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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be narked that only one pair of shoes in clarks have laces??

50 replies

glendathegoodwitch · 19/08/2011 18:27

was going to head to clarks tomorrow for the dreaded school shoe buying and thought i would have a look online for styles i like - dd (5) is going into yr 1 and last year had kickers with laces and after 2 weeks of me doing laces learnt to do them herself.

only 1 pr in clarks have laces and they look like school marm shoes HERE

my 2 ss (13 & 11) both up until recently had velcro trainers and shoes and now go out with undone laces constantly cos they cant tie them!!!

i dont want lazy children with velcro shoes!!!! looks like its back to kickers then!!!

sorry for the rant!!!

OP posts:

SaulGood · 19/08/2011 19:37

I do love the start-rite buckled shoes. Our nearest start-rite stockist is miles and miles away.

Nowt wrong with velcro, it serves a purpose. I prefer buckles though. DD wears shoes with laces (she's 4) but only at home. I wouldn't inflict it on a teacher.

whenIgetto3 · 19/08/2011 19:51

I agree it is hard to find school shoes with laces, even for older children. My DSs school have just relaxed their boys uniform code as they were being asked by parents where do we buy the lace up shoes then? I don't mind velcro but why do all boys school shoes look like trainers? Really hard to get nice ones, although we have just got some Pablosky shoes that look nice.

In the US where they start formal learning later in their pre-kindergarten classes they teach children to tie laces on their shoes, you can't graduate to kindergarten if you can't tie your laces

janetsplanet · 19/08/2011 20:01

DD (12) chose the shoes in the OP the other day when shopping. she loves them and has asked for them every year

HarrietJones · 19/08/2011 20:27

I'd rather have buckles than Velcro. Dd1 who wrecks nothing was bringing home ahoes that didn't fasten.

Dd2 was wearing DM shoes until they stopped making them.

ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 19/08/2011 20:28

Babeinthewood I have no idea which sketchers school shoes you've been looking at but the girls mary janes are very plain and very nice, the boys shoes are fab and will probably outlive me ! They're leather too and not expensive. Probably cheaper than clarkes tbh.

MissBetsyTrotwood · 19/08/2011 20:44

We can only have lace up boots for DS2 because of his mobility problems. So that means Kickers. Or, occasionally some other radically expensive Italian shoe I can't remember the name of.

dementedma · 19/08/2011 20:47

DS is nine and has just got his first pair of lace up school shoes. he has had velcro up to now and is struggling with the whole lace tying thing ! Don't know why people are having such difficulty buying school shoes, it's never been a problem here but then maybe I'm easily pleased
as long as they fitted, kept their feet warm and dry, I wasn't particularly bothered about style or make.

Acceptableintheeighties · 19/08/2011 21:02

Have had a massive falling out with clarkes over the over use of Velcro on their baby/toddler shoes.
I want buckles as my dts like to undo the Velcro and throw their shoes willy nilly. I want buckles so they are slightly harder for the little escape artistes to get out of.

I asked clarkes why this is and apparently all the parents who buy shoes for their just cruising/walking 1 yr olds need Velcro as (this is where I lost the train of their argument) either the child or their childminders couldn't work buckles when putting them on.

I did ask them to clarify as to whether they expected 1yr olds to put their own shoes on, but have never received a reply.

My dts now have only socks on when in the buggy as I cannot afford to replace lost shoes.

I also wonder whether parents actually like the shoes their dc wear or if they just buy what they can get in their dcs size.

The choice of toddler shoes looks like a fairy threw up, far too much pink and hideous shades of that. I really struggle to get the one plainish design in my dcs size, so at least one pair of shoes a yr is awful.

Do clarkes really care what they look like or is it that they know whatever they spew out will get sold?

ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 19/08/2011 21:07

There is life after clarkes....... Brantano fit shoes, they sell alsorts including Clarkes. I find their shops better too if you have a brood/ pram as they,re usually quite spacious

oneofthosedays · 19/08/2011 21:12

Am a bit at your suggestion that children who can't do their own laces are lazy. DD just can't get the hang of it and she's 7.5yo, I am left handed and she is right so I think this is slowing progress, I would hardly say she is lazy .

ragged · 20/08/2011 13:35

I'd still be stuck in kindergarten, then (sigh). Was 8yo before I could tie my laces (sort of, that was in 1975), and even now can't do it well. DH despairs but I really don't care... Velcro on shoes is a Godsend.

SauvignonBlanche · 20/08/2011 16:18

My DS can't tie laces and he's 14.
So all SN kids would stay in kindergarten in the US then?

ProcrastinatorGeneral · 20/08/2011 17:43

DM stopped making kids shoes I think. This sucks as their boots are superb.

