Gillies
For people who are either not Irish dancers or new to Irish dancing or (possibly) just needing more information about the shoes, I'm going to ramble about the soft shoes today.
The soft shoes, which are called gillies (also spelled ghillies and guillies -- don't you love Gaelic?) or pumps, are worn by ladies for four of the dances. Men wear either jazz shoes or a shoe call the reel shoe. The gillie is based on an ancient hunting shoe. Gillie means soft-footed in Gaelic and was used to describe not only the shoes, but also the lead scout. So if you Google gillies, you will get the dancing shoes worn by both Scottish and Irish dancers and the harder soled brogues worn by pipers, but also the camouflage that makes you look like a pile of weeds.
Traditional Irish and Scottish dancing gillies are black. Different jazz-tap-ballet companies make their version for lyrical dancing which come in black or tan (note to Irish dancers: beware of these shoes. They're much softer than the traditional Irish variety and will wear out faster!). Many companies have offered white gillies for weddings and first communions. Due to increasing demand from dancers, we can now buy gillies that come in different colors. But tan, white, or other colored shoes are not permitted in the actual competitions -- they're for shows or other fun events!
Gillies have three to four loops that come up over the top of the foot that then laces. These shoes have no tongues. The Irish gillies' loops end up making a fold at the end which the laces pass through while the Scottish gillies have grommets (usually red). Do not think that the Irish judges won't notice that you're wearing the wrong shoes. Some of them are very definite about you will only wear "traditional Irish dress" (this is a direct quote from the rules of the competition).
Back when I was a girl, the shoes only had the traditional sole. This is a 3/4 length sole in tan leather (rather like a pointe shoe). I don't know why the 3/4 length sole is a thing. I never liked breaking in new gillies, because the sole was thick and hard to point in and (until you wore them down) the lip between the soft leather under the toe and the harder leather of the sole could be uncomfortable. I know that I'm very whiny about this -- the traditional style is still available and often required of the dancers by their teachers. But I never really liked them.
And then people started playing with how to make gillies more comfortable to dance in. The different companies have explored different soles, different levels of padding, different leathers or even leather/neoprene combos (those never caught on). And in the trying to figure out what to, an Irish dance teacher (just off from the original Riverdance) had heard that Craig Cousins did amazing things for the Scottish shoes and wondered if he would do it for the Irish shoes. And then the Hullachan brand was born. The Hullachan was the first split-soled gillie I had ever seen or tried. And they were kind of a culture shock -- they laced differently (with two side grommets to help keep the heel on. They had gel padding under the toe and heel, with nothing under the arch of the foot. And the sole was also not under the arch. There was nothing preventing you from pointing your toe from the get-go. They also didn't have the traditional seam on the center toe, but moved the seams to the side of the toes to cause less blisters from rubbing. The biggest deterrent with these shoes is the price. They were $70 a pair, coming out of the $30-$40 that was the more usual price. But the upper level dancers LOVED them and would buy them as "competition only" shoes. Trying to convince some of the other dancers to invest in these shoes as their every day practice shoes (better padding, better support, etc) was like pulling teeth.
However, the different companies looked at the Hullachans and planned their own new styles. Shoes that have a suede sole, shoes that have very thin soles, shoes that have supportive arches, and all kinds of combinations. Due to current inflation, new gillies run anywhere from $38 to $75 depending on the brand. So dancers have a variety to choose from.
I currently carry four styles new in the store, but I am more than happy to order other shoes for customers. I don't have enough space or capital to carry everything. Which is sad, because the different brands fit differently and sometimes make the difference in the point.
Current trend of the gillies is that the shoes should fit like a glove. This is hard to explain to the kids who wear gloves that fit like clown gloves (since the expression was back in Victorian fashion) and the kids who only wear flipflops, crocs, and enormous sneakers that the gillie that touches their toe is not too small. There is little physical danger with having a gillie that's too big. You could trip over the extra leather while dancing, but you're unlikely to hurt your foot from too big shoes. It will, however, throw off some of your dancing. Your teacher will constantly yell at you about not pointing when you know you are. This is floppy toe syndrome. It comes from the shoe being too big. And if you can't see your own correct toe point, you can't practice placement.
We talked about the Brannock device measuring length and width and arch length. This device is sadly an American device (being what I could get easily), so then we get to play the translation between American and Irish sizes (all of the brands that I carry are in Irish sizes). They're the same style of numbering system, but the Irish numbers are smaller for the same size shoes. From the women's sizes to Irish sizes is usually two numbers down. From the girl's sizes to Irish is usually one number down. This is the general rule of thumb. But then you have to take into account that the different brands fit differently, some come in different widths, and some are only one style. This is why champions usually just stick with the brand that they've had for the past several times. They know how the shoes fit.
My dancers gave me a poster (it's in my office) of me being the Grand Duke in Cinderella, trying to find the girl for the shoe. But really, my job is more like Goldilocks. "This one's too big, this one's too little, this one's just right!"
Sometimes I get a case where the feet look terrible with every pair of shoes I have in the drawer. The dancer will bemoan her awful feet. I do my best to let her know that all of the shoes are built on a generic foot form, so the problem is my selection of shoes rather than the foot. There might be a market for custom-made gillies, but I don't want to know what that will cost!
