I have an expensive, silver Thimblelady thimble, and gel ones, and leather ones, little stainless steel pads that stick to your fingers, etc, etc. I have found that a cheap metal thimble works as well as any of them. The secret is in how you hold the needle to the thimble when using it. I put the needle on the "side" of the thimble when sewing and using the tip of the thimble when pushing the needle through the fabric. I don't know if that explains it very well but it is the technique more than the thimble. I had tried years to use thimbles and always thought that it had to be the thimble and not my technique using it. It seems so simple. I was watching a lady in one of my groups using one and just sat and watched her. I realized how she was manipulating the needle on the thimble.
So one day, as I was sewing on a binding and it just clicked to use the needle on the side of the thimble and the flat, dimpled end to push through the fabric like my friend was doing and lo, I was finally using a thimble!! Hope that helps. Try not to spend lots of money on thimbles, the cheapy ones work fine once the technique is figured out...