Ballet shoes, or ballet slippers, are lightweight shoes designed specifically for ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

 dancing. They may be made from soft leather, canvas, or satin, and have flexible, thin soles. Traditionally, women wear pink shoes and men wear white or black shoes. Tan colored slippers—which are unobtrusive and thus give the appearance of dancing barefoot—are worn in modern ballets by both men and women.

All ballet dancers wear soft ballet slippers for the main part of the ballet class. More advanced female dancers may change into pointe shoes

Pointe shoes

A pointe shoe is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointework. Pointe shoes developed from the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like and have evolved to enable dancers to dance on the tips of their toes for extended periods of time...

 for centre work and performance.

Ballet shoes must fit very closely to the foot, for safety and to retain maximum flexibility.

Construction

Ballet shoes traditionally have a leather sole which does not reach all the way to the edges of the shoe. A modern development is the split sole, which provides greater flexibility. They are usually made from soft leather, canvas or satin. Leather

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

 shoes are long-lasting. Canvas

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...

 shoes are less expensive but wear faster than average leather ballet shoes. Satin

Satin

Satin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibres such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric is...

 shoes are worn only for performance as they wear out very quickly.

Shoes are secured with the use of elastic

Elastomer

An elastomer is a polymer with the property of viscoelasticity , generally having notably low Young's modulus and high yield strain compared with other materials. The term, which is derived from elastic polymer, is often used interchangeably with the term rubber, although the latter is preferred...

, most often with a single band across the arch of the foot, or with two bands that cross in an "X" shape at the top of the arch. In the case of double band shoes, some ballet slipper manufacturers will attach one end of each band to the shoe as part of the production process, and leave it to the purchaser to attach the free ends of the bands for optimal fit.

History of the ballet slipper

Women began to dance in ballet in 1681, twenty years after King Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

 ordered the founding of the Royal Academy of Dance. At that time, the standard women's ballet shoe had heel

Heel (shoe)

A heel is the projection at the back of a shoe which rests below the heel bone. The shoe heel is used to improve the balance of the shoe or for decorative purposes. Sometimes raised, the high heel is common to a form of shoe often worn by women but sometimes by men too. See also stiletto heel.-...

s. Mid 18th century dancer Marie Camargo of the Paris Opéra Ballet

Paris Opera Ballet

The Paris Opera Ballet is the oldest national ballet company in the world, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it...

 was the first to wear a non-heeled shoe. After the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, heels were completely eliminated from standard ballet shoes.

See also

• Pointe shoes
  Pointe shoes
  A pointe shoe is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointework. Pointe shoes developed from the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like and have evolved to enable dancers to dance on the tips of their toes for extended periods of time...
  
  
• Footwear
  Footwear
  Footwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for fashion, protection against the environment, and adornment. Being barefoot is commonly associated with poverty, but some cultures chose not to wear footwear at least in some situations....
  
  
• Ballet
  Ballet
  Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
  
  
• Ballet boot
  Ballet boot
  The ballet boot is a contemporary style of fetish footwear that merges the pointe shoe with a high heel. The idea is to force the wearer's feet almost en pointe, like those of a ballerina, with the aid of long, slender heels...
  
  s