Are you a bad mum if you don't buy...

[btfly2]

to your children Clarks, Start Rite, Hampton school shoes? Would you think badly of me...? In our school it's the non written norm but I'm thinking to be brave and break the rules...aibu ?? ;)

I don't think fitting shoes is difficult. We've had trained staff get it wrong but because they fitted them I could take them back which wouldn't happen if I had fitted them.
My children have shoes from loads of stores. I do find Clark's are good quality. Apart from one pair of boots with a faulty zip which were exchanged they have always been outgrown rather than worn out.
I never really understand why people complain about shoes scuffing, anyone can scuff shoes it doesn't mean they are poor quality. I don't think my kids have had a pair that didn't get a scuff from playing, I just polish them out.

I've switched from Clarkes to Geox. He has G width feet, but high arches too and also very small and slow growing for his age. He has consistently worn Clarkes shoes out long before growing out of them, worn soles, unravelling stitching. The Velcro in his first school shoes finished me off as the overlap to fasten the shoe was too skimpy so filled up with fluff every few days. The Velcro would detach, and the shoe would fall off and DS would mash his foot back in destroying the heel and making it even more sloppy. They were replaced after a couple of terms by M&S. They looked shabby by the end of the year, but did the job much better than Clarkes. So far, the Geox shoes look pristine after half a term. They've got good grips and a good bumper over the front of the shoe.

I have little experience of cheap brands as my feet are too wide. I went from years of Startrite's "The H Width Shoe" to M&S which did a wider fit when it became too mortifying to wear "The H Width Shoe" yet again. As an adult, I can get years out of brands like Ecco and Hotter, so my experience has been that it's better to go to certain makes that work for me (if my feet ever dare to get a bunion, I'll sue the whole shoe industry after always buying dull, comfortable, expensive shoes )

However, I know people with more generic feet that can comfortably wear cheaper shoes and flog them to death and probably save money against it compared to my wear pattern.

I'd bother less about scuffs on shoes if he actually grew out of them on a reasonable time scale. It's not very nice to go through most of the school year in a shoe that looks trashed after the first half term.

At 5, he's just about a size 8 and about to be overtaken by his 3 year old brother. Sadly he has my feet which got to 1.5 then gave up by 13 years old. I'm not holding out much hope for growth spurts, so I don't like buying replacements for the same size because shoes got shabby in a couple of months.

Clarks boys' shoes have done my son well, lasting a good year (he's in the shoes now I got Sept last year. He likes the high-backed ones.
The girls' shoes looked so flimsy I refused to buy them for dd. Got some Hamptons ones.

Lasted a whole 10 days of wear before they needed re-heeling, so that's another £20. At the rate she grows, it may well be Shoe Zone again, as tthat's the only nearby shoe shop and they do some practical girl shoes and boots that aren't just ballet shoes with a teeny strap. Dd has noticed that only boys wear the boy shoes from Clarks and while she insists on trousers and short hair despite rude comments from other kids, she now wants clearly non-boy footwear.

None of mines have Clarks school shoes this year, youngest dd aged 4 has Kickers and oldest dd aged 10 and ds aged 7 have Hush Puppies.

Someone else mentioned Geox - I've been really impressed with them (lasted way better than Clarks and even - in the style I chose - more robust than Startrite). £30 (that was with some sort of offer) and the ones DS1 wore for a year are looking decent enough for DS2 to use them if they fit next year.

I go to brantarno, they measure and fit the shoes and usually point us in the direction of the sale shoes (sometimes they have Clark's) I must look poor 😂😂. I've just got my ds a pair of shoes from there and they are great and cost me £9!!

Mark's n sparks do decent school shoes as do tk maxx. Not a big Clark's Dan here either, very expensive for not better quality imo. A friend worked for them a few years and and said the training was very short, just a video and a short session .

I buy what fits my kids. My 9 yo DS wears DMs because they support him and his hypermobile ankles.
My 6 yo DD wears Sainsburys shoes and they fit her well but I feel confident in fitting her properly.

I can't tell who wears what in the playground...how would you know?

Barefoot all the way for my DD. Purely by accident due to her sensory issues - we got to the point whereby there was nothing she would wear due to the feel of them. I found a local independent store and I've never looked back.

We love Bobux, Petasil (not totally BF), Livie and Luca (do not google unless you want your wallet to whimper) and Pediped. Expensive but they recommend a decent amount of room for growth, so I've found they last well, and the resale value is fantastic. Recently sold two pairs of old boots for £35 and some sandals for £20, so that's this years boots paid for.

There are fb selling and discussion groups. I find the science behind it really interesting, but I'm not fanatical about it. It can get a little heated on those boards sometimes but you can pick up some bargains.

