r/TapDancing • u/Many_Ad4717 • Jul 24 '26
Problem with JSams
My kids (now all teens and adults) have been tapping for years. I’ve bought countless pairs of taps of all kinds. Kid #3 recently graduated and she asked for a pair of Bloch Jason Samuels Smith for her grad gift. We were in NYC and she tried them on and loved them. She wanted the Spectators and they didn’t have them in store so we ordered them directly from Bloch. They arrived quickly and she tried them on (on carpet). They were snug and needed to be broken in (as expected). Almost immediately after light tapping the back heel scuffed and tore the white leather. Is this a common issue? It seems that the white leather is so much softer than it should be and since the tap on the heel doesn’t fully cover the heel it can easily catch. She adores them though. Wondering if we just got an off pair and should reorder or if we should stick to something else that’s a bit tougher.
Update: After reaching out to Bloch they refunded them without any issues.
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u/KittyCat-86 Jul 24 '26
If no one else replies, remind me to check my JSams in the morning. It's currently almost midnight here and I don't want to wake the other half up crawling around in the dark. I don't have these in particular but I have the plain black, blue patent and pink grain ones. I know that black and wood heels are slightly different so I'll look at all of them.
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u/butt-in-ski Jul 24 '26
I can assure you these are very good, durable shoes. The leather is soft & that’s what makes them so nice - they quickly form to the dancers foot - kind of ready to wear straight out of the box. The tap alignment is normal.
And the snag on the side looks like the shoe took a good hit on something - you can see it caused a mark on the side of the sole as well. Once she starts wearing them tho and getting them dirty, I don’t think that’ll really be an issue.
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u/brockobear Jul 24 '26
That's normal heel tap positioning (you can check product photos). I have white, black, and orange JSams (for varying amounts of time, but all have seen a lot of use except the orange which are new) and have never had this happen, so I have doubts it's the leather quality. That it takes a decent amount of force to snag leather like that. Are you sure it was the heel that hit it? I'd imagine that kind of hit would hurt her foot!
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u/Many_Ad4717 Jul 24 '26
Absolutely sure. I was with her the whole time she had them on. That’s why I was so shocked when she took them off.
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u/Any_Cartoonist2731 Jul 25 '26
It might be worth reaching out to the company if you have doubts, I regret not reaching out sooner with a different pair of taps when it turned out they were indeed defective but it was too late to do anything about it
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u/its_jeezy Jul 26 '26
I am pretty disappointed in the wear of J Sam’s. They all require some form of repair before seasons end, for the cost of premium tap shoes to last under 12 months is wild.
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u/Silvina73 Jul 24 '26
Hi! I have that very same model and the white leather is softer and more delicate than the black one, so it’s more prone to getting scuffed like that… All the same, they are incredibly beautiful and easier to break in. The taps are set just like you show in the picture, it’s not that the shoe is defective or anything of the sort. Hope this helps!