I rarely buy a shoe that is completely specific to a time and outfit. I generally tend to spend money on good shoes that can go with everything.
I began with dance, doing ballet at 3, then tap, jazz, modern. Then I sang in church choirs, learned how to play clarinet and drums, sang with rock bands and only then did I get into musical theatre.
I had the fortunate experience to play with people from different schools of music. Sam Rivers is from the fundamentalist school of music.