Cara in NZ Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Hi all, I've been trawling the forum reading lots of posts about pointe shoes but I'm still confused. Just bought DD (age 11) her first pair, properly fitted at local dance shop. They only fit Bloch pointes and start most girls off in Heritage or Sylphide. Mine got Sylphide and now I've been looking on UK dance websites and seeing that pointe shoes are 40-50% cheaper in the UK! But when I look for Bloch Sylphide, they don't seem to exist. I just checked the Bloch website, following a link someone posted here, and they don't have them listed either! DD's are made in Thailand, and come from Australia, so perhaps this means that the Bloch range is different in different countries. Can anyone enlighten me? (So FYI, we paid £60 for the basic shoe, then £25 for Ouch Pouches, and by the time we'd got ribbon, elastic and toe-caps, it was almost £100!!! Of course, this sounds worse because of the current exchange rate, but seeing them for £30 in the UK, you can see why I'm looking!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 You certainly don't get them for £30 fitted in a dance shop. Ordered on the Internet msybe, but I would never risk that. I think I paid around £45 for dds first pair (Bloch European Balance) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucinda Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Hello Cara in NZ, I imagine your DD is thrilled to finally get her first pair of pointe shoes. I still remember my DD being fitted for her first pair and that's almost 6 years ago! We have noticed that ironically Bloch pointe shoes are cheaper in Europe than in Australasia and have no idea why. We were also surprised at their popularity given that Freeds are the most popular pointe shoe worldwide. In regards to the cost, it is a big expense especially as your DD is quite likely to grow out of her first pair before she wears them out. This could continue for a few pairs of shoes until your DD's feet finish growing as usually students spend only a small proportion of their classes per week en pointe. Pointe shoes generally last for about 10-12 hours wear, although this is very variable and depends on many things from choreography, foot strength, climate and even how much a dancers feet perspire! Another thing I have learnt is that correctly fitting shoes last longer than shoes that do not fit correctly, this is why there is so much emphasis on finding the right shoes for the dancer. Whilst your DD's feet are still growing it is important for each pair of pointe shoes to be fitted in person, pointe shoes are replaceable, feet aren't. You may find that your DD will change from one brand to another and that she will try out a number of shoes until she finds some that she finds work well for her. Again this is expensive as some shoes can feel ok when first worn but don't work well after a few wears and vice versa. Some feet are 'easier' to fit than others though, my DD falls into the difficult to fit category hence my long post. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucinda Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Forgot to add that you might need to 'shop around' to find a good pointe shoe fitter. There are unfortunately a few dance shops that will just want to sell you a pair of pointe shoes regardless of the fit . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 There isn't much choice for fitting (one shop in the capital, a couple of others a half-hour's drive away!), but all the girls were instructed to bring their shoes for the teacher to check fit before sewing anything on them. I imagine that as their feet grow we will have to keep getting each pair checked. It seems our local shop fits Bloch Heritage/Sylphide as their 'beginners' shoe and girls diversify from there as they learn what suits them. The teachers are fine with them all starting in Blochs, but I know the older girls wear a wide range. I wonder if the shoes have different names in different countries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 My DDs first pair of pointe shoes fitted at our local shop were Bloch Sylphide - nearly 4 years ago now though so maybe it is a discontinued or replaced line over here. Heritage are widely available though. Our local store tended to fit beginners with Serenade or Sylphide . £45 sounds about right Bloch shoes with ribbons as extra - though here I think it also depends on the size, less than UK size 5 is cheaper. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 Sometime looking for the perfect point shoe is like searching for the holy grail. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straceydor Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 £25 for ouch pouches sounds a lot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Agreed straceydor – I just did a search and Bath Dancewear has the Bloch version for £19.99. I will be tracking down a cheaper version (or telling her to toughen up!) when these wear out – we were told 2 years but she is in the smallest size so may outgrow these too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straceydor Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 For my DDs first pointe shoes last year hence the crop top and keyring we had Bloch suprema pointes, ribbons, ouch pouche, thread for pointes, crop top and a very nice key ring for only £85. Sorry about the list but the receipt wasn't very good 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 £25 for ouch pouches is very expensive. Online stores I would suggest you look at in future (though not for the pointe shoes themselves) would be Move Dancewear, Porselli and Dance Direct. All of these sell ouch pouches for less than the £19.99, one at less than £12 so I am sure you will be able to source some dance items for your DD for less than you pay, even allowing for exchange rates and international shipping. