So fucking cross - £45 Clarks shoes not even fucking leather???????

[inlovewithhubby]

As above. Two pairs bought today for 4 and 6 year old. Bought patent for first time ever as my last child starts school and I caved. Just took the stickers out and discovered to my horror they aren't even leather?? How on earth can they justify that cost for man made fibre shoes? I am going to kick off massively, I got them in John Lewis so I'm starting there, but does anyone know how they manage it?

Man made fibre makes feet sweat. Leather also 'gives' in a way man made fibre doesn't. It's also cheap and I could have got a pair of plastic shoes off the shelf for about £7 from any supermarket. I thought I was paying for quality but I'm clearly not.

Interestingly there is a confusing sign on the labels if both pairs which resembles the leather sign, but they then clearly state that they are man made fibre. Im initially going after misrepresentation but i didn't even look at the signs - I just presumed that a 40 plus quid pair of Clarks shoes would be leather. AI really being U for having that expectation?

Ds walks 4 miles to school and back, plus extra through the day as its a split site school.

By far the best shoes I've found have been Next. He had Kickers and wore them out in three weeks, ditto Clarkes. I usually use them for dd too as they have a variety of style and fittings to ensure they fit properly. And use standard sizing measurements.

male chicks are either gassed or put alive into grinding machines when they are but a few days old.

Whole male chicks are fed to otters, owls, snakes, other suitable carnivores, kept in sanctuaries & shelters. I wonder if the ground down chicks are made into protein meal to feed pet dogs. I suppose the predators could all be PTS or there could be prey bred specially just to feed them instead.

We talk about the terrible working conditions for clothing manufacturers in low income countries... but there's a flip side to that. The industry brings income & investment to poor areas, the factories can even mean financial independence for young women (in cultures that otherwise rarely allow women any independence). The ethics of the supply chains are very complicated.

Whole male chicks are fed to otters, owls, snakes, other suitable carnivores, kept in sanctuaries & shelters. I wonder if the ground down chicks are made into protein meal to feed pet dogs.

So that's all right then...except:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_culling

"Methods of culling include cervical dislocation, asphyxiation by carbon dioxide and maceration using a high speed grinder"

Think about this next time you buy your chicken, or cook an omelette. Talking about omelettes, you can make a perfectly good one using a gram (chickpea) flour batter. Here's my favourite - a vegan Spanish omelette.

The industry brings income & investment to poor areas

So that's all right then... except:

www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/stark-images-show-children-working-6291571

the factories can even mean financial independence for young women

Financial independence - and death!

For chrissakes, nobody needs leather. Not when the price is this high!

Don't want to derail the interesting and important discussion about leather (I mean that genuinely!)

OP I would assume when it says 'man made upper' it is referring to the padded bit around the actual opening that would go around the ankle. I have no idea what that is actually called.

Man made upper refers to the top part of the shoe. The bit that isn't the sole or heel, the lining is the inside of the shoe.

I am living proof that Clarkes shoes are rubbish. My dm insisted I.had them
My feet are dreadful. Whilst dd grew up with shoes from Tesco, primark and various other low cost "plastic " alternatives. Her feet are great.
My toes are misshapen. They weren't at 5, at 15 they were dreadfull

Anyone else thing Man made uppers sound like drugs? Good ones at that.

If you think £45 is bad try £95 for one pair of school shoes for a 14 year old boy. Because nowhere stocks men's size 10 in kids shoes even though Clarks and startrite claim to go up to size 10. Plus another £100+ for the other two kids....

lol @ HoneyDragon.