing for the earlier email and offering to assist in an exchange of the defective shoes - more great (and personal!) service from the Manufacturer. We are scheduled to receive the replacement shoes today - and I am hopeful that the pair we initially received was just a random defective pair. I am thrilled, however with how both Amazon and Bloch handled this issue, even though it did take a few days. I remain a very satisfied customer!Previous review FYI:I bought these for my teen daughter who needed character heels for a dance/theater performance she was in. She absolutely loved the range of movement allowed by the split soles, felt that they fit well and were very cute - I loved that they seemed like a more reasonable-priced version of LaDuca's, and because of this, we also bought a pair in beige for an additional performance, and she switched off wearing both pairs to even out the use. She only wore them indoors for rehearsals/classes, and they are in very-good condition. Unfortunately, the strap broke off these today while she was in rehearsal and it is beyond the 1-month of Amz return policy. I have written Bloch and if I hear back, I'll report. Because of all the great reviews, I think this might be an unusual circumstance, the beige ones are still in good shape...I bought those two months ago, so we'll see...

Overall I'm really happy with this shoe. It has everything I need for a great price. The toe box is a little hard and definitely needs to be broken in beforehand. Otherwise, I found them supportive, but also perfectly flexible.

As I removed these from the packaging, they clearly had been worn previously. There was glitter on the soles of the shoes and scuff marks on the leather. My plan was that if I liked them, I'd exchange these for a truly new pair. But these didn't support my feet at all. It was quite difficult to even walk in them...my foot slid laterally in the shoe. I have the Manhattans and love those. I tried these, because the sole is suede and the heel is reinforced. But the rest of the shoes is much too loose for me. I'll get a new pair of manhattans, rather than switching to this style.

I am a Musical Theatre student and needed to get these for my next show. The grip is really good and I didn’t need to score them before use. They are very comfortable and moving in them isn’t any harder than heels should be. If you’re willing to make the investment I would definitely recommend them. I haven’t had them for very long but they have served me well so far.

I purchased these shoes in a size 8 for my schools production of A Chorus Line, and honestly I wanted to BURN them afterwords. The fit was fine, however the quality of the shoe is atrocious. Within 24 hours of owning them the black paint started to chip away to show the obvious brown underneath. The buckle also scrapes off the black paint on the strap. The heel was shorter than 2 and 1/2 inches.Here's are the major problems though:I rolled both of my ankles in them because they were so unstable. And believe me I have strong ankles, so it was a shock and quite frankly terrifying since I had to continue wearing them for the run of the show. Then during one of the matinees, the ankle strap just snapped off entirely. Luckily, I was backstage when it happened, but if it happened while I was onstage I could have hurt myself.The only thing good I have to say about this shoe is that it makes your point look pretty good because of the flexible soles. But no where near worth it enough for the price and the quality. This makes me never want to buy a BLOCH shoe of any kind ever again.

Love these shoes! Bought them for musicals and they are super comfortable. And they are also on the more stylish side of character shoes. Very true to size, I am a 8.5 street shoe and ordered a 8.5. They are a tad snug but I'd rather them be tight than loose!

They’re perfect! I I wear a size 8 US street shoe. But I’ve been a dancer all my life and now my feet require a wider shoe, so I ordered a half size up and they fit beautifully. I was concerned about the suede Sol on stage but they are not slippery at all. Very fine product.

I purchased a number of these shoes for a stage production and had to send them back because the sizes wouldn't fit any of my dancers, even when we went up two sizes they still wouldn't fit. I won't be buying these again.

The leather is nice and soft. I think the thin strap may get damaged by the buckle after a few uses but I'll see about that if/when it happens. The hardest thing for to decide was what size to pick. I wear anything from 7 to 8.5 (I wish this were more standardized...) so I ordered 8 but had to exchange them for 8.5.

La calidad es buenísima