I have had to use Clarks for my two, as they are both an H fitting. There is nowhere locally that I can get them alternatives. I would have to take them somewhere like Leeds or Sheffield by train to get anything else:(

MadameCastafiore · 20/08/2011 17:47

I always bought DD mary jane style on line - you can get them on line and send them back if they don't fit - longest lasting shoes I ever bought.

Have only bought one pair of shoes for each of my kids from clarks and they were shite - fell apart in super quick time.

SoupDragon · 20/08/2011 17:49

Not having lace up shoes for small girls isn't to do with laziness. I am fairly certain I never had lace up shoes at that age and I am before the time of Velcro.

I could still tie laces because I had lace up plimsoles etc.

foxinsocks · 20/08/2011 17:52

Dd wanted those brogue style shoes in Clarks. We queued about 30 mins, they had them in her size (4/4.5), she tried them on, they were the only ones she liked and the store manager refused to sell them to us because the shoes were designed badly and leave gaping holes on everyone and are therefore not suitable for most children.

So why the fuck have them on display?!

Have vowed never to go back again

Dd has a great pair of dms (not for school) and they last ages too.

CocktailMumma · 20/08/2011 17:55

Well my DDs school stipulates BLACK POLISHABLE LACE UPS

Its always been a challenge to get hold of them but last year and this year has proved almost impossible. Infact this year may well be impossible for DD1.

I have just spent 3 days this week trying obtain such shoes for DD1 to try on because she has a very high instep and few designs fit her well. The only Clarkes lace up for this season does not suit her foot. I have not yet found a shop stocking this years Startrite lace ups.

DD1 looks like she will be having there*www.clarks.co.uk/find/department-is-kids/gender-is-girls/size-is-_1junior/producttype-is-shoes/product-is-20342806* Assuming they fit ok once they arrive. Our local clarks have had to order them in and I have an appointment to go back and get them fitted next Week.

John Lewis was shameful! They checked their stock and had absolutely NO laceups at all in DD1s size 5 to 6.

Am really at a loss now as to where else to go and try. Actually I am sure that last year we ended up with a pair of startrites from old stock.

I dont get why there are so few lace up shoes out there. All the shoe shops I have been in (and I have been in LOTS over the past 5/6 years sourcing lace ups) tell me that a lace up shoe is a better fitting shoe for most feet because of the way the tension can be adjusted.

ripstheirthroatoutliveupstairs · 20/08/2011 18:03

DD got a pair of Clarkes a couple of days ago. Flat black leather lace ups. I was delighted, she wanted Mary Jane pumps but her ridiculously thin feet ruled those out.
She has been tying her laces since she was six and needed to be able to do walking boots for a school outing.
Poster with the opposite hands to her DD, have you looked on youtube.

whenIgetto3 · 20/08/2011 19:14

coctailmumma where are you? Have you tried finding a little independent shop. These are usually better than others, also my DD has a high instep and we went the other way got shoes that didn't properly fit and were slightly too big then saw a podiatrist who fitted insoles made to measure for us. Slightly expensive but the insoles also fitted her hockey boots, soccer boots, spikes and normal trainers. Worked well as now we appear to be able to wear whatever shoe we want without any pain and with them fitting well.

ragged · 20/08/2011 19:25

psssstt Sauvignon I am American, and they didn't actually hold me back in Kindergarten either. I even have a PhD, though not from a US university... oh darn, no wonder I don't, I'm sure tying laces is buried somewhere in the USA PhD reqs, too.

spiderpig8 · 20/08/2011 19:27

Hmm I think this post is more about the OP wanting all and sundry to see how clever her DD is at tying laces !
My 5yo has lace up trainers for PE, and my dad (who is more patient than me) taught her to tie them.I think velcro is infinitely better- quicker co easier to slip on and off and no bloody trailing laces when they come untied!!

whenIgetto3 · 20/08/2011 19:31

ragged sorry maybe it was just in Oklahoma where we were and maybe it was because my DHs job paid for them to be at a private school so they could stipulate the uniform and shoe code

Well may also be that because in Oklahoma you need to be able to tie up your work boots if your not a cowboy too

CocktailMumma · 20/08/2011 19:31

whenIgetto3 - thats an idea and a route we may have to go down.
I am in South Wales. I have spent today in Cardiff without success.

Bristol will be my next stop next week or I am actually considering buying a sensible well foot covering sturdy shoe (if I can find one) that is not lace up because quite frankly to have to spend days on end hunting down a needle in a haystack is peeing me off! Its not like we have not tried.

coccyx · 20/08/2011 19:36

i always get laces for younger offspring as I feel for staff having to help 30 children with laces

Sofabitch · 20/08/2011 19:40

Yabu. My children can tie laces. But that doesn't mean they do. Schools round here ask you to provide Velcro shoes in the infants because they haven't time to be constantly reminding little Jonny to tie his laces. And then have the feign an inability to do it. If you want your child to wear laces buy him trainers to wear at home when it's you spending your time nagging him to do them up.

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