Clark's have just done a really clever job with the marketing over the years that's all. Some people think their kids' feet will fall off if they don't buy their shoes.

I have bought Clarks shoes for my DD1 ever since she needed them (she's 4.5 now) as she has very narrow feet - all of them have been brilliant - in fact her little sister is wearing her hand-me-down Clarks as we speak as they still look in excellent condition.

Maybe some kids wear out shoes faster than others? But then both my DDs are pretty active so can't be it...

This is going to sound absolutely ridiculous but I buy my kids Clarks shoes because my mum bought them for me and she would turn in her grave if I put mine in cheaper shoes! My dc are only little, 2.9 years and 15 months so we've only needed to buy shoes for, well 1.9 years, but we have already spent hundreds on them. I think it's best to have them properly measured and fitted and we take the every 6 weeks or so. Maybe I'm the idiot though as we passed several pairs of shoes onto my nephew who is a few months younger than ds and his feet are fine having worn them.

I've never bought Clarks, Startrite or Hampton shoes. Boys school shoes are so ugly (IMO) and Camper shoes are the only brand that I've found so far that I can bring myself to buy. They fit well, last until they grow out of them and still look pretty good no matter what the kids do to them.

Am more concerned about the fact that my DD1 looks like she has inherited my very flat feet and I'm thinking of taking her to a foot specialist to sort out insoles. I didn't get my first pair until I was a teenager.

I always wore Clarks and startrite as I had ridiculously narrow C width feet. I have none of the problems my mum has from wearing cheap shoes as a youngster.

I buy my DS Clarks or startrite shoes from an outlet, sometimes as much as 50% cheaper. I've just had him measured for, then bought off amazon a pair of Doc Martens boots. He loves how stable they make him feel (we both have Hypermobility and I swear by DMs).

The best thing for us is that DS school policy is that they wear the smart school shoes indoors and comfy trainers to run about in outside. His feet grow slowly and he will often go up to a whole year without needing a new pair of smart shoes - as they are still immaculate and only worn indoors I can resell them for a tenner. We go through 2 pairs of trainers a year, but again we are lucky to have sports outlets nearby and can get branded trainers for £20 or less.

My DPs often want to buy DS's shoes for me as they enjoy feeling like they are getting him something good quality and there's so much more choice than they had. We also don't buy shoes from cheaper stores because DS (and I) have very delicate skin associated with the Hypermobility (EDS). Often the cut of the shoe, or inner seam if it's not lined well, will cut the backs of our heels to shreds, so we have to look for shoes that are supple and well lined. Sometimes Clarks doesn't cut it and we go elsewhere, but we can usually find a pair or two to choose between that suit DS.

Never bought clarks. I go to the local children's shoe shop and get him measured then pick from an adornment they offer me. They aren't cheap but if you time it right there is nearly always something in he sale. Brands he seems to get a lot are Noel, ricosta and I think one startright pair. They have all lasted till he grew out of them. He is currently in Boggs most of the time as I prefer these to proper wellies and they are warm enough to do as a main shoe.

#firstworldproblems

This thread makes me sad

i normally get DS's (8) feet measured in clarkes then buy his shoes from Sainsbury's or Asda and sometimes I'll get some nice black trainers from sports direct that he can wear. You obviously don't get the width measurement like you do with clarkes shoes but I hate paying out nearly £40 on shoes that will be trashed by Christmas.

Another one who thinks Clarks are poor quality these days. I've started buying Superfit shoes for my DS. They aren't cheap but they're properly waterproof and have lasted the year unlike the Clarks which lasted less than a term! They sell a variety of brands at our local shoe shop inc. Clarks so he still gets his feet properly measured (and he has wide feet).
Luckily, with independent shoe shops, you get a wide choice of brands.

I wish I could shop anywhere other than Clarks the shoes are mostly ugly and not all good quality but my dd has redicously narrow and odd feet size so Clark have to do.

Yanbu

Just paint the soles red and call them Christian Louboutin

I wasn't bought proper fitting shoes as a dc and suffered for it as an adult so have to be sure my dd doesn't follow suit.

I stopped buying from Clark's after a couple of very bad experiences where I forked out for "quality" shoes only to find they were scuffed to bits after only a week or two wearing them. I took them for a refund etc, all fine - but it's the hassle of having to go into town again etc that's annoying.

We've managed just fine with cheapo jobbies from Tesco or Shoe Zone for years now. I can gauge the fit for myself, although I haven't got that essential "fitting expertise" obviously.

Mind you, whenever we got fitted they'd do that elaborate "oh she's an f width" then go in the back and come back with a d "as it's the only one they'd got." Miraculously the d always fit perfectly.

I don't but cheap shit shoes for myself, so I don't for my kids. We've been through clarks & start rite. We now buy vivo barefoot