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Pointe Shoe Quick Fit Chart

　This is the page where you can find the pointe shoes that best fit you by first analyzing your foot type.

Categories of Foot Type

It is important to know which type of feet you have in order to find the shoes that fit you best.
There are mainly three types of feet.

Greek type -- Foot with the second toe being the longest.
Egyptian type -- Foot with the big (first) toe being the longest.
Square type -- Foot with even length toes.

It is generally believed that "Egyptian" is wider at forefoot (or simply "wide") and "Greek" is narrow at forefoot (or simply "narrow"). There are, however, "wide" and "narrow" forefoot types for both "Egyptian" and "Greek" foot types.

When choosing pointe shoes, different shoes will be recommended depending on the difference of foot width at point A and point B in the diagram above.

Categories or Pointe Shoe Box

Box shape of pointe shoes can be divided into 4 types. I believe there are dancers who change the shape of the box by stepping onto it and flattening it. This method only affects the "box" part of the shoe and your platform shape will remain unchanged. There is a limit to how much adjustment you can achieve by such means as described above. It is wise to put your foot shape into consideration when choosing your shoes -- not just size and width.

Cone Type(yellow zone) The platform looks almost like a circle. When viewed from above, the shoe's box part has the shape of a trapezium with taper. When viewed from side, the slope of the box forms a sharp grade toward the platform. Types of foot that are suitable for this type of box * Greek, tapered toes, with high arch * Egyptian, tapered, with high arch ** Egyptian type foot with notably long big toe may prefer shoes in the far right of the yellow zone.

Column Type (green zone) The platform is almost like a circle. When viewed from above, the box is square. When viewed from side, the grade is minimal from the tip to the vamp. Types of foot that are suitable for this type of box * Square, high arch with overall depth or thickness of foot * Egyptian, wide toe, high arch, with overall thickness * Greek, wide toe, high arch, with overall thickness

Collapsed Cone Type (pink zone) The platform is a shape of a flat oval. When viewed from above, the box shape is a tapered trapezium. When viewed from side, the grade is minimal from the platform tip to the vamp. Types of foot that are suitable for this type of box *Greek, tapered toe, with low arch * Egyptian, tapered toe, with low arch ** Egyptian foot with notably long big (first) toe may find the shoes to the right of pink zone to be the best.

Collapsed Column Type (blue zone) The platform shape is a flat oval. From above, the box appears to be square shaped. When viewed from side, the grade of the slope from the tip of the platform to the vamp is minimal. Types of foot that are suitable for this type of box *square foot with low arch *Egyptian foot, wide toe, with low arch *Greek foot, wide toe, with low arch

Pointe Shoes Quick Fit Chart

This chart below shows various pointe shoes, categorized by box shapes. Please determine your own foot shape before proceeding to use this chart. (Please make sure to read additional notes under the chart).

Vertical Axis = Platform and box shape (The higher on the axis, the rounder the shape.
The lower you go on the axis, the flatter the shape of the box/platform).

Horizontal Axis = Box shape viewed from above (The left is tapered, the right side is square).

Notes

* The information on this chart is gathered from my personal experience (i.e., actually wearing them or taking close look at them). Please keep in mind that I cannot guarantee absolute accuracy since I did not have all the shoes on the list at the same time for side-to-side comparison. The chart is provided as a reference and guide only when choosing your pointe shoes. Also, please note that the overall shape of the box is affected by the size and width of each shoe. In general, the smaller the size, the wider the appearance of the platform and box.

* The chart uses "box shape" for categorizing the shoes. It does not reflect different widths within the same model. Please note that the width (or shape) of platform is not the same as "width" of a shoe. If all this sounds confusing, please refer to "the box shape analysis".

* The chart is based on a comparison of box shapes as viewed from above and not based on my personal feel of shoes upon wearing.

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Tips & Suggestions

If you have Egyptian type feet ...

* If your big and second toes, or the first three toes are about the same length

Medium to wide platform is recommended.

If you have high arch -- pale yellow to green zone
If you have low arch -- pale pink to blue zone

* If your big toe is notably longer than the rest

This foot shape is probably the least "symmetrical" which is what pointe shoes are. If the box is too taper, it will not accommodate the long big toe. And if the box is too square, the result will be too much space for all the toes except for the big toe, which will make dancing difficult. You may want to choose a square shaped box in order to keep the big toe straight in the shoe. However, considering the weight load of the big toe, you might want to choose medium or moderate shape box.

For pads, I recommend self-adjusting gel type, such as Toeflo, or lamb's wool which you can adjust the coverage in order to help fill the empty space in the square shaped boxes. Too wide platform shoes tend to increase the load the long big toe will bear.

If you have Greek type feet ...

* And if your second toe is the longest

Moderate (medium) to narrow (tapered) platform is recommended.

If you have high arch -- yellow zone
If you have low arch -- pink zone

Within each zone, choose wide shoes if your foot is wide. Choose narrow shoes if your foot is narrow.

Be careful not to choose platform that is too wide and square even if your foot is wide. The long second toe may bear unnecessary weight load and pain may result.

For pads, self-adjusting gel type, such as Toeflo, or materials such as lamb's wool which you can adjust coverage will help with this type of shoes. Fill the space left in the box by the shorter toes.

* If your first 2 or 3 toes are about the same length

Some Greek type may have almost even length toes.
Medium (moderate) to wide platform is recommended for this type.

If you have high arch -- pale yellow to green zone
If you have low arch -- pale pink to blue zone

Greek type foot with even length toes usually don't taper that much toward the tips, so pointe shoes with too much of a tapered box may cause tightness at the tips of the toes.

If you have Square type feet ...

*If your arch is high

Regardless of your width, shoes in the green zone are recommended for best fit.

If you have wide foot -- "wide" models within the green zone
If you have narrow foot -- "narrow" models within the green zone

*If your arch is low

Regardless of your width, shoes in the blue zone are recommended for best fit.

If you have wide foot -- "wide" models within the blue zone
If you have narrow foot -- "narrow" models within the blue zone

*Tapered box shoes will result in pain in the big toe and the little toe even if your foot width is quite narrow when you have square foot.

Even if the widths are the same ...

Same size and same width can still be divided into "high arch with narrow width" and "low arch with wider width".

If you have high arch -- Regardless of width, yellow or green zone
If you have low arch -- Regardless of width, pink or blue zone

When what you see is NOT what you get ...

There are shoes that look square when viewed from outside, but with "inside" shape that is tapered. Please be aware of this when choosing your pointe shoes. This type of shoe is great if you have tapered feet but like to wear pointe shoes with wide platforms. If your big toe is notably longer, however, pain may result from pressure on the big toe nail. By the same token, there are shoes that look tapered, but actually have wide "inside".
For example, model D by Russian-Class has more room inside the shoe than appears on the outside. Always check the inside of the shoes when possible.