the Cost of Cobblers and Shoe Repair for Women's Dress Shoes

The service included resoling of a pair of dress shoes and remaking them into a pair of dedicated ballroom dance shoes.

Being a full service cobbler, they offered services from simple shoe repair and polishing through custom made shoes. They also sell a variety of shoe accessories.

Having gotten more serious about dancing in the past few months, I figured I should get some shoes that were more consistent on the floor as my dress shoes tended to be alternately (and arbitrarily) too sticky and too slippery. I'd tried dedicated dance shoes, and they seemed to have a good enough feel, but they all seemed extraordinarily poor quality, especially for the price, so I asked my cobbler if he could convert a pair of dress shoes for me. He said he'd done it a bunch of times, so it shouldn't be a problem.

It took the better part of a week for the cobbler to make the conversion, and cost about $30 more than a complete dress shoe resole, as (unlike a resole) it required removal of sole stiffening pieces that are placed deeper in the shoe's construction. This is the sixth or seventh time I've been to the cobbler and his work has always been impeccable.

I don't know if it was a good idea turning a well-broken-in pair of dress shoes into dance shoes. The soles feel softer and seem to glide better on a polyurethaned wood dance floor, but it's not a big enough difference that I'm pleased at the sacrifice of an expensive pair of dress shoes (albeit they were 4 years old and were out of regular work rotation). I'll certainly use them for dancing, though. And maybe they'll grow on me.

As always find a cobbler you trust and who takes pride in his work. Prices will tend to be a bit higher as these kinds of guys are in a fair bit of demand, but like all truly competent professionals, the quality of their work makes them worth it.

However, think twice before you decide on getting a dedicated pair of dance shoes. For nearly all situations, a pair of dress shoes will be entirely serviceable. And if you decide to have a pair of dress shoes modified into dance-specific shoes, know that the process isn't going to be easily reversed. And if it is possible, it will be expensive enough to make buying a new pair of dress shoes a reasonable endeavor.