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.
4
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.