Shoe size customary markings, such as EU, UK and US sizes, can also be used. Because Mondopoint takes the foot width into account, it allows for better fitting than most other systems. A given shoe size shall fit every foot with indicated average measurements, and those differing by no more than a half-step of the corresponding interval grid. Mondopoint system is widely used in sports industry to size athletic shoes, ski/skate boots, and Pointe ballet shoes; it was also adopted as the primary shoe sizing system in USSR/Russia, GDR, China , Japan/Taiwan/South Korea, and as an optional system in United Kingdom, India
Pointe shoe custom-made lasts that replicate the shapes of their own feet; these may be supplied to a pointe shoe manufacturer for the purpose of manufacturing custom shoes. Dancers typically "break in" new pointe shoes to reduce or eliminate the discomfort they commonly cause, usually by performing releves and eleves that flex, and thus soften, the boxes and shanks in a natural manner. Various other methods have also been employed for breaking in pointe shoes, including deforming them with hands or against hard surfaces, striking them on hard surfaces, and moistening or heating the boxes to soften the glues, but these methods