Hey guys and welcome back to this episode of Dancer's Candy. Today, we're going to be
talking about the Capezio Canvas. Specifically, their Hanami collection. We're going to be
looking at the ballet shoe and the pirouette today, so we're not going to talk about the
leather, we're just going to focus on the canvas Hanami Collection. So, I'm going to
pass it off to Joe and he's going to start it off for you. Alright guys, so just talking
about the Hanami stretch canvas ballet shoe here. When I first started with the company,
the number one ballet slipper we worked with was the non stretch canvas, Capezio Cobra.
This has taken quite a few jumps into the future here. Starting with that four way stretch,
it really wraps up around the foot, really allowing you to see the definition of the
flexibility, showing off the arch. The sewing in this shoe really moves with the contours
of the muscles of the foot so you're not going to really feel any discomfort, especially
with how they stitched, and we'll get more into the stitching when we talk about the
pleats. But we have also this diamond shaped gusset here at the bottom of that ballet slipper.
Most ballet slippers have some kind of seam in that arch area. When it's not the stretch
canvas, it really punches that fabric out. This diamond shaped gusset really helps hug
that arch, showing the definition of the foot. It's really a great shoe if you're trying
to accentuate that arch. Going back to what I was saying about the pleats, these pleats
are sewn down very flat. A lot of other ballet shoes, you can feel the pleats under the toes,
under the ball of their foot, especially around that joint area. It can be quite distracting
when dancing. Dancers want to be able focus and not have to worry about the tools that
they're using hindering them from being able to focus on what they're trying to work on
in the studio. Again, having those really flat pleats in there is a huge benefit. I'm
going to let Molly talk about the soles of the shoe and also the drawstring as well.
Yes, so, the soles of the shoes are actually just two suede patches. You have one at your
heel and one that sits under the ball of your foot to really help stabilize and able to
move around. The suede soles, as Joe mentioned with that pleating in the front, it's nice
and flat, so you feel a little bit more secure. With these shoes, it's really just a lack
of a drawstring. This casing is actually stretchy as well, so you really get that full stretch
through the shoe. You're looking at the canvas four way stretch without a drawstring here.
The way that they designed this shoe, they do have pre-sewn criss-cross elastics that
match the color of the shoes. Also with that stretch, you notice that these shoes size
smaller. When you're starting to size these, they are unisex shoes. For women, we're looking
at a size to a size and a half bigger and for men, we're going up between three and
four sizes from the street shoe size. These do run in toddler sizes as well as adult sizes
so you get that full range that you can work with these shoes. That four way stretch is
meant to sit tighter on your foot because it's going to continue to stretch with your
foot as you break it in. The idea behind that is that way you have that snug fit so these
bottom soles are not going to be sliding one way while your foots going the other way.
That's where that tight fit comes in handy, especially with a shoe like this. The inside
of these shoes you'll notice they feel a little softer than some of the other ones, which
is nice for those of you who like to dance without tights on. It is a polyester and cotton
lining. It's very cushy in there and comfortable in that sense. The overall shoe does run a
little narrow as well, they come in Narrow, Medium and Wide widths. That also you want
to keep in mind when we're looking at this shoe. As far as the canvas line goes for the
ballet shoes, you have the six colors here. Starting with this guy, you have mocha, light
suntan, nude which they're actually going to to be changing the color name pretty soon.
There have been recent things going on the Capezio CEO, Michael Terlizzi actually just
did an announcement with Good Morning and he talked about how they are going to be changing
every product that they have in their lines from tights to bodywear to even shoes, anything
that uses the word nude is going to have a new name. That will be changing soon, but
that is one of their color options. They use these three as their basics right now and
they do have plans on expanding this line as well to help correlate and match up a bit
better with the, I believe it's over twelve shades of transition tights that they offer,
as well as their fishnet and their overall variety of options that they have right now
in flesh tone options. Getting into the other three, you've got your basic white that you
can dye to any color you need, black and light pink as well. Those six colors, we do stock
and have available at Footlights. As far as the pirouette goes. They come in four different
colors. Three options are the nude, which again is going to be changing the name, they
also have the light suntan, and the mocha. Those options are also available at Footlights.
It's very similar to the ballet flat, the canvas is the same. It's that stretch canvas
that they use, again it's also got stretch drawstring casing right here, so it's very
stretchy and movable fabric that works with your foot. It's the same type of sueded bottom
sole to the shoe and the same style they use for the pleating. You get a really flat line
when you're trying to spin there. You also have your two elastics, one of them does have
a plushy side, the bigger one, for more comfort. And the smaller one has silicone grip for
a more secure fit. Again, these do come in the three skintone options and I believe they do come in black. Let me double check. Yes,
and they come in black, which we do not stock at Footlights right now. That wraps up the
Hanami collection. You've got this nice four way stretch option. Some history on the four
way stretch. It's not that old in relative terms for ballet shoes, you don't have a lot
of canvas stretch ballet shoe options on the market right now and the Hanami has knocked
it out of the park with having the multitude of color options, the comfort of the shoe
and the overall fit of the shoe. So the next time you come in or if you're interested in
them, we have these on hand. We have them available on our website, we'll put links down at the
bottom. Don't forget to subscribe, to follow, share our information and check us out on
the next episode of Dancer's Candy! Bye guys!