In 1949, after the relationship between two brothers broke down, Adolf "Adi" Dassler created Adidas in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach and his brother Rudolf established Puma across town. That split is the reason a pair of low gum-soled shoes with three stripes exists at all, and the Samba was one of the things Adi kept tinkering with. Sources disagree on exactly when it first appeared, so I will stay with what is solid: it started as a football shoe for hard, slippery ground, and the early pairs, one account says, looked a bit like hiking boots.

That is the shoe the adidas Sambae grows out of. It is the platform version of the Samba, with a taller sole and a full leather upper, and the women's Black White Gum pair began dropping on December 1, 2023. I like it because it keeps the T-toe and the serrated stripes that make a Samba read as a Samba, then simply lifts everything an inch or so. It does not try to be a different shoe.

Here is the platform pile I would start with. The white and pink Sambae is the sweet one, white leather with pink stripes on a translucent gum platform, and the white Sambae W in Cloud White and Wonder Blue is its calmer cousin. The pale blue textured pair with silver metallic stripes is the one I would wear with a gray wool skirt and black tights this month. The two Samba XLG pairs in black go chunkier, and the Gazelle Bold in black suede, pink and scarlet is the friend who shows up in a stacked sole and gets away with it.

Test before you commit: stand in them and look at the gum line from the side. If the platform looks like a separate block stuck under the upper, move on. The good ones read as one shape.

Brown soles had their big moment in the 1990s, when Britpop fans needed at least one pair in the closet and the shoe turned up on Kate Moss, the Gallagher brothers and Ewan McGregor in the 1996 film Trainspotting. That is the energy the Samba OG in color borrows, only with a flatter sole and a friendlier palette.

The powder blue pair with brown stripes is the one I keep going back to, because the brown stripe stops it from tipping into baby. The white and sage green, the white and burgundy and the white and tech olive pairs are all the same idea: a clean leather upper with one color doing the talking. The chocolate brown with cream stripes sits well with a camel coat, and the deep green and the collegiate green pairs are what I would pull on with dark denim and a gray crewneck.

The fitting-room test is the heel tab. Check that the color on the tab matches the stripes in daylight, not only under shop lights, since off-white and cream can drift. Then press the T-toe: suede overlays should feel firm, not floppy.

What I would skip: the palest pairs if you walk through wet leaves every morning. October is not kind to light leather, and a color like petrol or burgundy hides the damp better.

The Samba was always a shoe that looked better the more it was lived in, which is why the metallic versions are such a good joke. Gold, pink, blue, silver and pewter leather on a gum sole take a football shoe that began on frozen ground and put it in a party dress.

The champagne gold OG is the easiest to wear, because with the cream stripes it behaves like a neutral. The rose pink metallic is for a gray knit and straight-leg jeans, and the cobalt blue metallic with black stripes is louder, so I would keep everything else quiet. The mirror silver W with the cream toe and the pewter pair with black stripes are my picks for a black slip dress and a long coat. Then there are the suede-look ones: sand beige, burnt orange with lilac laces, and dusty mauve with black stripes. The orange one wants a navy sweater and nothing else.

Do a quick check on the finish. Metallic leather creases in lines rather than soft folds, so flex the toe box in your hand and see whether the sheen cracks or just wrinkles. For the suede-look pairs, run a thumb across the surface: it should leave a mark that brushes away.

What I would skip: the mirror finishes if you want one pair for daily walking. They are fun, but they show every scuff.

The first Samba, according to the Adi and Kathe Dassler foundation, was made of black leather, with suede caps coming soon after and the three stripes in white leather. Look at the classic Samba OG in black with white stripes and you can see that recipe is still intact, which says a lot about how little needed to change. Adidas's second-best-selling design, with over 35 million pairs sold, behind the Stan Smith, is not a shoe that needs reinventing.

These are the pairs I would call the base layer of a closet. White with black stripes and the gray suede T-toe is the one to buy first. The black with white stripes, the black with cream, and the all-black with cream stripes are the evening-friendly set. The cream and black pairs, one on a dark gum sole, are what I would wear with ivory trousers and a navy blazer. The women's cut in Core Black, Cloud White and Gum has the same contrast logo accents as the others.

Compare the gum soles when you can. A lighter gum looks sporty with shorts; a darker gum sole looks more grown up with wool trousers. Look at the toe cap too, since the reinforced ones keep their shape.

What I would skip: buying two near-identical black pairs. Pick the stripe color you like and move on to something in a different lane.

Terrace shoes are a family, and the Samba has siblings. Vogue noted that Adi Dassler's company went on to make the Samba and Gazelle styles that people now love, and the Gazelle is the sister that took the platform most seriously. The Gazelle Bold pairs in periwinkle with gold stripes, in red with white stripes and floral embroidery, and the stacked gum ones are the ones to wear with a dress and bare ankles in a mild week.

Beyond the Gazelle, the Handball Spezial is the most grown-up of the lot. The brown suede, the burnt sienna with sky blue stripes and the leopard-print pair are all low and slim, so they sit under wide trousers without bunching. The two SL 72 runners, in plum brown and metallic brown, are the softer, nylon-and-suede option for a gray coat and straight jeans. The red suede Tokyo with a gum sole is the slimmest of the group, and the one I would pull out with a pleated skirt and thick socks.

Do the sole-height test: line them up next to your regular boots in the closet. The Gazelle Bold sits tall, the Handball Spezial and Tokyo sit low, and the difference tells you which trouser hem they pair with.

What I would skip: leopard print with a lot of other pattern. Let it be the one wild thing and keep the coat plain.

If I were choosing one pair today, I would start with a Sambae, because it is the shoe that gives you the Samba and a little extra height. Then I would add one Samba OG in a color I already wear, and only after that think about the Gazelle Bold, the Handball Spezial or an SL 72.

Whichever you pick, bring a pair of socks and an outfit you wear on a Tuesday to the fitting. Walk to the mirror. If you cannot picture them with three things in your closet, put them back.

It all goes back to a shoe built for frozen football pitches, and somehow it became the one I would reach for on a wet Tuesday in October.