I've previously just worn my boots to dances (even balls that are real balls *cringes*) but am upgrading everything this year.  But I'm also a girl who holds her money tight and has commitment issues.

So while parusing my local Target today, I came across these shoes.

About as simple as they come--plain, no decoration black ballet flats.  Synethic leather upper, but these won't get down and dirty.  I actually dyed an extra pair of soft ballet shoes I had black and were going to use those, but these have the benefit of having a bit more structure to them (I did/do ballet and can be really rough on shoes).

Because $13 is a hard price to beat, I picked them up and figured I'll wear them with my normal clothes and that they'll look really cute in the summer with capris if they don't work out with this.  Because I clearly needed a 7th pair of black ballet flats.

Many thanks,
Imelda Marcos of the the midwest

They'll be much better looking than your boots!

My biggest concern would be the soles. Rubber soles are really not what you want to be dancing in if you're doing true ball dances, such as waltzes, polkas, etc. They have waaaaay too much "grab." If you're just doing country dances, the rubber soles will be okay.

Real mid-century ball shoes were silk satin with leather soles. If you can find a pair of satin flats (white or black) with a snipped toe and leather soles, they will be about as authentic as you can get off-the-shelf.

The problem with true ballet slippers is the incomplete sole and the pleating at the toe.

Try trolling eBay, too - my midcentury dancing shoes are a pair of very nice matte black satin Kate Spade flats with leather soles, leather heels, and a square toe and throat. They weren't as cheap as Target shoes but at around $40 a bargain for the quality. They had white leather piping around the throat but I just took black leather dye to it. Obviously silk satin would be more period, but for me the choice of fake satin is better than real leather (which would have been at-home wear, not dance shoes).

Check out these... The toe is not quite as square as we'd like, but these are satin slippers with a leather sole, AND!!  they come in black! 

http://www.freedusa.com/ballet/2_2g_ballet.html


Not much cheaper than the Robert Lands, but they're satin! 

The Freed opera shoes Joni posted look good, but I just keep laughing because apparently, ballet shoes will be in my life forever.  When I was dancing actively (ie, 1 pair of pointe shoes a week) and wearing Freeds, I had an account set up with them so I could have custom shoes done and buy them 10 pairs at a time.

ANYWAY, I suppose I'll figure something out.  Because these will only be worn for indoor formal events (maybe 6 times a year?), I don't want too expensive, but I also don't want dirt cheap and as a life long dancer, I want something I can actually dance in.  I can wear my target shoes to formal events that involve dancing outdoors on the porch after dining inside or for waltzing on verandas.

I was just about to post these same links.  I have bought from from both with great service.