I bought these for my daughter, the size appropriate according to the size chart.  They came and before her ballet class I opened them and adjusted them to her feet.  There were no instructions, and I didn't think I needed any...:)  I tied the shoe to what I thought was right and cut off the extra string as I had done previously with other ballet shoes.  When my daughter got home the shoes hurt the back of her foot, above her heel, and they needed to be loosened.  She had to take them off for her class because they were causing her so much distraction.  When I went to loosen the shoes, the string went back into the seam and couldn't be fixed.  The shoes obviously couldn't be returned at this point.  I worked with customer service to see why the shoes were still hurting her feet even after I adjusted the "good" shoe and they determined they were too big for her feet, but could not take them back.  I will not buy this brand again.  I went with Bloch online and the shoes came and fit nicely without hurting.  This is just my online experience, but considering I would have continued to buy shoes and ballet gear for both of my daughters throughout the coming years I would have appreciated a little more forgiving customer service.