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As members of the Westview Club, we are required to wear soft-soled non-scuffing shoes in the school gyms that we dance in.
Proper ballroom shoes have a suede bottom that a shoemaker can put onto a regular, comfortable pair of shoes for you.

To help you maintain proper balance and control your posture on the dance floor, it is recommended that your dance shoes fit snugly but
comfortably. Women’s ballroom shoes often have a lot of straps to enable women to step on their toes without the heel of the shoe flapping
away from their own heel.

For closed-toe styles, your toes should be as close to the end of the shoe as they possibly can without rubbing your toes. In sandals, your toes
should completely cover the shoe soles and perhaps even hang over the edge by up to ¼ inch.

As your shoes wear, if your feet start slipping inside them, a pair of foam inner soles will help keep your feet from slipping and thus
stretching the shoes so that they become misshaped and worn out.

It is important to brush your suede shoe soles with a steel, short bristled wire shoe brush, to keep them free of wax and dirt build-up from the
dance floors. The wax causes soles to wear faster and clings to small dirt particles that can wear away the soft soles.

Regular polishing keeps shoes from looking scuffed while silicon oil or polish keeps patent shoes from sticking and cracking.

It is very important to never wear your dance shoes outdoors as you might never be able to brush out the chewing gum and other outdoor contaminants.
A shoe bag will help protect your shoes during transport to dances.
It is also important to watch for indoor contaminants. If you step on a spill, the suede will soak it up and affect your soles

You may wish to consider wearing non-ballroom shoes to unfamiliar venues, like bars and non-ballroom socials, where floors may be filthy.