Recommendations for leather lined school shoes anyone?

[LilyChantilly]

Looking for some shoes that are more like trainers (velcro or lace-up) but completely black and smart enough for secondary school. I did get some Start Rite shoes for DS but they were really smart brogues and very very stiff and they rubbed his ankles so had to return them. Now on the lookout for some softer, more flexible, less public-school-looking footwear! He's got big feet for an 11 year old (UK6 / 7) so this makes it harder. Not interested in Geox - the quality nowadays is abysmal! Thanks in advance

Someone will say it eventually, so I will.

Are you sure the secondary will allow trainer-like shoes? Our school explicitly says no to these and says if in doubt ask them. Even if they are in the 'school shoes' section of a shop. They say to ask for 'formal school shoes'.

I got plain black trainers in JD for my sons, they had a wide range of different styles in all price ranges.
Why do people assume that an OP has not checked what footwear is allowed before they ask on here?
Many Secondary schools allow trainers as long as they are all black. I would imagine that anyone posting about their child going to Secondary School will have read the school handbook and be aware what their school allows.

rainbow I didn't assume. I was just double checking.
Considering the number of people that moan when school doesn't allow the shoes they pick, I don't think you can assume everyone will have checked.

There’s an Australian brand called Ascent, who make smart school shoes which are supposed to be as comfortable as trainers. I’ve only seen them online, so can’t vouch for them myself.

www.ascentfootwear.co.uk/school

Thanks for all the replies. I have checked through the school uniform policy and although they're quite strict about other aspects of the uniform (7 stripes of the tie must be showing!), they are ok with trainer style leather school shoes as long as they are completely black.

Thanks for the link MsMaestro - the main thing though is the leather lining. There are lots of shoes out there that would be fine, except they have synthetic linings which cause DS to suffer from sweaty, smelly feet and contributes to him getting atheletes foot. Easy enough to find in toddler shoes, increasingly difficult as they get older for some reason.

The other thing I forgot to mention is cost - we're pretty hard up and need to find some that are not too pricey!

It's really hard to find cheap all leather shoes. Perhaps try the men's section of Clark's on-line outlet?

Try Next.

www.next.co.uk/g671374s4#360018