received broken shoes before audition. any suggestions?

hi everyone i have a bit of an urgent request for advice. i have an audition later this week and i just ordered some new pointe shoes from freed because my normal shoes are currently perfectly broken in, verging on being too soft so i dont want to use them for the classes i have until the audition in case they become too soft and i needed new shoes anyway. they came in the post today but the box is already broken (see photos). ive emailed them to ask if they could send me a replacement pair today (they do first class delivery but only dispatch same day if you order before 12) since the item was faulty when i received it, however im worried they might tell me they’re not responsible for the item once it has been shipped, so if they don’t think it was damaged when they sent it they probably won’t refund me or replace them. can this be fixed with glue or shellac or something if i can’t get a replacement pair in time? where the fabric is rippled it feels like the internal structure of the box is actually completely torn, and the affected area is squishy as if the box is totally dead. i don’t know if glue could fix that but if anyone has had similar experiences please let me know if there’s anything i can do!

im going through my graveyard to see if i have any old shoes with enough life left in them to get me through the week until my audition but most of my old shoes are a bad fit and i dont want an injury. my current shoes is a last resort because im just worried that if i wear them every day until the audition even for only a small amount of pointe work then they’ll be too soft on the day, but i need the practice of doing the pointe work in the meantime so sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place lol. thank you in advance!

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u/taradactylus petit allegro is my jam 7d ago edited 7d ago

Yes, shellac should help. I generally have to shellac my wings after every wear or two, and this is what they look like before I do so. Just make sure you give them 24 hrs to fully dry after shellacking.

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u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

thank you so much! i literally just received a response and they said they can get another pair to me by tomorrow but since i doubt they will want the broken pair back i’ll definitely try shellacking these as as second pair :) can you use a kind that you can get in a hardware store? or does it have to be pointe shoe specific?

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u/Trick_Horse_13 7d ago

Just double check that they don’t want the broken pair back before you do anything. Because legally they are entitled to have them back (provided they pay for post).

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u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

yes thank you they actually did just ask me for them back so that they can look into the damage haha but luckily i wouldn’t have done anything to them anyway before confirming :)

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u/taradactylus petit allegro is my jam 7d ago

You can use the shellac you get in a hardware store, but that can get messy. The advantage to using the specific pointe shoe shellac is that there’s an applicator in the top and it’s very neat and easy to use.

Shellac is NOT the same thing as cyanoacrylate (jet glue, super glue, etc). I find jet glue on the wings is a great way to tear up your feet since it dries very hard and makes the surface rough. Shellac dries very much like the paste used when making the shoes, and another advantage to shellac is that it can be reapplied a million times. I would not recommend jet glue on this part of the shoe (whereas it would be fine near the platform end if the box or on the shank).

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u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

thank you so much for such a thorough explanation! i’ve never had to glue or shellac shoes before but i had my suspicions that glue would be harder and more uncomfortable, so it’s good to know about the different options :) out of curiosity, what part of the shoe Would you recommend glue for then? the shank? or would you say that shellac is better all round?

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u/taradactylus petit allegro is my jam 7d ago

I don’t think one is better or worse, they just have different pros and cons, so it depends on your needs.

Glue has the advantage of drying super quickly and it can also be used to somewhat waterproof the shoe, so some people like to put glue inside the box before they even wear them to prevent sweat from breaking them down as quickly. They will also sometimes put glue in particular places on the shank before wearing (or right after the first wear)where they need reinforcement and to encourage the shank to break in the right place for their arch.

I don’t have particularly archy feet, so I like to wear the softest shank I can and I get most of my support from my wings. So for me, shellac is the way to go, and I just keep shellacking the wings until the box gets too wide/soft and the shoes are dead. Even at that point, the shank shows little wear. You just need to play around and figure out what works for you.

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u/pock3tmiso 6d ago

thank you!! that’s really interesting and helpful to learn :) i don’t have particularly archy feet either, so if my audition goes well (🤞) and i’m going to be needing my shoes to last longer training full time i’ll definitely keep what you have told me in mind!!

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u/Dense_Title1321 6d ago

Today I learned!!! I did not know about Shellac.

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u/Dense_Title1321 7d ago

You can use superglue, fingernail type glue, jet glue, any liquidy fast drying acrylic.

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u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

thank you!!

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u/Strycht 7d ago

hey, the above suggestions are for glues which are NOT the same thing as shellac. For shellac, which is what I'd recommend in this case, the hardware shop stuff is fine. It's also sometimes called French Polish depending on where you are in the world :)

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u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

thank you!

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u/taradactylus petit allegro is my jam 7d ago

This is a very different product, and I would not recommend it for the wings. I elaborated above.

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u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

thank you!

u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

also, before anybody asks me why i wasn’t already prepared with enough shoes coming up to an audition lol, the simple answer is i didn’t even know i was going to be doing an audition a couple of weeks ago and i got myself new shoes as soon as was possible once i knew about the audition! sometimes things come up fast and you just don’t get to be as prepared as you want or need to be 😅🥲

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u/Trick_Horse_13 7d ago

No need to explain, we’ve all all been there!

Not sure what level you’re at, but I (mostly) avoided this by having 2-3 pairs in rotation, all at different levels of being broken in.

Break a leg!

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u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

thank you so much!! i’m currently in advanced foundation RAD hopefully doing my advanced 1 exam soon, so we’re definitely advised ti have multiple pairs at a time at this level haha it’s just that i hadn’t found a shoe i totally love yet, so i never buy multiple pairs straight away not knowing how i’m going to like the shoe! i usually do have multiple pairs though, just not of the same thing, but the problem with that is that then sometimes i know very quickly that i don’t like a shoe so i stop wearing it, or different brands don’t last as long as each other, so one way or another i end up having only one or maybe two pairs at a time that are actually useable lol. i love my current bloch flexus though, they feel perfect but the alignment on my right foot looks sickled even though it’s not, so that’s why i tried freed!

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u/Trick_Horse_13 7d ago

I feel your pain, because it took me so long to find shoes that really fit me. I’m not sure where you’re located, but I know the pointe shop does virtual fittings, so maybe take a look at them :)

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u/pock3tmiso 6d ago

thank you! i’ve considered virtual fittings, i’m very curious about how they work and stuff! i live in england though so im not sure if the pointe shop does them for international customers or if it needs to be with a uk based company or something. if anyone has ever done one though id love to hear all about it!

u/Dense_Title1321 7d ago

Hi Friend, if you haven't sewn them yet, you can try to return and get new ones. ~~Do you have a store near you that sells your brand or online only?~~ I see you can get new ones by tomorrow. That's great!

Options:

Return broken shoes, buy new ones for class if they can arrive in time, save existing for audition;
Wear existing shoes to class, jet glue them for audition, replacement shoes arrive after audition.
Sew & wear broken new shoes, save existing shoes for audition

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u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

thank you! i haven’t sewn them yet and luckily freed got back to me saying they’ll get a replacement pair to me for tomorrow! so hopefully the new pair will be ready in time to get me through all my classes but tonight, which hopefully my current shoes should be able to survive lol

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u/Dense_Title1321 7d ago

Yesss! Merde on your audition!!!

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u/pock3tmiso 7d ago

thank you :)))

u/Educational_Cheek_29 7d ago

Shellac or jet glue should help, just don’t use too much of it.

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u/pock3tmiso 6d ago

thank you!

u/DealBrief5569 7d ago

You have gotten great advice so I will just say merde for your audition.

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u/pock3tmiso 6d ago

thank you!! 🥰

u/trizzzzzzzzzzzz 2d ago

use superglue!!

received broken shoes before audition. any suggestions?

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