Are you a bad mum if you don't buy...

[btfly2]

to your children Clarks, Start Rite, Hampton school shoes? Would you think badly of me...? In our school it's the non written norm but I'm thinking to be brave and break the rules...aibu ?? ;)

[monkeysox]

Yanbu. If the other shoes fit. My dd needs a h width so have to pay £££ at clarks.

[PickAChew]

One of mine spent a year in various pairs from Shoe zone. He had a habit of wading through the filthiest puddles imaginable and £35 Clarks went mouldy just as quickly as the £13 Shoe Zone ones.

[seminakedinsomebodyelsesroom]

I would say it's the fitting that's most important, not the brand. My view is that if I am in the position to afford to buy school shoes that have been fitted by someone with some training/expertise I will. They wear those shoes for around 7 hours a day, five days a week. But whether this view has any basis on fact/logic I don't know. And I appreciate that the shoes are really very expensive and that means out of many people's price bracket.

[wheresthel1ght]

Not at all! I flatly refuse to pay for Clarks as they are ridiculously expensive and actually relatively shit quality. My dsd destroyed hers in one playtime on the first day back at school. Scuffed to hell.

Unfortunately they are the only ones that fit her correctly

[altiara]

You don't need to tell anyone!

[HateSummer]

Hush Puppies are good for girls shoes these days. Buying many pairs of shoes over the year is false economy. Buy them a nice leather pair with a thick heel and get them polished every week, and spray them with waterproof spray. They'll last the year if not more.

[CozyAutumn]

ds1 wears Start-Rite for school because his feet are wide and I find they fit his big feet really well. He's 5 and in a size 1H. Clarks are rubbish and when I bought ds some of them when he started reception last year, within a week his shoes had a hole in them! I went back to the shop and they swapped them for something else, and it was then that I was introduced to Start-Rite. Never looked back
ds2 wears some cheaper shoes for now that cost a tenner. He is in nursery at the moment, and ds1 wore the exact same shoes when he was in nursery and never had a problem with them. They are actually pretty good shoes for a tenner.

[Thingvellir]

I hold Clarks shoes in very low esteem, they scuff, lose shape and fall apart so much faster than others.

Indeed, I judge senseless buying of Clarks - it is not a measure of good taste or good choice! However, school shoes need to be a) leather and b) a good fit. As long as those two criteria are filled, it is undoubtedly a far more educated/refined choice than Clarks

[sirfredfredgeorge]

You are a bad mum if you buy those without question, they are pretty poor, using out dated ideas of what shoe and childrens development are.

[Looneytune253]

I've found it false economy to buy cheap shoes. Depending on how fast your children's feet grow. I have bought cheap ones for my daughter before for them to last 2 weeks and shes not ridiculously heavy footed or anything. Last year my youngest had the same pair of Clark's all year.

[usernumber007]

When I was a teenager I worked part time in a shoe shop who's target market was the older generation. I spent many a Saturday and Sunday listening to the old dears tell me all about the problems with their feet from bunions to fallen arches etc. 95% would say the problems arose from badly fitting shoes they wore when they were younger. You only have one pair of feet, and your feet take so much stress and strain each day, treat them to a good pair of quality shoes. Especially children's feet as the bones are still soft as they are still growing. I couldn't give a damn about the brand, just the support they are getting

[mumtomaxwell]

I bought my two sons' school shoes from Lidl!!!!!! £6.99 a pair!! They've turned out to be great so far. The last pair of Clarks shoes they had fell apart.

I was in Clarks a couple of weekends ago and stood in the queue behind several people all returning school shoes....

[AppleJac]

Dd who is 4 sees a chiropractor who is helping her develop arches on her feet.

He doesn't like clarks & startrite as they are too hard with inflexible soles. They are also very flat.

He wants me to buy shoes like pediped and petasil which have arches built in them and have very flexible soles

[BabyGanoush]

I have never in my life paid a moment's attention to a child's shoes

Do you really imagine anyone notices or cares?!

[PetyrBaelish]

You are a bad mum if you buy those without question, they are pretty poor, using out dated ideas of what shoe and childrens development are.

Interesting, could you go into further detail?

I have bought Clarks so far for my toddler but his width has changed considerably over time and I just want a shop which measures properly to make sure I buy the right thing for him.

[Tomorrowillbeachicken]

I don't buy them tbh. I did at the beginning of the year but he managed to break them in the first week. He's in a george by Asda pair atm which seem very sturdy.

[DameSquashalot]

DD's feet don't grow too quickly, so I buy Startrite. They last for the whole year until she outgrows them. I can never get other shoes to fit properly / apart from Clark's and their quality is really poor.

If other shoes fit, and they last for you, sod what everyone else is doing.

[ItShouldHaveBeenJessMass]

If you really want branded shoes, eBay is brilliant - my DS has had virtually brand new Clarks and Kickers for a tenner a pair. But I don't see cheaper shoes (and agree with maxwell, Lidl's shoes are brilliant, as are a lot of their childrens' wear, especially raincoats, boots etc) as being a 'false economy' . If they're super cheap to start with and you have to replace them every few months, it still adds up to less than you'd pay for Clarks, which will either wear out or be grown out of before you've spent enough on cheaper shoes to compensate.

If you're kids are fed, clean, loved, played with and dressed appropriately for the weather, then you're doing grand. Nowt 'bad mum' about it.

[WatchingFromTheWings]

All my 3 wore Clark's, youngest still does. Never had any problem with them. Generally they go to charity as they've grown out of them while they are still in excellent condition. He's had a new pair today, in fact. His old ones will go in the bin though as he definitely had his monies worth with them. They're still in one piece, but too well worn to pass on this time.

[temporarilyjerry]

I'm surprised that people are unsatisfied with the quality of Clarks. I bought a pair for DD when she was in Year 5 and we have just replaced them. She is in Year 9.

[sirfredfredgeorge]

PetyrBaelish The "measuring properly" is part of the problem, as AppleJac's post suggest, the idea is not that shoes need to fit 100% snuggly, what they need is to fit close enough to not fall off, but otherwise be little more than a very flexible covering protecting the foot from thorns etc. The big problem is rigid soles that prevent moving of the foot in the same way it does when barefoot.

see e.g.
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/09/barefoot-best-for-children for a non-scientific write up.

The width that is really important is the heel width, that's the one that stops the shoe falling off, the toe box should be super wide as your foot splays out as you walk or run.

[HanYOLO]

DS2 has dainty little narrow feet - so Clarks is the only way for him but overall I think they are not as good quality as the price suggests they should be. Also I agree - they tend to be over sturdy and inflexible.

DS1's best ever pair of school shoes to date were from Asda and lasted a year and a term for £13 - apparently super comfy.

[user1474781546]

temporary= your DDs feet haven't grown in 4 years?

[user1474781546]

I have found Clarkes crap at fitting shoes, really didn't understand my kids feet. Poor range and compensate for the lack of that by often using insoles.
My kids had wide flat feet, measured quite small width, but needed a style to fit their type of foot. Also had quite prominent ankle bones, so needed a deep cut shoe at the side because it was prone to rubbing there, Clarkes never noticed these things.
It;s best is a parent can become the expert in their own children's feet, I have paid £80 for good fitting shoes and £5 in shoe zone for good fitting shoes.

Getting to know your own children's requirements makes you the best expert there is.