Is this woman having me on?

[fastfooder]

DD (4) has been going dance class for about 5weeks now week one she went in normal clothing to see if she liked it. She loved it and begged me to get her matching clothing as the other girls for her to wear the next week. The other girls are wearing a light pink outfit brought from the lady who is teaching but if I order it from her dd would have to go in the following week and hope the order came through so I thought so I can ensure she has the outfit I would just pop into decathalon and buy the same outfit from them. I also got the ballet shoes from there as they were a lot cheaper then buying through the lady. (I am not the only parent who has done this as looking into the class there was about 4-5 other little girls wearing outfits not brought from the lady). Anyway so last week the lady came to me and said decathalon ballet shoes are not real ballet shoes and I therefore need to buy new ones and that they are ‘play shoes’. She also stated that they are damaging dancers feet and she also said there are lots of articles online. I got home went online and found not 1 article. So I’m asking Is she lying to get me to buy shoes from her which btw she is up selling them for double the price of the shops.

Aibu to say no and that my 4year old isn’t really ballet dancing they are just messing about and of course next time I will buy from a real ballet shop.

This is why my five year old stopped doing ballet. Skirts with polka dots on costing three times as much as non-dotty skirts. Wait till there is a show!

YANBU. Had a quick look at the Decathlon website - the demi-pointe shoes look absolutely fine, although you shouldn't get split-sole for littlies and I did notice one pair in the range.

No way would I let DD get pointe shoes from there as I doubt very much that the staff are trained to fit them - it's a bit of a niche skill! But at 4 years old, that's not going to be relevant for a long time!

DD just started ballet and we had to buy proper leather ballet shoes along with the leotard, skirt and socks. She is only 4 so seems a bit much but she enjoys it.

My niece bought demi-pointe ballet shoes from decathlon! I don’t know what you bought but they definitely sell proper ballet shoes. And I really doubt that anything a 4 year old is doing could cause foot damage... My guess is that the sales of uniform are a big part of how she makes her money. You should have just lied and said you got them specialy measured at some fancy dance shop! But if your DD loves the class then I’d be tempted just to buy the bloody ballet slippers from her this time, and use the dance shop line when she outgrows them and needs a new pair.

My 8yo DD has Decathlon ballet shoes and they are fine. Only thing we found is that they come up a bit small. Do not buy from the dance teacher!

I got the demi-pointe bloody ballet shoes!!!.

I think your right considerherway she must be making money off the shoes if I got them through her and that’s her problem I just don’t see why she would lie about he support they are 4-5 they are not really doing ballet

Given the state of actual ballerinas' feet, she's having a laugh.

We bought DDS ballet shoes from Sainsbury's. She's done two exams (BTDA) and three shows in them! Your ballet teacher is having a giggle!

Well she will make money from the shoes, which might be her issue or she might genuinely believe it’s a substandard product. A polite “these will do for now thanks” is enough.

I love the vitriol thrown at dance teachers on here - so many people love to hate a small business that’s providing a service that their children supposedly love. Just be politely firm - the decathlon shoes are fine for now. What’s she going to do? Tell you not to come back?

As an aside - I had no idea decathlon did pointe shoes, they look particularly painful!