Buying Your First Pair of Lindy Hop Shoes

Choosing your first pair of Lindy Hop shoes is a lovely milestone: it usually means the dancing has stopped being an experiment and started being part of your life. The good news is that the choice is simpler than it looks. Four things matter, and every one of them is easy to get right.

What should I look for when buying my first pair of Lindy Hop shoes?

Look at four things: the sole, the heel, the fit and the style. Choose a sole that turns with you: leather glides the most, rubber grips, and neolite sits in between. Keep the heel modest, because being comfortable at 2 cm beats being careful at 6.5 cm. Get a close fit made to your own foot length, and pick any classic swing style: oxfords, derbies, mary janes and t-straps all work beautifully as a first pair.

Start with the sole

The sole decides how the shoe behaves on the floor. Leather glides (slides) and turns with you, rubber plastic grips and holds you steady, and neolite sits comfortably in between. There is also a half and half sole, leather at the back with rubber plastic at the front, that brakes when you land and releases when you slide. If you are still finding your balance, neolite or half and half are friendly places to begin, and our guide to choosing your sole walks through all of them.

Keep the heel friendly

For a first pair, a modest heel is a happy heel. Being comfortable at 2 cm beats being careful at 6.5 cm, and you can always climb later. The heel height guide explains what each height does for Lindy Hop, balboa and solo jazz.

Fit beats fashion

A dance shoe fits closer than a street shoe, so the pivot happens between the sole and the floor, exactly where you want it. After you order, we ask for your foot length in centimetres and check it before anything is cut. Choose narrow, standard or wide (your fit habits on your daily life), and the pair arrives fitting like it was made for you, because it was.

Any classic style works

Oxfords, derbies, mary janes and t-straps have all been carrying swing dancers since the 1930s, and every one of them works beautifully as a first pair. Pick the one you want to look down at all night; the style guide shows what each one is like to dance in. The style describes the shoe, not the person who wears it.

Made for you from day one

Every pair is handmade to order in sizes 34 to 48, cushioned underfoot with a memory foam insole, and cut to your own measurements. If your feet are different sizes or hard to fit, that is exactly what made to order is for: we can cut each shoe of the pair to its own size.

A note on timing

A made to order pair takes 10 to 15 working days to build, plus shipping. If there is a festival or a big weekend on your calendar, order about a month ahead so your shoes arrive settled and ready. Or you can ask for store products that are ready for shipping.

If you are unsure about anything, write to us before ordering; helping you choose is part of the craft. And when you are ready, browse all the models here. And right now, shipping to the USA, Europe and the UK is currently free.

If most of your dancing will be socials rather than classes, our guide to shoes for classes and long social nights picks up where this one ends.