to buy DS1s school shoes from Barratts instead of Clarks

[Nellysknickers]

Reduced to £15.00 instead of the usual £38 at Clarks. Will they last? Will they rub? Oh god, I'm a dreadful mum

Hoover, you should have been told that measurement is only a guide- that gets them around those inaccuracies. That came about because of a Watchdog slot where others found similar.

TBH when I worked there it gave us a starting point rather than a guarantee that that's the size you'd walk out with. As well as the measuring differing, different styles of shoes would be deeper/wider than others.

That's why I'd never recommend getting their feet measured and then going elsewhere for that exact size shoe.

Have you looked in the sales? I have bought clarks shoes for mine from John Lewis & Clarks direct for about £13 a pair in the last week.

What's so hard about "Are they comfy, DC?" and squishing the toe?

I check the end. Do that sort of smooth hand across the surface. Slip finger down back and watch walk. What do I do for the other two?

I normally buy Clarks shoes but was struggling before Xmas with bills etc. Ds was desperate for shoes, his Clarks shoes which were about 10 months had finally had it. I bought a perfectly good pair from Brantano for £15 but within one wk they had started to peel and scuff badly. I had to colour them in with permanent marker . So I will have to buy him another pair soonish, wish I'd bought him a better pair now.
Clarks shoes are way too expensive but then if u worked out £ per wear on his old shoes it would have been pence. I've told ds he is not having jack nano's time and will just get the cheaper version.

Meh, being a mum doesn't mean you've had the training required to do that process properly. Most parents can do the length and slip test, but don't think about the rest. I don't know about spotty, but we had to go on extenive training days, read whole booklets on fit checks, and pass 50 overseen fit checks before we were "qualified" to do it properly. I can honestly say I didn't have a clue my first training day. I know a lot of the bigger Clarks stores can be a bit shit, but our little franchise was always brilliant, proper little local store, same customers year on year on year, so we can't have been doing too badly.

BTW, spotty, it's scary how many Freyas I have bumped into working in Clarks shops! I may well have met yours as well!

Agree with spotty on the measuring thing. It is only a guide, as different styles fit children's foot shapes differently, if that makes sense. And yeah, Clarks sizes are deliberately different from other brands, so you can't really measure in Clarks and then fit elsewhere iyswim.

I grew up in a country where they didn't have Clarks, my feet still grew properly and look and function fine!

I'm sure the cheaper shoes will be fine, no need to feel bad. I am amazed at how Clarks have brainwashed all UK parents!

Buy cheap, buy twice.

For the first time ever last year I bought my (very wide footed G/H) son a pair of non-Clarks. They didn't even last for half a term! He's very short and never needed more than one pair of shoes a year as he grew so little, so we had bloody good value out of a pair of Clarksies each year. Also, when he was 3 they cost c.£25. He's now 16 and Clarks still cost about £25 -wtf!

I don't believe that Clarks shoes are necessarily always better, but I think it's so important that, whatever shoes you buy, they actually fit properly. There's nowt wrong with supermarket shoes that fit. The amount of children you see going round in Ugg-style boots, their ankles quite clearly falling over to the side though...

www.clarks.co.uk/measure-and-fit/how-to-fit

Knew there'd be an online guide somewhere! That's a basic version of what Clarks do.

nkf like Freya said, sit them down and pull on the back of the shoe. It shouldn't move.

For the others run your fingers Inbetween the shoe and foot. It shouldn't be too tight or too loose. Also check where the shoe sits on the ankle to avoid rubbing.

Freya I too had to go on the course and have 50 suitable checks. This was over 15 years ago though.

After a series of illfitting and uncomfortable shoes from Clarks and the very expensive independent kids shoe shop I bought a fitting gauge from Starite and measure DS myself. Barratts shoes will be just as good as long as you check they fit ok.

a dreadful mum?

jesus dont be such a snob

some people cant even afforf Barrets

Thank you for the guide.

No one should spend £40 on kids school shoes. Shoes get ruined so easily.

NewYear my mum bought me Clarks shoes religiously as a child. We were skint but she thought they were best and didn't want to ruin my feet.

At 27 I had an operation to remove a bunion that had developed when I was a child. Just sayin'

YANBU to worry about good shoes, but YABU to say you're being a dreadful mum! If the shoes fit DC, they will be fine!

Has any of you used a website like Zulily to buy your shoes? They're incredibly cheap so wondering if there's a trap in there or not?

What about buying a gauge and doing it yourself at home, it only costs £6 and lets your measure your child's foot without having to go anywhere, and since it's a Clarks one for Clarks shoes, you can easily buy online?

I would love to see a system that allows me to take a picture of my DD s feet and it just calculates the exact sizing for me so that I can get the shoes that perfectly match my DD s feet!? And this way, every X months I can just send a new pictures, get a new pair of shoes back and send the old one back to them.

Any thoughts?

The Start Rite website has a function whereby you can upload photos on your children's fit standing on a grid you print out and it calculates their size. I'm not sure it is any good though as it calculated my son's feet as 2 sizes bigger than they are. I have never had any luck buying off the Internet for children's shoes- they never seemto fit my children- except for trainers or wellies. I go to a local independent shoe shop and usually buy European brands. They can be expensive but usually last well so good value for money. My daughter's last school shoes from there were a bargain- £15 for leather, leather lined shoes.

Should say, that was in the sale but lots of smaller shops still have their sale on.

Thanks Fayra for such a quick and interesting reply.

I didn't know Start Rite and yes their process looks AWFUL!! Wow ... I definitely see why it got to 2 sizes bigger and + it must have taken ages, hasn't it?

But what if the process was super easy and accurate, I mean, they're doing it bad, but it must be able to be easy really?

when DD was young, she had very very narrow feet, had to have startrite, as they were the only ones that ever fitted, at even greater expense than clarks!!!!!! however, as she got older, and at secondary school, she ended up with barretts/shoezone shoes, as these are also incredibly narrow, but...............she wouldnt be seen dead with their carrier bags, and always made me carry them!!. As a saturday girl in a clarks shop 35 years ago, a lot of the focus was on fit, we had lots of training. A cheaper shoe, so long as carefully checked by parent for fit, is fine