Best fencing shoes for Women

[Rapier_wit]

Care to throw your opinions out, ladies and gentlemen, over what you think would be the 'best' fencing shoes for women?

To give a bit o' background, I just received a glistening white package today from fencing.net that contained a pair of newly purchased Leon Paul scimitars. I gleefully ripped open the box like a kid on Christmas morning only to find there were a couple problems..

1. I ordered the same size as my court sneaker, however the LP's were too big by a long shot. I made sure I measured my foot before I sent out the sizing, but I'm wondering if I was looking at the wrong chart.

2. Are LP's specifically cut wide? I have very narrow, long ballet feet and they almost got swallowed up by the LP's.

3. They didn't feel comfortable at all (probably due to size, though not sure). I did a couple test advance, retreat, step, lunges to try them out and whenever I'd go up on my toes, there was a very strange bend in the top of the sneaker near the toeline that actually dug into my foot.

4. Are fencing shoes cut different for men and women or are they all based on one pattern? I know, in general, that men's feet tend to be wider than ours.

So before I go make poor Craig switch out my LP Scimitars, do you guys have any suggestions for someone with a very narrow, ballet-esque size 8 women's foot?

[Blakeian]

Scimitars follow the same dimensions of most sport shoes/joggers. You'll probably want some Darts as they're narrower. However if your feet are very slim it might pay to try on a few pairs at vendor's stall next comp.

I found them strange when I got my first pair. They are quite different even from the Blades (the next model down) because of how the laces are set. That said I now own two pairs, train 4 times a week and have no problems with them. I also use orthopaedic inserts because I have very flat feet.

In your case I'd get a slimmer shoe. And yes I believe there is a general difference between men's and women's.

[IvorDarcy]

Adidas shoes are very narrow. Probably be a better fit for you or wait till the Nike Ballestras come out in August.

[TBean]

Adidas makes a much narrower shoe. However, at this point you might wait until the Nike shoe is on the market and see if you like that.

[Nolano]

Did you remember to order a size smaller to compensate for women's sizing?

[Rapier_wit]

Yeah, I just went back and read all the fine print through the order and realised I ordered a men's size 8. -_-

I'm personally wanting to hold out for the Nike Ballestra. But I also need some shoe now, as I've already injured myself due to fencing in street sneakers. (Bad idea!)

[D'Art]

In that case, your bog standard squash shoes (or badminton ones if your feet are really narrow) will do fine until then.

[finnfence]

[QUOTE=Rapier_wit;691932]
3. and whenever I'd go up on my toes, there was a very strange bend in the top of the sneaker near the toeline that actually dug into my foot.

4. Are fencing shoes cut different for men and women or are they all based on one pattern? I know, in general, that men's feet tend to be wider than ours.

QUOTE]

I have pretty wide feet for a woman, and I had the exact same problem with digging in at the toenail line that you did. After a couple of blackened and lost nails, I concluded that the shoes weren't going to soften up, and I just had to give up wearing them, which was so sad - they were a very robust and nice shoe, except for that. (Well, that and the way that there is a seam that presses exactly where ladies' big toes jackknife and build bunions after years of wearing high heels, which causes very unpleasant bruising...but I assume most people don't have that problem.)

Adidas Equipment shoes have the same black toenail issues, for me at least, but it takes an all-day fencing tournament to do it and it seems to be more an issue of not enough space in the toe area rather than the hardness of the material per se.

Not sure if this sort of problem is a male/female shoe design issue - that's a very interesting question.

[Delta]

Men and women have different feet design.
It's not just a relative size issue, it's also proportion of each part of the foot. Evolutionarily speaking, women's feet were made to disperse the extra weight gain during pregnancy (read it in an obscure textbook a couple years ago) and better maintain the strain of doing chores, whether it be picking berries from a bush post-Paleolithic era, or squatting to do...whatever. I don't know if I necessarily believe the latter part.

"Women have thicker ankles and calves, higher arches and narrower heels,....lso, women's ankles are about one-quarter inch closer to the ground, and men's big toes are a little thicker." Click to learn more details
Literature on the matter is hard to find as it's considered precious information for the shoe industry which would find a way to make such knowledge very profitable. Knowledge is power!