Blog post by Mandi Gould. 

Originally posted October 2nd, 2010, this blog was very old so as of February 2020, it’s now been updated!

Back when I originally wrote this blog post, it was pretty tough to find great swing dance shoes. However, in the last few years, things have completely changed.

Now there are dozens of companies making vintage inspired shoes for swing dancing. Many of the companies are owned and operated by Lindy Hoppers. Most of these are geared towards women’s shoes but several of them, like Saint Savoy, also make men’s swing dance shoes. I’m also partial to SAF Shoes for men/unisex, which is a Canadian company!
For women’s dance shoes, there’s a dedicated Facebook group. Check it out:

👉 Swing Dance Shoes Hunt: “Women’s Sizes & Styles”

One thing I’d like to say is that even though I love dressing up and wearing heels and I do often dance in heels, when I really want to dance “hard” I definitely prefer flats. Heels are great for Balboa, dress up events where you aren’t dancing intensely, and I also do some ballroom dancing, but if I know I want to go to Dovercourt House and really get my dance on, it’s flats all the way for me.

These are my favourite dance shoes right now for dancing hard (even though here I’m also wearing them out on the street) –

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0wJjoBgEAm/

I personally wear a lot of Saint Savoy shoes and Balboa Zin and for daywear, not dancing, Charlie Stone and Remix.

The following list is copied from the group files as of February 2020 but click here to see the most up to date list.

Modeling Saint Savoy shoes at the ILHC fashion show.
Modelling Saint Savoy RIVIERA High shoes at the ILHC fashion show.

Made for Swing Dancers, by Swing Dancers

Wearing Saint Savoy WEST shoes at a special event.
Wearing Saint Savoy WEST shoes at a special event.

Popular with swing dancers but not specifically made for dancing

General Dance Shoes, not specifically for swing

Also check out this great blog post on iLindy.com about Women’s Swing Dance Shoes.

As I mentioned, I’m quite partial to Saint Savoy shoes. Here’s an unboxing video:

With so many great shoes to shop from these days, we have the opposite problem from we used to have; there’s just too much to choose from! Which is a great problem to have! Happy shopping.