Elastic strips were introduced as an important component of ballet shoes to help keep the shoe on while dancers held certain positions. While some ballet shoes come with attached elastic, most elastic comes separately -- dancers must sew them on. Popular styles of elastic are straight across the ankle or criss-crossed at the ankle; this requires two strips of elastic. Dancers sometimes sew ribbons onto their pointe shoes for performances.
The outside of either soft ballet shoes or pointe shoes are made of either leather, canvas or satin. Leather ballet shoes are known to mold and stretch to a dancer's foot. This creates a very comfortable and fitted shoe. Dancers also consider them very durable. However, because each piece of leather is slightly different, leather shoes can create a different feeling when brushing against the floor and even cause the shoe to stick, which wears out the shoe.
Canvas is known as a cheaper alternative to leather. While canvas shoes may wear out quicker than leather shoes, canvas is cooler and dries faster after dancing; moreover, dancers can throw them in the washing machine after using them. Dancers view satin ballet shoes as the most aesthetically pleasing shoe, but the shoes don't wear out as well as canvas or leather. For this reason, satin ballet shoes are usually reserved for performances and auditions.
Ballet shoes are made with either a split sole or a single sole and are made of leather. A split sole has leather only at the ball and heel of the foot. A split leather sole helps a dancer point easier, avoiding the leather getting bunched up. A single sole is not separated, and goes from the top of the shoe to the bottom, covering the middle. A single sole is often recommended for children because it strengthens the feet, preparing them for pointe shoes. Pointe shoes rarely have a split sole, but almost always come with a single sole.
Pointe shoes are made for dancing on the toes and are harder than regular ballet shoes, since they have a box in the toe area. Pointe shoes are mainly composed of satin, leather, paper and paste. Many assume the box is made from wood, when really it is made by building layers of paper and specially formulated paste. Manufacturers keep this formula secret.