To be sad at how boring little boys' shoes are?

[CrazyOldCatLady]

We brought DD (3.10) and DS (2.2) shoe shopping today in the shop with the biggest range of kids' shoes within 60km of us.

DD looked at loads of shoes, pink or purple or yellow or white or blue or orange, with sparkles, sequins, embroidery, patterns, lights, all sorts of decorations. Or even naice black patent ones, though she didn't waste much time looking at those ones. She picked out a pink and yellow glittery pair which for some reason stood out for her against all the other pink and yellow glittery ones, put them on, and was immediately so madly in love with them that we couldn't take them off. She came home ecstatically happy with her shoes and is delighted with life.

For DS, we were shown all the boys' shoes available in his size. They were all brown or navy. The styles varied very little and there were no sequins, glitter or interest. One pair had a picture of a dinosaur on the side but that was as interesting as it got.

He had actively taken part in picking out shoes for DD (he knew exactly what she would like and picked up the pair she went for in the end, saying 'Roro like this one!') and was really interested in the whole thing, and was baffled when he was only offered boring navy and brown ones. He kept asking for the pink glittery ones he had chosen for himself, and (awful mammy that I am), I went along with the shop assistant who said he couldn't have them. He ended up with a boring navy pair which he refused to wear, and cried to have his old shoes back because the new ones weren't what he wanted (he wasn't tantrumming, just very, very sad).

AIBU to be sad at how little choice boys have? And also for despising myself a little for not going with my gut and just buying the poor little guy his beloved pink sparkly shoes?

You could try an online shop such as Happy Little Soles which have a wider range.

I used to despair at the pink, glittery, ornate shoe selection for girls and end up buying DD a pair of classic desert boots from the boys section...

Yanbu, I love shopping for little girls.but I agree boys stuff is just so boring.

My son wanted sparkly trainers so I bought them for him. I ordered silver converses online for him for his birthday.

He kept moaning it wasn't fair that only girls stuff had sparkles on, and he wasn't at all bothered by the fact his shoes said "girls" on the box. And he was an 8 yo, so well aware of societies expectations on what boys and girls "should" wear.

Go and get him some sparkly shoes!

Agree with you OP.

You need to look in independent stores or online. I think there are some lovely shoes out there, I can never decide what to get my boys.

Skechers do a good range of boys shoes with lurid orange, green and LED type decorations. My boys are currently in shoes with fluorescent orange stripes (I refused to pay the extra for the LED in the heels ones which flash with every step!).

At 2 I'd have let DS get a pair of sparkly trainers from the girls' section - might have steered him towards gold/silver/green/purple maybe.

I have never had a problem with this TBH, got some lovely multi coloured canvas shoes for DS last summer from M and S.

Birkenstock do lovely leather boys sandals. Brought ds1 some in navy blue and ds2 some in dark purple.
And timberland do nice sandals in summer and warm boots in winter

I tend to get them shoes from each particular shop rather than just shoe shops. Ie in winter I will get snow boots from a ski shops rather than just a shoe shop

I agree. My son has H fit shoes (widest fitting for toddlers!) so he gets the choice of 2 different brown pairs, both of which we've had twice now. And they're still £30+ per pair! Boooooo!

I agree though kickers are very cute

I get ds little converse or trainers. boys school shoes are really horrible apart from kickers but he is not allowed to wear them at his school

you have to look around more the same with clothes

Livie and Luca have got some more interesting boys shoes.

Like these normal red sandals until you see the back

I bought DS a lovely pair of Pablosky ones last week, they are orange, pale green and beige.

They'll be lovely for summer.

I agree completely. I had the same problem with my DS whose 4 and his favourite colours are pink and purple. We went to a Clarks outlet and he sulked the whole way through because he didn't want to choose a brown, dark blue or dark green pair of boring shoes. He wanted one of the sparkly pink, gold or silver girls trainers. I insisted on the brown in the end but tbh I should have let him get the gold or silver ones.

There's needs to be far more unisex choices for the boys who don't want brown, blue and/or dinosaurs all the time and the girls who want shoes that actually keep their feet dry and don't always want sparkles.

Echo and Ricosta also do more brightly coloured boys Shoes, my boys have had red, green and even purple Shoes.

Ecco not echo..

And I secome finding a good independent shoe shop.

Geox are also quite good.

Dd (2) hates pink sparkly shoes (Yey! So do I), so she currently has some blue "boys" shoes. If your ds wants PIL sparkly shoes, then get him "girls" ones. I also have a ds and I have bought him "girls" shoes in the past because they didn't have cars on; were red; were narrow enough (d fit).

You need to find a good, independent shoe shop with European brands. These are my DS's boots, he's four! These and many others are available in a wide choice of colours...

I'm having a similar problem with DS. Converse are not hard wearing enough for him but can't seem to find anything in nice bright colours from the decent quslity shoe shops (ie. Clarks etc) everything is navy blue and flipping brown. The wee sould isn't after lights or sparkles, just something bright.

ended up buying him a pair from next that cost me £22 with some bright orange bits on which fell apart after 3 weeks.

Our local House of Fraser has the best range, ds is currently sporting a blue and green pair, they are max&may. I can't find any links to the brand bizarrely but they are similar in style to the start rite range.

I've given up on clarks. Could they make uglier shoes for boys? Seriously? And given the tradition and brand recognition they could clean up if they put any effort in.

I have to say though, I think the girl's shoes tend to be very repetitive also. They can wear colours beyond pink and purple! Impressed you found a yellow pair

This was an expensive thread to read. Thanks halfdrunktea for introducing me to Happy Little Soles. Couldn't resist red elephant shoes even though My son doesn't really need them.
Their 'foot health' section makes interesting reading too.
My son turned two in December, but is already deemed too big in the foot department for shoes suited to his age. He is an 8. Is that exceptionally big?

I agree with you about Clarks wilting and startrite, disappointed in both.

Have decided just to buy a foot gauge and measure myself/order online.

Clarks is a bloody massive trip for me and only have crap shops close to hand- peacocks basically, and i'm fed up making the trip to have feet measured but either walking away empty handed or spending alot of money on shoes i don't like and ds thinks are shit.