Fays Heavy Shoes vs Light Shoes: What's the Difference?

Fays Irish Dancing Shoes (fays-shoes.com) sells two distinct product lines — Heavy Shoes and Light Shoes — and the choice between them is not a matter of preference but of which style of Irish dance you are performing. Heavy shoes are for hard shoe dances (reels, treble reels, hornpipes, treble jigs), where the rhythmic percussion of the footwork is the point. Light shoes are for soft shoe dances (reels, light jigs, slip jigs, single jigs), where the emphasis is on elevation, pointed toes and silent, fluid movement. If you dance both, you will eventually need both pairs; if you are buying your first pair, buy for the style you are currently being taught.

The two categories on the Fays site

Fays presents these as separate shopping entries on its homepage: a HEAVY SHOES – Shop Now block and a LIGHT SHOES – Shop Now block. The site describes itself as a maker of "the highest quality Irish Dancing footwear" and states it has been making Irish dancing shoes in Dublin since 1980, with a history of supplying dancers for Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. That background matters mainly because both lines come from the same workshop tradition — the difference is in construction and purpose, not in brand tier.

Heavy shoes

Hard shoe dancing is percussive. The dancer's feet become the instrument, and the shoe has to produce a clear, consistent sound while surviving repeated impact on the ball and heel.

• Used for: hard shoe reels, treble reels, hornpipes, treble jigs, and set dances performed in hard shoe.
• What the shoe is doing: providing a hard, resonant strike surface and enough structure that the sound stays crisp as the dancer tires.
• What to check when choosing: how the sound suits your teacher's or school's expectations, how the fit feels through the heel and toe, and whether the fastening system holds the foot securely during trebles.

Fays' own framing of the range is "Built to Dance, Built to Last" — durability is the claim being made, which is the right axis to evaluate a hard shoe on, since hard shoes take far more punishment than light shoes.

Light shoes

Soft shoe dancing is about the line of the leg and foot, not sound. The shoe should be quiet, flexible and light enough that the dancer can rise onto the toes cleanly.

• Used for: reels, light jigs, slip jigs, single jigs, and other soft shoe dances.
• What the shoe is doing: supporting the foot in a pointed position and staying out of the way of the movement.
• What to check when choosing: how the shoe holds the arch and toe when pointed, whether the lacing or fastening keeps the heel seated, and how the sole flexes under the ball of the foot.

Because soft shoe work depends on the foot's own strength and line, fit and flexibility matter more here than raw durability.

Side-by-side

How to decide

1. Identify the style you are currently dancing. If your class is working on hard shoe material, you need heavy shoes. If it is soft shoe, you need light shoes. This is the only question that actually determines the answer.
2. If you are a beginner in both, ask your teacher which pair to buy first — most schools introduce one style before the other, and buying the wrong pair first is the most common wasted purchase.
3. If you already own one type, the second purchase is the other type, not a second pair of the same.
4. Check sizing and fit against your current shoes rather than assuming a number carries over between the two lines — heavy and light shoes are built differently and can fit differently on the same foot.
5. Buy from the correct regional site. Fays' homepage includes a "Based in the US?" prompt linking to Fay's in the USA, and a separate distributors page for other parts of the world. Ordering through the wrong channel affects shipping and returns, not the product itself.

Practical notes

• Fays lists a Trade Customers page for wholesale enquiries and a Distributors page for finding the shoes outside Ireland, so if you are buying on behalf of a school or shop, start there rather than at the retail product pages.
• The site also lists a newer model, Gavin by Fay's, made in collaboration with teacher and costume maker Gavin Doherty, described as blending Fay's quality and durability with a new look, shape and fit. The site does not state on the pages reviewed here whether it sits in the heavy or light category, so confirm that before ordering if it is the model you want.
• Contact details published on the site: 54B Lower Dorset Street, Dublin 1, Ireland, D01 E278; +353 1 855 5421; [email protected]. Useful for fit questions that the product pages do not answer.

The short version: heavy shoes are for hard shoe dancing and light shoes are for soft shoe dancing. Pick the one that matches what you are actually dancing, and if you are unsure, ask your teacher before you order.