Let's talk about tight and shoe colors.

When I first started working at Boulder Body Wear in 1987, the standard color for pointe shoes was a bubble gum pink. As we entered the next decade the new, the more fashionable color was European pink, which is now the new standard. I remember as we transitioned our Capezio Contempora stock with both colors in styles 175 for the old pink and 176 for the new pink. It didn’t take long for our entire stock to change over, probably 2 large cycles of shoe buying, which back then our volume was much less and probably took over a year to complete.

Yesterday I posted about Boulder Body Wear’s bilingual staff. It’s been a very conscious effort on my and Robyn’s part to hire staff members who are dancers, thinkers and open-minded, loving people. Acceptance and embracing all types of humans is part of the job and it’s non-negotiable. But when Rebeca Ramirez applied with us and was hired, her ability to speak Spanish fluently was a bonus, not an essential. We very quickly experienced what we had ignorantly been missing. Many of our customers began utilizing this option on a daily basis. Many customers spoke English but felt much more comfortable and most importantly, felt heard talking in their native language. This was my ignorance despite having a biracial grandson who is bilingual. Why had I been so slow?

This takes me to address the color of tights and shoes. Tights have been gaining momentum in color options. Capezio now offers its transition tights in 16 different colors for children and adults. Other vendors, both large and small, are adding and adjusting their options. The biggest influencer in the industry adding tight colors has come from color guards and other large groups who include more diverse communities via the public school system. Ballet flats are becoming more available and acceptable in “a” flesh color. Things are progressing but in the availability of pointe shoe colors, things are still slow to change. The industry given answer for why pointe shoes are not available with on the shelf options is that there isn’t a large enough market for them. Vendors offer them, but there is a wait in production to receive them. As retailers, school directors, and industry leaders begin to recognize our own ignorance we too will see that we simply aren’t looking at the people in front of us. We aren’t asking them what they need and if we are, we aren’t listening.

Boulder Body Wear offers 2 different colors of skin tones in tights currently and in adult-only. We offer one color of flesh-colored ballet flats. We do not stock any skin color pointe shoes. Not only can we do better, but we also commit to listening, making a plan, and following through on doing better by offering more options and supporting dress code changes.

COVID has left many small businesses cash strapped. Without government assistance we would not be able to have our employees working at this time and paying our bills is just beginning again. For the most part, our vendors have bent over backward to assist us in this and have been patient and understanding. Our dance vendors have offered us free marketing, discounts, payment deferrals, payment plans, merchandise swap outs. They too are trying to keep the lights on. These factors will affect the speed of change but should not keep change from happening. Be patient. Be vigilant. Be kind. Be aware. As we wake from our pandemic slumber and walk into a world that is changing and should continue to change, we must step in, commit, and support with understanding as well as accountability.

*Noteworthy topics that are not in this blog. Pink tights and shoes as a tradition and the future of tradition in the arts (we can take on leotard colors, can we extend it to the rest of our bodies?), jazz shoe colors, and why this trend is behind.

*On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone on my staff, family, and community that has supported me with love and watched me recognize my own racist tendencies, allowing me to cry, be angry, frustrated, and disappointed. I did not learn these tendencies from my family but from my American culture and it is through the love and support of my family, that I have the strength to take them on. This process is uncomfortable and scary, as it should be. I am humbled by all of you and thank you for helping me, personally grow and be accountable. If you too are afraid and uncomfortable with looking inward for a change, you are not alone. Do it. It may not be a perfect process but we have to do it. We can be better versions of ourselves.