Boys tap shoes

[NearlyHeadlessNick]

My 4 year old does tap and has outgrown his first pair of tap shoes. They're the 'girls' style that he has at the moment, his teacher said it was totally fine when I queried with her, as the shop assistant told me that they were unisex.

I've been looking on dance wear central where I brought his ballet uniform and they do actually do the 'mens style' down in his size (infant 8).

But I've seen some of the girls style ones on vinted for half the price, barely worn, just minimal scuffing below the toe tap.

AIBU to buy him girls tap shoes for half the price? There are no other boys in his class so he won't feel like the odd one out. Also, he's 4, he has no idea 🤷🏼‍♀️

My son is 9 and has done tap since he was 5. I've never seen that there is a girls style and a boys style. Can you give an example? There are different styles of tap shoe but I don't think any are only for boys and any are only for girls.

My son has ones that look like this

Some of the girls wear a "closed" tap shoe like this. Is that what you mean by a girls shoe? If so then I don't think that is right as some of the boys at our dance school also wear the closed version (and some the open version)

I see both sexes in both shoe styles.

AIBU to buy him girls tap shoes for half the price? There are no other boys in his class so he won't feel like the odd one out. Also, he's 4, he has no idea 🤷🏼‍♀️

Of course not.

The girls and the boys both seem to wear the closed version as they get older, and the split sole type, too.

Thanks everyone, reassuring! I've attached a picture of what I'd thought were the boys type.

Some of the younger boys do wear those

Years ago when my brother and I danced boys had to wear the Oxford style shoe and girls the open fronted shoe, so that may be where the boys and girls styles come from.

Much more recently my DS wore both styles, his first pair were Oxford style as I bought him the same as my brother wore, then he moved to the same open fronted ones as the girls wore. When he got older (around 8 years) he preferred to wear the oxford style because he liked being different from the girls- that style also fit better with the show costumes he wore from them on (things like Oliver Twist and Danny from Grease). Buy the cheap ones while you can, but if you do want Oxford style look on eBay for second hand ones- I found a few pairs there.

My DDs dance school has the Oxford style for the girls on more advanced grades, so they're not just for boys!

Dance wear central has shoes like that
labelled as “ladies”

at my son’s dance school loads of girls have that style (and some boys) and loads of girls have the open top style (and some boys)

I really think it’s personal preference (and what is cheaper on the day!!)

Tap shoes are unisex. The only difference is that ones marketed at boys/men tend to be wider.

The ones you thought of as “girls” tend to be worn by young children/beginners. The, laced Oxford style by older or more, advanced students.

My DD has tapped since she was 6 and has never worn any other style. No she is in professional training for a flat tap shoe this is the preferred style as it is more supportive.
Also if you have a child with wide feet Bloch do a wide fit version.
She also now has character 3' New Yorker taps - how the hell you tap on 3' heels is beyond me!

DD wore the first "open" type up to certain grade and then had to get the closed ones (which I think she called "jazz tap shoes").

I don't think at 4 it's a problem which style he wears. No one is going to tease him if they're all wearing the same.

The open ones are cheaper, I think that is why a lot of dance schools use them for young children/beginners.

Dd's vocational school insisted on Oxford closed style for everyone.

This type is what my ds and dd have both always worn.

The Oxford ones tend to have a tap on the heel as well, which is not needed until they are older, so stick with the sort he is used to for now.

He is 4 and will grow out of them in 5 or 6 months. I would get second hand ones in either style. He will be wearing the same as others in group so will be happy. When he gets to 7 or 8 there is plenty of time for boys shoes.

I personally would never put a boy in the open ones but I would buy him the closed lace up ones even if they say ladies as they are no different to the mens/boys ones. My son wears these and takes the heart off:

uk.blochworld.com/products/ladies-chloe-and-maud-tap-shoes-black-white-leather?variant=30381030047823&currency=GBP&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqPGUBhDwARIsANNwjV4CryqyNp9bfnI_jDZ3P6bh781NcYhiVqRWptJazla4PkJHOMuXdIEaAgmHEALw_wcB

My DS always wore closed-toe shoes, but so did the girls in his class! (He danced from 3-13 and loved it, but then it started to clash much with other activities.) When he was older he moved to split-sole taps, but that's a different question. At your DS's age, there's a very healthy second-hand market because kids grow out of shoes so quickly.

My DS is 14 and has tapped in the type you first posted about, at first, I just bought whatever the shop had. Later he had ones which were more closed (not as far up as your second picture but similar, perhaps one eyelet lower). It just kind of happened, we were at a different shop and those were the ones that came out.

When we tried to pass them on to someone else (for free) the dance teacher was quite snobby and said they were 'for boys'. He's always liked the style.

Most recently we were at a different dance shop again and he ended up in super flexible ones - much more expensive but he's at a much higher level now, and not growing fast.

Being honest, in these early years - go cheap. Go second hand, hand me downs etc - they will be fine. We only changed when we started to get teletone taps, then we moved those across to the new shoes every time, except for the last pair.