Aris Allen Men's 1932 Wide Black Captoe Swing Dance Shoes

• Wide All Leather Swing Era dress shoes in the style of men's captoes from the 1932 Chicago Mail Order Catalog. These are approximately EE-EEE width. Exactly what you want to wear for vintage dances like Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, etc.
• Our in-house EEE dancer has designed these to his personal specifications. He hates ugly, bulbous wide shoes and made them with much more style than most wide dress shoes available for men. Bonus: he says a problem with wide dress shoes is that they have wide ankles, too! Ours do not.
• These are made specifically for dancing on wooden dance floors - do not dance in them outside.
• Features the Aris Allen Raw Sole: a flexible leather sole and heel made especially to provide you with the action you want on the dance floor. Ask any dance instructor: the “fastness” of the sole forces you to “find your center” immediately.
• This is a slightly roomy style. See sizing recommendations below.
• Heel height is approximately 1".
  
• Item #: 447W-BK

SPECS:

These are great dance shoes because of the slideable hard leather sole and heel, and the comfort you need in a shoe that's going to be on the hardwood all night.

SIZING TIPS - (ALL SHOES ARE USA SIZES):
(Our returns show we are right about 90% of the time)

These are running pretty true-to-size. So start with your men's dress shoe size - the size you measure on the Brannock Device (the metal thing at the shoe store) - and stick with your normal size or go up to the larger size if you try on several pairs and find you're in between sizes. Feel free to call us if you need help figuring out your size.

Narrow width: 
Test dancers with narrow feet will not be happy with these.

Medium width:
Test dancers with medium width feet will not be happy with these unless they usually wear extra-wide shoes because they have bunions or inserts they need room for. 

Wide width: 
These are roomy and are made for wide feet. Feedback from dancers says that these are approximately EE-EEE. If you are EEE you will want to go up a half size to get the width you need.

ABOUT "BLUCHER" CONSTRUCTION:
This captoe is made in the Blucher style, meaning that unlike most dress shoes they are constructed to open and close across the foot with laces (rather than being stitched down at the base of the laces like Balmoral construction) to allow you to adjust the fit to your liking. This means they often fit a variety of widths, depending on how loosely or tightly you tie them.

ABOUT THE ARIS ALLEN RAW SOLE:

• The Aris Allen Raw Sole is made from flexible hard leather that gets a little “faster” over time by repeatedly absorbing the natural humidity in the air (especially at a dance) and drying. The bottom of the sole and heel is made from sanded hard leather and performs a lot like Chrome Leather (suede) which allows you to spin and slide, and still control the floor. If you find the sole has picked up dirt from the floor and is slowing down, just shuffle your feet on the sidewalk once or twice to refresh it.
• The raw leather surface is designed for the intermediate / advanced dancer - but they're also great as a second pair for beginners... the “fastness” of the sole forces you to “find your center” immediately.
• This style was created to give you a shoe that is similar to what was being worn when swing dancing was invented. If you want to look authentic on the dance floor you need to be wearing the same thing that dancers were wearing in the 20s, 30s, and 40s.