US Patent 7966747 Dance footwear

An item of footwear (10), which exposes a substantial portion of a wearer's foot, is disclosed. The footwear includes a plurality of foot enclosures (110, 112) operably connected to each other via a connector (114), such as a plurality of elastic straps (200, 202). Protective pads (180, 182) may be attached to the footwear, such as leather pads on the plantar surface of the footwear. One advantage offered by this footwear is that the wearer's foot—and particularly the arch and middle of the foot—is substantially exposed to view, achieving a new aesthetic for ballet and dance footwear.