Time to check off of my New Year resolutions. Wait. Some among you may remember vaguely but correctly, I made none this year. I’m talking about resolutions from 2014. What?!? I am a wholehearted believer in better late than never.
I had vowed to learn eBay. Alicia Kan gave us an amazing guest post on how to do it. I had planned to sell my old clothes there, and my daughter’s rare, vintage, unused pointe shoes. When it became clear that I could not easily find volunteer work that fit with my other projects, I decided to conflate fashion, charity, and the blog. I have been giving most of my clothes to the American Cancer Society boutique in town.
But I still owed my daughter, and my conscience, a sale of the shoes. So, tomorrow, up on eBay they go. Here’s the product listing:
“Unique, hard-to-find, vintage pointe shoes
This lot includes 9 pair of vintage Freed DV Wing C pointe shoes, one pair of Blochs, and a box of Freed and Bloch elastics. Shoes are all new-in-bag, all size 4.5XX. All were bought at San Francisco’s SF Dancewear in 2003. As dancers know, each pair of Freed shoes is marked by its maker. These Freeds include 4 pair from the “Square” maker, 2 from the “Taurus”maker, 1 each of “R,” “Q,” and “”V.” All the Freeds are pale pink, the Blochs are pale gold/peach.
Here’s the history of the shoes. My daughter used to dance seriously. The spring before she was set to attend ABT’s summer intensive in New York, she got injured. These shoes were bought in anticipation of a heavy pointe schedule that never materialized, and have been sitting in her closet ever since. That was 12 years ago. We have 10 pair of shoes for sale, the entire lot can be purchased as one for the next 7 days. If the lot is not taken, I will then list each pair separately, at a higher starting price.
This is my first and probably only sale on eBay, but if you would like some information about my online trustworthiness, a link to my 6-year old blog can be found in my profile.”
Oh, and if any readers want to give me suggestions for the listing, I’m all ears.
I’ll be pricing the entire lost at a starting bid of $350. Buy Now for $450. Similar shoes apparently sell for up to $55. Note that one reader, back in 2014, bought a pair to hang on her daughter’s wall. Warmed my heart, that did.
In case anyone reading would like the lot, email me today, and I’ll extend a special Privilege reader price of $400. Email me at skyepeale(@)yahoo.com.
A note. These are old Freeds, from makers no longer working. If you’ve just started dancing, they aren’t a good option for you, since you won’t know if these specific makers’ shoes fit your feet. I imagine that the most likely buyers will be either a dancer who’s been at this for 10 years and wishes she could still find “Square” Freeds – for example – or a dance studio that wants to offer special shoes to its pointe students and is willing to hold them for the right dancers.
But as this is the first and only time I expect to be selling ballet shoes, I simply don’t know. I do know, however, that pale pink satin is really pretty, and resolutions are to be kept.
Edited: Here’s the eBay link. http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-Pair-New-In-Bag-Vintage-Pale-Pink-Freed-Pointe-Shoes-Women-Size-4-5XX-/301562195693. If it turns out they don’t sell as a lot, I’ll update here and let you all know.
34 Responses
Those shoes are pretty enough to make me wish I was a dancer. :)
I always felt the same way. Except they hurt:).
If I were looking at the shoes on ebay I would want to know whether you have enough elastics for all of the shoes, so you might consider adding that information (and if you know how many of each type of elastic I’d add that as well). But then, what do I know about pointe shoes other than that I used to covet those my sisters had during their very brief and decidedly non-professional dancing “careers”?
The shoes are indeed beautiful but it makes my feet hurt in sympathy just to look at them. A friend of my husband’s many years ago went from being a professional ballerina to being a surgeon. Perhaps there’s a connection between the two? You might ask your daughter.
I don’t have enough elastics per se, they come in rolls and various guises. They can also be bought separately. But I will put up a photo of exactly what I have so as not to confuse the issue – thanks for the idea. And my daughter’s in medical school:). We knew several dancers in her class who went on to do something of the sort.
Are ballet shoes sized differently?
When you say a size 4.5 I’m thinking they’re for girls more than women.
You go up 2 sizes. That said, they are for a small-footed person.
Ahhh, Blochs. My toes rejoiced when I started dancing in them instead of Capezzios. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
You’re welcome!
They are so beautiful…I’ll send a link to my friend whose two daughters are serious ballet dancers.
Oh thank you!
Alas they hve yet to make it to the wall and are more often on little feet as part of dressing. Maybe they will see the wall this summer…
Ah but to dress an imagination is even better than to decorate a wall:).
They are exquisite.
@Jean S, :)
Oooh. Pretty. Are you keeping one? For sentimental reasons?
@Mary anne, She has a pair she danced in that we’re keeping. We can’t just let it all go.
Like Mary anne I hope a pair has been kept. I would frame that pair in a shadowbox, a memory for her and perhaps for a generation to come, one day. Pointe shoes are such evocative mementoes.
@Duchesse, Yes, I probably should preserve them in some way, vs. just letting them sit on a shelf gathering dust.
I’ve never sold anything on eBay, although I’ve bought a few items. I wish you great success. The shoes are bittersweetly beautiful. (I know bittersweetly isn’t a word, but it seems appropriate.) Cheers to you for keeping your resolution!
@Town and Country House, Thank you. We can use poignantly, although bittersweetly seems quite apt. I just couldn’t let this resolution go, you now, it was for her as much as for me.
These are wonderful Lisa, and the history behind them. You must be so proud of your daughter in medical school. I wish we were closer, I love designer resale shops!
xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
It would be lovely to be closer. And I am beyond proud of my daughter, you’re right;).
I love the word bittersweetly. Even if it isn’t a word. It almost describes the color of the shoes.
@Patsy, Ah. Yes. It does.
Lovely shoes – bringing back memories of ballet classes many, many years ago.
I hope that Ebay works for you. I’ve bought a lot of things from Ebay and never had a bad experience. I haven’t sold yet, but I have some (brand new) china that I’d like to sell and I have to decide between Ebay and Amazon. Thank you for posting the advice!
@Marie, Oh my pleasure! I really dragged my feet about learning a whole new online subculture and interface, but in the end I do feel a sense of accomplishment.
I bought my daughter her first pair of pointe shoes this week, after trying on many different styles/fits. Last year she participated in her first Summer Intensive in her regular ballet shoes (she was the only one) and is thrilled to be looking to pointe this summer!
@Miss Cavendish, Congratulations to your girl! Glad she found the right shoes.
Ah, these are so pretty! And I just started ballet lessons this past fall! But I don’t plan to ever go on point, but the idea of having a pair to hang up as a reminder that new dreams come and replace other dreams that don’t work out could be an options. So if you don’t sell the whole batch to a dancer who could fully appreciate them for being made by those specific makers and all, I might be interested in one pair. And they are perhaps even my size since I am a 6 or so in street shoes (which could be fun if I ever wanted to try on a pair of point shoes for kicks).
“Pointe” and “en pointe”…I should say. YUou would think I would know better, considering my ballet courses are in Québec, ha!
@Jenny- Adventures Along the Way, I’ll absolutely let you know if I start selling them one by one. Little-feeted people forever!:)
Thats the most well-composed post I’ve ever read on ebay!!!
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