Sabah Shoes Review: I Never Thought I’d Love Slippers So Much

When I need something a little more dressed up than sandals or sneakers, my go-to summer shoe is these Turkish leather slippers from Sabah.

The brand was founded by American Mickey Ashmore, who spent much of his 20s working in finance in Istanbul and found himself commuting to and from work in traditional leather slippers. Seduced by their comfort and versatility, he was inspired to launch his own brand that draws on traditional Middle Eastern shoemaking — but with a few modern design flourishes.

Sabah: The Pros and Cons

You’re a busy guy, so if you don’t want to read an entire review by someone who clearly has an unhealthy fixation on minute details of footwear, here’s the summary.

What I liked:

• Crazy versatile: I was not expecting to wear these anywhere near as much as I have.
• Able to be resoled: This is very rare for such simple footwear
• Actually comfy without socks: I’ve never been someone who could comfortably go sockless in loafers, but these are totally fine.
• Gigantic range of leathers to choose from: A huge plus for the brand, there are some two dozen options in several textures and kinds of leather

Downsides, not dealbreakers

Most of these “cons” are really just side effects of Sabahs being simple slippers and not structured shoes that are well secured to the foot — they aren’t exactly flaws, just stuff to remember:

• Easy to cause sore feet if you’re doing a ton of walking in them all day (ie. touristing in Europe)
• No arch support at all, which can be a deal breaker for those with foot issues
• Not super secure on the foot, so you can’t take impromptu hikes or run for a bus

Price and Build: How Sabah’s Shoes Compare to Traditional Turkish Slippers

• Sabahs are handmade in Turkey, where the style is ubiquitous
• More repairable than traditional Turkish leather slippers
• Sabahs cost $210; in Turkey, they might cost a quarter of that
• But their price is justifiable (read on for why)

Handmade with leather from Istanbul in Gaziantep, one of the oldest cities in the Middle East, these slippers are inspired by a traditional slip-on shoe from the region.

(I guess I should note that they probably originated in Yemen. But they’re very, very closely associated with the Turkish cities of Gaziantep, Kilis, and Antakya.)

Compared to the traditional shoe that inspired them, Sabahs are a little slimmer (they stay on the foot better) and the sole is more robust: Sabah are able to rebuild and repair them to a greater degree, meaning better longevity.

If you’ve spent any time in Turkey, Yemen, Morocco, or India (did someone say ‘India’?!), you’ve probably seen shoes similar to these. You might hear critics exclaim that slippers like these would cost a quarter of the price in Turkey, but when were you going to go to Turkey?

Putting aside the fact that a ticket to Turkey costs a lot more than two hundred bucks, remember that you’re ordering them from within the United States.

I have first hand experience in how expensive it is to import and sell something in the U.S.: I found selvedge denim jeans in Indonesia for seventy bucks, and by the time I’d imported them to sell to Americans, all the duties and fees made the jeans cost well over two hundred bucks! Give Sabah a break!

Besides the fact that it costs a lot to import stuff, Sabah can justify their higher price by:

• offering (and guaranteeing) consistent sizing
• being bound by consumer protections and the FTC — you have no such guarantees when buying off the streets of Gaziantep
• fast shipping, returns, and exchanges
• making them easier to repair than traditional slippers, and
• offering a giant range of leathers.

Plus, while Sabah sells slippers in all the classic leathers, you’ll have a hard time finding options as dope as these on the streets of Yemen:

Sabah’s Sizing, Fit, and Comfort

• Website lists both the European and US size
• But they convert weirdly: they call en EU 44 a size US 12, but most places call an EU 44 a size US 10.5 or 11
• Learn your Brannock size (not your sneaker size), add 0.5 to that, and look for that number on Sabah’s sizes

The CEO, Mickey Ashmore (who you can see modeling the shoes all over the website and all over Manhattan, where I’ve spotted him frequently) explains the sizing thusly:

“You want the shoes to be very tight, as snug as possible without curling your toes or hurting. A little pressure is OK.“

Once I learned that, I realized I got a size too big. When I got my Sabahs, the only other European-sized shoes I had were my Common Projects sneakers. But I forgot that your sneaker size is much bigger than your loafer size.

In the US, your “true size” is the size you get when you measure your foot on a Brannock device in the shoe store. My Brannock size is 11.5, most of my sneakers are 12, most of my loafers are 11 — sometimes 10.5.

So while my European sneakers are size 45, the right Sabah size for me would be 44. Their website equates 44 to a US 12, but I think they did that because guys always think their feet are bigger than they are: most places (like these two) call a size EU 44 a US 10.5 or 11.

What If My Sabahs Feel Too Big?

As a guy with a Brannock size of 11.5, my size 45 Sabahs (which they call a 12.5) were a bit big, but honestly, they were still wearable. As you can see in the picture above, they’ve been worn all over the country.

There are no stiffeners or structure in the upper of your Sabahs; it’s all natural cowhide. The good thing about footwear like this is that it’s not the end of the world if they feel a little big or you get a little heel slip: when it’s an all-leather shoe, it conforms to your foot’s shape with wear.

While the fact that they’re laceless does mean you can’t adjust the fit, the sizing isn’t quite as risky as it sounds because the Sabah will become more shaped to your foot with the heat and friction of walking around in them.

None of this changes the fact that I’d have been better off with a smaller size, but ultimately, this didn’t make my Sabahs unwearable. Thanks, mutable nature of leather!

How Sabahs Are Made

• Rubber outsole
• Water buffalo leather insole
• Resoleable
• Handmade

The sole construction has water buffalo leather insoles that mold to your feet with time. That’s what has traditionally been used as an outsole for Turkish leather slippers, although these days, it’s more common to glue a rubber sole onto that leather — that’s what Sabah does too.

So you’ve got cow leather on top of your foot, buffalo leather beneath it, and rubber under that.

The stitching running along the outside is one continuous, waxed cotton thread that’s hand-sewn through the leather from the inside out without any machinery at all. I like that it’s so visible; whenever I look at my Sabahs, they remind me how human-made they are.

Wrapping Up

There are a lot of very good, very durable summer shoes for guys who don’t like low quality, throwaway footwear.

Sabah have a special place among them, though, for being about as comfy, flexible, and easy to put on as flip flops, but they’re infinitely more versatile and durable.

You can wear them to a casual lunch, the beach, BBQs, out to the movies (they’re so easy to kick off!) and out to the bar. They’re comfortable and casual but you won’t look schlubby at a work party. They’re also ideal for travel; easy to get on and off at the airport.

It’s wild how many ways I’ve worn these slippers. And that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say!