Aibu to assume clarks shoes are best for kids?

[Fishface77]

My daughter is 4 and needs shoes/trainers. I went to sports direct and she attached Gerald to some frozen ones.

I want her to have clarks but my DH said these would be fine.
Where is best for children's shoes! There's so much choice (and so much expense) but I want her to have a decent pair of shoes.

No they were not Peggy; they had a little bit of give, but DD feet are very slow growing. She grows a size every year. At 9 years she is size 1, ds 4,5 years is 12. He has massive boats like dh who is a size 13

Ds is infant 12, not adult 12

Don't buy into Clarks hype (I've been there) especially for girls shoes

Measure round your DC's feet (barefooted) and comparing that to sole of Clarks girls shoes will demonstrate no support where it is needed. You should be able to comfortably fit child's natural foot into the shoe.

I have a measure guage from clarks and measure her feet. My mum bought her size 2 shoes as a present, and they are hanging off her.

DD has been size 3.5 for over 5 years now, since she was 10/11.

My children have all had very odd feet (they're going to have massive bunions like their ma when they're older!), I found that Clarks was hopeless at measuring their fit, and with finding a suitable style for their feet. I go to either a small independent, or to Russell & Bromley. Whilst the price at R&B is expensive for the designer stuff, they also sell Clarks and StartRite, at reasonable prices. I much prefer StartRite - a few quid more than Clarks, but worth it for much softer leather, with a comfier fit. I've never bought them mini Uggs or similar. Too many kids for that!

Clarks are only good for fitting. They are poor value for money. My DD got a pair in September and the sole came off. We got her another pair in January and the bow came off after six weeks. I don't know where I'll get her shoes from next year.

You can play around with the widths and sizes a bit. Eg a 3.5G is half way between a 3.5F and a 4F but IMO getting the fit checked is more important than the measuring. Clarks say it is a starting point rather than the definite size. The style of shoe and the shape of the childs foot all mean that the size measured may not actually be the best fit.
Also there is a big difference in the quality/ability of the sales staff.

I have never rated Clarks for children's shoes. In my experience, the fitting is hit and miss. When my DC wore children's sizes, I used an independent that sold Start - Rite, Ricosta, Petasil and other Brands. These generally cost only a few pound more than Clarks, but the fit and finish was better. Even my hooligan DS2 couldn't wear out Petasil.

So. I went into clarks to get her measured.
The lovely girl said she was a 8G. But there were no 8G shoes we liked so she suggested a 9F. This rankled me so I asked how you could go from an 8G to the 9F and she said as we were going bigger in the size we could go smaller on the width. I wasn't happy so I left it.
My nearest start rite is at our local brantano so will go there next.

My teenagers have survived a childhood of not wearing Clarks.

Pediped

Garvalin

Petasil

You can get some great bargains on EBay.

I hate Clarks

You should have tried the 9f. She was right, up in length down in width makes it nearly the same size. The size measured is not always going to be the size worn and much depends on style. The individual staff member makes a big difference, if you aren't convinced, do ask if another member of staff is happy to check, but ask in a nice way!

I buy Clarks shoes for school, partly because DS1 has wide feet and needs to be comfortable all day. I buy cheap trainers for PE and cheap 'Crocs' from Sports Direct for summer. He's fine in cheap canvas 'Converse' style ankle boots and wellies from supermarket.
If I got everything from Clarks, I'd be skint!

Apparently almost half of all feet issues in later life can be traced back to wearing ill fitting poor quality footwear as a child, when their feet are growing/developing. For peace of mind I would never buy a cheap pair of school shoes for my daughter, has always been clarkes for me. I have a cousin who is a podiatrist =)

You've fallen for the marketing.

Cordy I'm surprised that a podiatrist would recommend Clarks

Mine recommended Superfit or Pediped.

I'm surprised that a podiatrist would recommend Clarks

I think most podiatrists (at least the ones I have come across) are quite old school and think that feet need lots of support all around, so nice stiff leather, a good firm arch support, etc.

To be honest bare feet is best option but that's not entirely feasible in our culture.

When I was a child, 50 years ago, they said flip flops were best - strengthened your arches or something.

I always get my children's feet measured and Clarks are good for this but I don't necessarily buy from them as my children's feet don't necessarily fit their shoes very well. I prefer Jones as they measure but have a good varied range I.e. Startrite. John Lewis are good too! For my daughter who is now 7 I sometimes buy weekend shoes elsewhere like Next.

My DCs' podiatrist recommends Geox and a few others but never Clarks. He criticises their fitting and design.

In France and Germany they do not have width fittings at all. No one died.

Clarks are awful quality, the fitting is questionable. Trainers from sports direct will almost certainly be better for their feet!

I worked in Clarks a decade ago while at Uni. All I can say is almost all their staff are hungover students who just want to reach their sales target for the day so they don't get a bollocking from their manager! We went on a day long training course but that was about it.

As a parent myself I wouldn't get shoes from there, hungover teenagers aren't the best placed people to fit my child's shoes!