Item review: Body Wrappers Angelo Luizio "Wendy" ballet technique shoes

**Note: This review is for the OLD fit (2014 and before).  There is a NEW fit; see updated review here.**

The Wendy slipper, also known as the BW246A is a heavy-weight canvas split sole ballet technique shoe.  The shoe has an adjustable elastic drawstring and is individually crafted with a right and left foot (most ballet shoes don't have a right and left).

The Wendy comes in light ballet pink (pictured), as well as "Jazzy Tan" (a light suntan color), white, and black.  The shoe is suitable for male and female dancers.  The shoe does come in whole and half sizes.  The sizing on the shoe is children's standard sizing up to size 4, and men's standard sizing up to size 12.  To accommodate women's street sizes 5 and up, subtract 2 sizes for a tight professional fit.  Subtract 1 or 1.5 sizes for a looser fit.

The suede pads on the sole of the shoe are large and relatively flat, so they are easy to balance on.  The shoe itself is not lined, so there is no sock lining to worry about.  This does make the seams on the inside of the shoe visible, and sometimes they can be felt with the foot.

The construction of this shoe seems to favor a square foot with wide metatarsals and a narrower heel. (The shoe is constructed with a high vamp and low cut heel).  This is a common foot type, so the Wendy works on a lot of people (it's a great shoe for men).  This shoe absolutely doesn't work on everyone.  I have a narrower foot with tapered toes, so the front toe box area of the shoe looks a little baggy.  The sleek low cut heel looks great on my foot, but it doesn't feel secure.

I got my Wendy slippers in black in size 3.5 for a performance.  The shoes felt comfortable and worked well, but they were slightly baggy on my toes and I had to apply costume glue to my heels for peace of mind that they would not slip off midway through the performance.

A few years ago, this shoe was touted as such a good fit that it didn't need elastic.  The shoe was sold in a box with 4 pieces of elastic included, but not sewn on.  Now, the shoes come pre-sewn with criss-crossed elastic.  The elastic is the same color as the shoe.  If you go to a dancewear store, you may or may not get a pre-sewn shoe, depending on when that particular shoe made it to the store.

Overall, I would give this shoe a 6 out of 10.  It looks fabulous (on certain types of feet), it is quite comfortable, and it seems very durable.  However, it just isn't constructed for my foot and really does not work for me.