A ballet shoe is a ballet shoe is a ballet shoe. Plain and simple. But they need to be worn a while to conform to your feet. If you have never tried them before, don't try to figure out which is the left and which is the right, they look just alike. I have a wide foot. Reviewers said these ran large, so I ordered my regular size... figuring they would stretch to make the right width, and at the same time get a little shorter. But, they hurt right away since they were too long and narrow. I didn't want to suffer while breaking them in. Fortunately my husband remembered we had a shoe stretcher, so I put that on them, one at a time for a few hours. Now they are a comfortable width and length, and I'm sure they will soon conform completely to my foot.