To Be Considering Patent School Shoes?

[Toomuchtooyoung01]

I’ve seen a lovely pair of school shoes in Clark’s for when DD starts primary school in September but they are black patent. I’ve never owned a pair of patent shoes before but I remember wanting to have some as a young child (yes living vicariously a little here) and I know DD would like them as she likes anything a bit sparkly or jazzy. My question is, to those who have experience of patent shoes and particularly who have bought their children patent shoes, are they likely to scuff super quickly? They have a rubber toe bumper thing on them which would hopefully help them not get worn as quickly. Thanks!

@Heckythump1
Sorry somehow pressed send without meaning to! No not the rainbow ones (although have looked at them and they’re really cute too!) it’s the ones with little flowers on, I think they are called scooter jump?!

Patent leather brings back memories from the 1970,s my mum always bought theses and they always scuffed easily, im assuming times have changed since the 70,s 🤣

I’ve always found patent to be long lasting - always got them with the toe bumper.

Yes definitely agree, we got a patent pair from Clarks and I was very hesitant. The assistant assured me they lasted better than leather and she was right, we never even used the scuff repairer we bought at the same time.
I also bought DD a cheap Asda pair of patent shoes for the last two months of school and even they didn't scuff. She's 7 and usually her leather shoes are a mess after 2 weeks!

After initial normal leather school shoes were scuffed in weeks, I also lived through my child and bought patent shoes from TU sainsbury. They are barely scuffed and outgrown rather than broken. Brilliant. Still slightly annoyed my mum wouldn't let me have any or understand why!

My DDs patent brogues fell apart rather than scuffed after a year of wear. Far far better than normal leather, they look scruffy after one wear.

The scuff repairer comes in a bottle like nail varnish and is really good if you end up needing it.

Both are suitable. Normal leather wears well if you polish it, if you leave it then it shows scuffs and looks scruffy in days. I rarely see kids with polished shoes these days gone are the days when shoes were polished at night for the next day.

Patent scuffs too and again they need restoring. So it is just about you dealing with scuffs either way.

Has the opposite experience, bought DD a pair of patent leather shoes from Clark's & they were scuffed within weeks. Since then have bought boys leather school shoes as they're much more hard wearing & better leather than the girls shoes.

Patent leather everytime. As previously mentioned they do last longer. Get the clarks patent restorer. Like nail polish really,

I think our mums all thought patent was going to scuff but it doesn’t and it’s easy to keep clean.

I do tell DD that her school shoes would have been a “party shoe” in my day, not that I was allowed such a pretty shoe.

Opposite for me. I found patent to be awful and more likely to cause blisters.

Would never buy another pair.

Oh, mine weren’t cheap either.

I got clarks patent the first year and they were immaculate, then picked a leather pair and they scuffed within the first month really badly. Ended up buying patent again and they lasted the rest of the year really well with no scuffs.

I’ve got patent almost every year for my 3 dds. They have always lasted the whole year (just about - size wise) and still looked good - I’ve always kept them for spare for the younger ones on those mornings you can’t find a shoe! . The one year I didn’t get patent I really regretted it!

I agree with the PP that you will be repairing the finish regardless of choosing leather or patent if you have the kid of child who scuffs. I found the opposite to most PPs with repairing though. Regular leather wears really well with any scuffs easily buffed out with a bit of polish and a brush. Last August the lady in the shoe shop tried to convince me of the effectiveness of the patent touch up product. I got her to demonstrate it on her own (black patent) shoes and it looked shite.

I was quite anti latent for the first few years but I was cajoled into buying a beautiful patent pair from Trotter’s. They’ve lasted really well and aren’t any more or less scuffed than the non patent pairs.

Personally I find patent last better

They wear better than non-patent shoes in my experience!

I thought the same as you but was told otherwise in Clarks - and they were right. Patent are much more hardwearing.

Get them There’s a silicon protector Clark’s sell too

We've generally found patent scuffs less. But I'm sure my DD scuffed one pair and then discovered the patent coating would peel off from where they were scuffed. We've only bought decent brands (Clark's, Start Rite, Geox), so it's not that they were cheap supermarket ones to begin with.

I found my child's patent shoes were more durable than the usual Clark's shoe. Lasted so much longer and looked fresher

Check your school's uniform policy. Some sont allow patent. At my childhood convent school, patent leather shoes were forbidden because boys might be able to see your underwear reflected in the shiny finish...