Foxtrot Project

Can you wear ballroom dancing shoes outside apart from the dance floor?

I've recently quit ballroom dancing and spent a fortune on the shoes so can I weart them out to like parties, shopping etc. The soles are made of felt, so will they get ruined?

Public Comments

1. The soles will be shot in no time. You might be able to wear them to a party with a wood floor like the dance floor, but dirt and especially moisture (think spilt drinks) will be anathema. But why quit dancing? Even if you don't want to stay in formal ballroom, social ballroom or salsa are still tons of fun and great ways to use your shoes.
2. It depends on how often and where you go with them. The soles will basically be ruined if they get wet, dirty, or sticky (like if you step in mud or soft dirt). Basically if you wear them outside (even like, walking from your house to your car, the soles will slowly lose their traction/slide-ability since they're not designed for outdoor wear. They probably would not be ruined completely... you'd just have a pair of pretty expensive street shoes with sticky soles (when the soles get dirty or wet from non-dance wear, they become sticky). If you're not going to dance anymore period, yes you can wear them out, they'll just slowly become bad street shoes.
3. Yes they will get ruined. It won't even take as much as stepping in mud or water, athough that's the worst thing to do to your shoes. That is not felt on the sole, that is suede. Suede will wear out from walking on asphalt. If it's a qiality shoe you won't get holes on the sole very quickly, but you *will* ruin them for further dancing forever. I know that people get ballroom shoes as their wedding shoes, so yes, these shoes can work as any normal shoe, but it will definitely will be ruined and won't last very long. Ballroom shoe doesn't make very comfortable street shoe... It props your body weight forward on the balls of your feet and you generally don't walk like this. It is very tiring to wear ballroom shoes for walking. So why ruin them? Maybe you'll decide to come back to dancing in a few years. Or maybe keep'em as indorr party shoes, then they will be kind of ruined but still last a long time.