Try on shoes one to three sizes smaller than your normal shoe size. If trying on pointe shoes, try them on with a toe pad, which is a wool covering that serves as a buffer between your toe and the hard toe of the shoe.
Stand flat-footed, on the balls of your feet and on full pointe (if wearing pointe shoes) to see how the shoe fits.
Evaluate the fit of the slipper shoe. The shoe should fit snugly for a ballet slipper, as the material stretches with wear and molding to your foot.
Check the fit of a ballet pointe shoe. The big toe (covered by the toe pad) should lay flat just to the tip of the beginning of the hard toe area. If a large gap exists between the toe and the hard tip or if the foot scrunches within the shoe, the shoe does not fit properly. Pointe shoes that do not fit properly can damage your feet.