The soft shoes, which are called gillies (also spelled ghillies and guillies -- don't you love Gaelic?) or pumps, are worn by ladies for four of the dances. Men wear either jazz shoes or a shoe call the reel shoe. The gillie is based on an ancient hunting shoe. Gillie means soft-footed in Gaelic and was used to describe not only the shoes, but also the lead scout. So if you Google gillies, you will get the dancing shoes worn by both Scottish and Irish dancers and the harder soled brogues worn by pipers, but also the camouflage that makes you look like a pile of weeds.
Traditional Irish and Scottish dancing gillies are black. Different jazz-tap-ballet companies make their version for lyrical dancing which come in black or tan (note to Irish dancers: beware of these shoes. They're much softer than the traditional Irish variety and will wear out faster!). Many companies have offered white gillies for weddings and first communions. Due to increasing demand from dancers, we can now buy gillies that come in different colors. But tan, white, or other colored shoes are not permitted in the actual competitions -- they're for shows or other fun events!
Gillies have three to four loops that come up over the top of the foot that then laces. These shoes have no tongues. The Irish gillies' loops end up making a fold at the end which the laces pass through while the Scottish gillies have grommets (usually red). Do not think that the Irish judges won't notice that you're wearing the wrong shoes. Some of them are very definite about you will only wear "traditional Irish dress" (this is a direct quote from the rules of the competition).
Back when I was a girl, the shoes only had the traditional sole. This is a 3/4 length sole in tan leather (rather like a pointe shoe). I don't know why the 3/4 length sole is a thing. I never liked breaking in new gillies, because the sole was thick and hard to point in and (until you wore them down) the lip between the soft leather under the toe and the harder leather of the sole could be uncomfortable. I know that I'm very whiny about this -- the traditional style is still available and often required of the dancers by their teachers. But I never really liked them.
And then people started playing with how to make gillies more comfortable to dance in. The different companies have explored different soles, different levels of padding, different leathers or even leather/neoprene combos (those never caught on). And in the trying to figure out what to, an Irish dance teacher (just off from the original Riverdance) had heard that Craig Cousins did amazing things for the Scottish shoes and wondered if he would do it for the Irish shoes. And then the Hullachan brand was born. The Hullachan was the first split-soled gillie I had ever seen or tried. And they were kind of a culture shock -- they laced differently (with two side grommets to help keep the heel on. They had gel padding under the toe and heel, with nothing under the arch of the foot. And the sole was also not under the arch. There was nothing preventing you from pointing your toe from the get-go. They also didn't have the traditional seam on the center toe, but moved the seams to the side of the toes to cause less blisters from rubbing. The biggest deterrent with these shoes is the price. They were $70 a pair, coming out of the $30-$40 that was the more usual price. But the upper level dancers LOVED them and would buy them as "competition only" shoes. Trying to convince some of the other dancers to invest in these shoes as their every day practice shoes (better padding, better support, etc) was like pulling teeth.
However, the different companies looked at the Hullachans and planned their own new styles. Shoes that have a suede sole, shoes that have very thin soles, shoes that have supportive arches, and all kinds of combinations. Due to current inflation, new gillies run anywhere from $38 to $75 depending on the brand. So dancers have a variety to choose from.
I currently carry four styles new in the store, but I am more than happy to order other shoes for customers. I don't have enough space or capital to carry everything. Which is sad, because the different brands fit differently and sometimes make the difference in the point.
Current trend of the gillies is that the shoes should fit like a glove. This is hard to explain to the kids who wear gloves that fit like clown gloves (since the expression was back in Victorian fashion) and the kids who only wear flipflops, crocs, and enormous sneakers that the gillie that touches their toe is not too small. There is little physical danger with having a gillie that's too big. You could trip over the extra leather while dancing, but you're unlikely to hurt your foot from too big shoes. It will, however, throw off some of your dancing. Your teacher will constantly yell at you about not pointing when you know you are. This is floppy toe syndrome. It comes from the shoe being too big. And if you can't see your own correct toe point, you can't practice placement.
We talked about the Brannock device measuring length and width and arch length. This device is sadly an American device (being what I could get easily), so then we get to play the translation between American and Irish sizes (all of the brands that I carry are in Irish sizes). They're the same style of numbering system, but the Irish numbers are smaller for the same size shoes. From the women's sizes to Irish sizes is usually two numbers down. From the girl's sizes to Irish is usually one number down. This is the general rule of thumb. But then you have to take into account that the different brands fit differently, some come in different widths, and some are only one style. This is why champions usually just stick with the brand that they've had for the past several times. They know how the shoes fit.
My dancers gave me a poster (it's in my office) of me being the Grand Duke in Cinderella, trying to find the girl for the shoe. But really, my job is more like Goldilocks. "This one's too big, this one's too little, this one's just right!"
Sometimes I get a case where the feet look terrible with every pair of shoes I have in the drawer. The dancer will bemoan her awful feet. I do my best to let her know that all of the shoes are built on a generic foot form, so the problem is my selection of shoes rather than the foot. There might be a market for custom-made gillies, but I don't want to know what that will cost!