AIBU to despair of giant 11yo

[FarrahMoan]

DS1 is 5'9 and wears men's size small and has size 11 shoe.

On the upside he's really good at basketball.

On the downside he eats like a horse and costs a small fortune to clothe for e.g. whereas DS2 can wear the same school shoe for a school year, DS1 has needed several pairs every year so far and the choice the bigger he gets is narrowing.

So please tell me MN hive where do I shop for sturdy school type shoes in a size 11, and where should I look for black school trousers once he grow out of the age 15-16 supermarket ones?

And as an aside do I sew labels into secondary school clothes? Surely not unless he wants the piss taken?

Disclaimer: obviously I don't blame DS1 for being tall that's exH's fault!

Same here. Dd is almost 11 and a half but 5ft 6, ladies size twelve with curves in all the right places and size 8 feet. I've always bought cheap shoes as she's a bit of a vandal with footwear but with secondary school looming(must be black and sensible shoes) and in the hope she might stay an 8 for a bit longer I'm thinking of trying clarks. Can they measure feet this big or is it just trial and error? Are they as good as people say?

As for clothes, we've always used Tesco basic ladies range. They have the same for men. We've been buying long leg petite trousers as theres less material but they don't hover above her ankles. Not sure if there's a petite men section though.

I hear you OP. DD is 12 and too long for children's trousers but too thin for ladies wear. She has a 19" waist and I've bought and returned 46 pairs of school trousers this year alone. At my wits end! May take her to a tailor to have them made from scratch.

Thankfully, her feet seem to have stopped growing though!

My 11yo DD is as tall as me and has bigger feet. We buy DMs and adult size 4 or 6 clothing. Age 16 clothes have the right length sometimes but the waists are too big even for me (age 16 school trousers just fall straight down on me and my waist is 26 inches, dd's smaller). Plus, DD has curves which children's clothes often aren't designed for. She has a teeny waist but has hips.

Thanks to everyone with suggestions for large women's sizes, really useful and we're checking them out now!

Farrahmoan it is a struggle, I have to order online but even then it is only certain retailers. John Lewis, Debenhams, house of Fraser only go to size 12!! Must admit I love the summer as then he is in shorts 😂

I feel your pain. Mine is now 6'7" with size 15 feet. Thankfully he's stopped growing!
Next do extra extra long black trousers relatively cheaply and they also do extra slim fit shirts in a three pack.
Shoes....there is a website called Walktall which go up to really big sizes ....like a 17 or something. Pod shoes are great for school. The style called Theo is a good smart school shoe possibly best for year 10 + ?
They do another one that I can't immediately recall the name of which is more school shoe ish and chunky and perfect for school.

thanks crunchtime any suggestions for flipflops; that's our current struggle !!

In fact the theo is the chunky one I was thinking of. The smarter one is the wessex.

www.amazon.co.uk/Pod-Theo-Mens-Shoes-Black/dp/B00MTKF7AM?tag=mumsnetforum-21

www.walktall.co.uk/big-size-footwear/big-size-flip-flops

Loads here .....well compared to other shops!

DSs used to wear Primark men’s trousers to school and I didn’t find they lasted any less than the M&S ones they used to have.

MY ds is 6’4” and very slim. I’ve always struggled to get school trousers (any trousers or jeans really) on the high street for him. School trousers have to be grey too which seem harder to achieve. I can highly recommend ASOS. They’ve saved my bacon many times and have a tall range.

my teen ds is also huge. but the problem we have is he is fat so mens trousers that fit round the waist are too baggy everywhere else.
(and yes, we are trying to work on the weight issue before anyone jumps in!)

How huge? Tall? What sort of size? If you tell us we may be able to come up with suggestions

Asda men’s, black suit trousers are brilliant. Lots of different waist width/leg length and very hard wearing, with the added bonus of being a great price IMO. Try Sports Direct for shoes, they often have men’s shoes at a really reasonable price,

My DS has had some primary trousers for school since March they’ve been on, not quite as good as M&S but ok for the price.
Write on labels with permanent marker - don’t bormrher sewing stuff.
Just beware of cheaper shoes not being as comfortable under foot with padding & support etc.

I have this problem and found that secondary school uniform suppliers supply in adult sizes for older children, so just bought those. For shoes, try Kickers.

If the school is not so strict, maybe some all black Nike trainers instead of actual school shoes. Other than this, once they are in secondary, the boys wear shoes that are basically smart adult shoes

Reading with interest! I posted in chat about trousers for DS1- age 13 and 5' 10 - small.waist (30) but wide shoulders and proper, rugby thighs. It gets near impossible every year as all trousers are skin tight on his legs. I have tried everywhere! Everything for tall seems to be skinny/ Slim cut ( ok for DS2 and DS3 who need super skinny from marks) so he's left with trousers which are baggy everywhere else, too big on the waist and not a cut he likes. It's a shame. Plus fit seems to be made for large waisted so that's no good either.

Great advice from instore fitter, so have ordered age 16-17 Marks senior boys regular fit but slim leg so they don't look flared, which some really do. We'll see how these look. Otherwise I'll be following advice like Jacamo etc.

Thanks for asos/ Primark/ Tu mens- hadn't thought of those.

Anyone else solved the rugby thigh issue?

Ds18 size 12 shoe since 16, we have go then from sports direct because they are cheaper and they do last. Just be careful of the style- we found some made him look like he had clown feet as they didn't look in proportion to his tall (6ft 2) skinny (30-32 inch waist) body!!

DS used to get his footwear from Sports Direct as school aren't too strict as long as they are black and not obviously trainers.
However now he's all grown up his last pair were a smart black pair of "proper" shoes from Matalan which have lasted well.

Flip flops for ladies- I have narrow feet and really struggle but last year bought 3 pairs of UGG flip flops which are still going strong. The strap is high up the foot so they don’t flip off and don’t cause cramp.
I wouldn’t recommend ladies Clark’s shoes for school- they really are poor quality and hurt your feet. Deichman do some fairly good DM style Mary Jane type shoes which both DD and I have had reasonable success with.