After four pairs in a row, would definitely recommend!
TL;DR: Great shoes, will mold to fit you like a glove, and last for at least a year of heavy use. Get the Samba Originals if you prefer a short tongue.About me: I'm on my fourth pair of Samba Classics. In a row. I love this shoe, and I think you will too. That being said, here's what I think you need to know:I first started wearing these shoes because I needed something with a flat sole to dance in (I did musicals in high school, and I wore straight through a pair of running shoes), and I fell completely in love with them. I wear them 100% of the time when it isn't raining and there isn't snow on the ground. I have also worn them for their "intended purpose" - indoor soccer - and find they work great there too.I would DEFINITELY recommend these shoes for serious walking, dancing, or indoor soccer. NOTE WELL: they will mold to your feet as if you were born wearing them, and will change their appearance somewhat once broken in (the leather will look a lot less shiny, and will develop a flatter fit across your foot), in my opinion much for the better. Like all leather shoes, these have a break in period, and I find it's less than a week. Once broken in, they feel AWESOME, and last a very long time: my last three pairs lasted between 1 year and 1.5 years each, depending on the amount of walking I did (walking increased when I went to college). They're also very comfortable walking / standing shoes. I've never gotten blisters or pains from them.I would NOT recommend these shoes for rain, snow, ice, hiking, or serious running. The flat sole, which makes them great for traction on flat, dry surfaces, falls short on all of these things. Since they are leather, they're fairly water resistant, and a coat of water repellent spray will make them very water resistant (and avoid winter salt water stains), but water WILL get in around the tongue, which is not attached at the sides, only at the front.These shoes tend to wear in two places: the interior heel (the back of the inside lining), which will develop holes if you're a fan of slipping your shoes on and off (which I don't recommend: these are leather, they're meant to be tied snug); and the sole, which will gradually wear toward smooth. I find that the sole and the upper wear at about the same rate: i.e. by the time the sole is worn to the point of noticeable slippage on wet surfaces, the shoes themselves look like they're ready to be replaced. If you don't care about these two factors (or you want a pair of old shoes to work in), they will basically last forever. I still use my first pair for construction, painting, and mowing the lawn. They're over four years old and the leather will probably outlast everything else in my life.These shoes are essentially identical to the Samba Originals, the difference being that these have a longer tongue. Some people don't like the tongue, which is reminiscent of soccer cleats, but I like it because it makes the shoes pop a bit more, and goes well with long casual pants, with which you can wear the tongue outside of the pants (the tongue is also not uncomfortable with shorts, especially after it gets bent forward a bit by being worn with long pants).
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Z
Zthousand
November 02, 2013
Wore them over a thousand times
I remember seeing these as a kid on my friend and some adults and thought to try them, I was a fan of Adidas as I loved the originals sneakers collection and one of my teachers had spoke about how the shoe felt like indoor cleats, I thought to finally try them.A great pair of shoes especially for the money, I probably wore these shoes over a thousand times too, to the point where there were holes and I had to get rid of them a few weeks ago. My first reaction when I got the shoes was that they were very light, at first you kind of have to break them in. They may seem a bit snug and may hurt a little bit. Perhaps it hurted me more than others because I have flat feet. After a week when you break them in, they sort of shape to your feet. It will feel comfortable and you'll feel as light as a feather, the shoes are great for athletics and they are very aesthetically pleasing, more so I liked how the shoe was rather versatile. If I wanted to wear some chinos, or some casual wear it wouldn't look to bad infact it would play the part. what I absolutely loved about these sneakers is how you can simply slip them on, I always hated those sneakers that you had to untie and worry about the shoe getting creases and what not. I however found that after a while, the shoe felt like it was slipping off and that it may have expanded during the time I was wearing, again nothing too big but it felt like it grew about 1/2 over the time I had it. This became my go to shoe whenever I was leaving, I didn't even dare look at the others as my feet had gone through so much uncomfort when I went back. The shoe can get rather slippery in the winter and on wet areas so you need to be careful there but it's not like they're meant to be used during the winter. One of the things that I disliked about the shoe is how I had to keep on tying the laces several times, perhaps this had to with the laces mainly but I felt like it was the shoe moving from place to place as it started to expand and stretch. During the shoes last dying dies, I start to get holes from the ongoing times I've worn it, I knew it wouldn't last the way I treated it but for $40+ I didn't very much care. I later discovered that the inside of the shoes is composed of mainly some kind of cardboard, kind of surprising how such a comfortable fit could be made from such cheap material.I would recommend these to a friend, perhaps you may not want to wear them as much as I did however if you plan on making them last but it's great and with a price like that. You can't really go wrong. Would I buy them again however, there are many other shoes in the market and I'm willing to try many and see where they take me but I will have flashbacks of all the events that I had with my pair of shoes. I never begun to adore a shoe like that, no matter how much damage and dirt and stretching it went through, it managed and still had an amazing authentic look.
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B
BusyMomOnTheGo
October 29, 2025
Adorable and So Comfortable!
We got our first pair of these shoes back in Poland and loved them so much that we ordered another pair here on Amazon. They are absolutely adorable — the light pink color is so pretty and goes with everything. They’re also super comfortable and easy to wear all day. The quality is great, and they’ve held up really well even with lots of use. I’m so happy we were able to find them again. Definitely recommend!
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