Update on the banished Gamba 93's

So, since they were already falling apart, I figured it wouldn't hurt to dissect the Gambas. It was frighteningly easy to pull the shank out and the midsole/outsole completely off.

I figured I'd take pictures since I'm considering giving the pieces of my shoe to the studio to show beginning pointe students before they get their first shoes; for some reason I think our ballet teacher would like that. You know, sort of as a "this is what pointe shoes are made of" thing, and sort of as a "here's a scary thing that can happen to your shoes if you have shoe-killing feet like Selly" thing, a combination of educating and scaring them.

The first and second pictures are the midsole/outsole, the top layer of the shank (with the sockliner still stuck to it), and the carbon fibre component of the shank unique to Gambas.

In the third picture, you can see loops of thread hanging off of the midsole. Those were pulled through the "shoe" part of the shoe and then sort of woven/looped around each other. Then there was one more staple in addition to the one that broke/fell out/whatever it did that was also pretty loose.

The fifth picture is, once again, the top shank layer.

The sixth is a closeup of the carbon fibre thing.

The last four pictures are what is left of the shoe itself; basically the toe box and some floppy satin.

I'm actually hoping this was a defective pair since I liked these shoes so much. That is, until they exploded mid-pique.

Stay on your toes,

Selly