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted July 30, 2016 Author Share Posted July 30, 2016 (edited) Resurrecting this thread... over a year on and DD is now wearing Bloch Aspirations. If I order two pairs at a time from the UK, it offsets the £17 shipping cost a bit. But what makes me a bit cross is that they all seem to be made in Thailand. So why are they £30 (online) in the UK and £60 in Australia/NZ (same price online as in shops)? No wonder people buy internationally online when the local price is double. Last time I looked, Thailand is pretty much midway between us and the UK so it's not a distance thing! Edited July 30, 2016 by Cara in NZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 That price discrepancy is disgraceful Cara. Does a fluctuation in the exchange rate affect the price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted July 30, 2016 Author Share Posted July 30, 2016 (edited) That price discrepancy is disgraceful Cara. Does a fluctuation in the exchange rate affect the price? Yes, Janet – the exchange rate is very good for us at the moment. But even at its worst, £30 would not be more than NZ$80. So the mark-up seems to be at least 50%. I can only think it's freight cost... perhaps they are made in Thailand, sent to the UK, and then back across the world? Edited July 30, 2016 by Cara in NZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 I always thought the Bloch factory was in Aus - has it moved elsewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 I always thought the Bloch factory was in Aus - has it moved elsewhere? I don't know – but the shoes we have bought from both the UK and Australia/NZ all say they are made in Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 I don't know – but the shoes we have bought from both the UK and Australia/NZ all say they are made in Thailand That's a nuisance. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucinda Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Bloch pointe shoes and slippers used to be made in Australia but they moved manufacturing to Thailand a few years ago now (? 6). It was very rare for me to pay under $100 Australian dollars for a pair of pointe shoes and that was without including ribbons and elastics, regardless of the make. We did however get a discount card with our local shop whereby once you bought 10 pairs of pointe shoes you received a pair for free. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahw Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Are other things also more expensive in NZ Cara? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) Are other things also more expensive in NZ Cara? It's hard to compare, Sarah – I lived in London 1987-98 and NZ always seemed very cheap when we visited. The distance always used to make a big difference, so freight/shipping etc has always been a problem. Lots of our imports come from China now. The internet has made a huge difference for us – but if we order more than £100 internationally in one order, we get charged duty. So you can't bulk buy with other people and just have to keep paying shipping. I have tried getting free UK shipping to a friend there, but she paid almost as much to send it on to me. At the moment DD is almost 13 and 5ft 2 but still only has size 2.5-3 feet so I don't want to stock up on pointe shoes... although I just had to buy another pair in this size ready for her exam at the end of Aug (got them from Planet Dance). I get her costumes either from our equivalent of eBay, or from the US/UK and am just grateful I don't have to make them myself! Edited July 31, 2016 by Cara in NZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahw Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 (edited) If the NZ dollar isn't strong I guess it makes imports more expensive. Maybe there is a lack of supply to NZ so they can charge what they want? Edited July 31, 2016 by sarahw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 If the NZ dollar isn't strong I guess it makes imports more expensive. Maybe there is a lack of supply to NZ so they can charge what they want? I do think we are a bit of a 'captive audience' – eg Bloch seems to be by far the most popular brand for pointe shoes. There's only limited stockists in NZ, and we can order from Australia but some (eg Bloch) don't ship outside Australia, and others charge £10 so it's not a great improvement in shipping cost even that close! The NZ$ is quite strong, especially compared with the pound at the moment – but some cunning websites (eg Next) list their prices in NZ$ even though you are ordering from the UK, so they aren't affected by exchange rates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 We've noticed when dd has had to visit local dance shops during summer schools that even within Europe the price varies greatly for Bloch pointe shoes. Some places €30 - 40 above the equivalent price in the UK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loulabelle Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 It seems to vary so much in the UK too though. My DD is now wearing Bloch Aspiration which have just cost me £44.95 per pair from Bloch World but have just found them for £30.45 per pair on Planet Dance. I don't understand how they can be so different in price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 It seems to vary so much in the UK too though. My DD is now wearing Bloch Aspiration which have just cost me £44.95 per pair from Bloch World but have just found them for £30.45 per pair on Planet Dance. I don't understand how they can be so different in price. That's exactly the same as my order, Loulabelle! It was the best price. Only problem is that width fittings are different – over here there is A, B, C, D but Move and Planet Dance only seem to have B as narrow, C as narrow-medium, and D as wide. So she is wearing B width if I source them in Australia/NZ, but C if I get them from the UK. It's all mad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 You can get A width in UK but it is a special order from Bloch shop. We couldn't find A width with any other retailer within UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 You can get A width in UK but it is a special order from Bloch shop. We couldn't find A width with any other retailer within UK. So do you think I should be ordering B width from the UK too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 So do you think I should be ordering B width from the UK too? Can you find an email address for head office in Australia or even UK and ask if the width in the style you want is the same in the UK and NZ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 Just was thinking about your pointe shoe problems and given your dd age I would say regardless of how quickly she breaks shoes don't over stock them. Their feet change a lot as they do increasing amounts of pointe work, even if they've stopped growing, and you may find she needs to change widths, styles, shanks to accommodate this. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now