Branded shoes for little ones

[Whatstheworldcomingtohey]

Curious about what another poster said on another post about parents from lower income families putting their toddlers & little ones in branded shoes/trainers etc…I do this and am not from a lower income background…is this really a thing/Do people think this is a thing?

I don’t know what the vote is for?

I am guessing what the people from the other thread are saying is they think it’s a bit naff, which is a POV you sometimes hear expressed, yes.

I've always put my kids in branded shoes and we live fairly comfortably.
Although actually, when they were under 2 years old they generally had Clarks or startrite.
From 2 onwards they wore branded trainers and still do.
Although a lot of my children's friends and very well off and tend to wear sketchers, or m&s/John Lewis trainers.

I got some "branded" trainers for my toddler in the outlet store they were cheaper than next

Surely clarks and startrite are branded shoes?

Pretty skint back in the day but 2 ds's had Adidas trainers. Lasted for ages and were machine washable.

I mean I buy Clarks school shoes but the rest are from supermarkets because I don't see much point in spending loads

Clarks are shit so DD's wear sports brand trainers. We've had river island/next shoes. Not precious but they need to be half decent quality.

Their latest trainers are adidas and cost about £15 from sports direct in the Black Friday sale.

What do you mean by branded?
The lower income families here (at least the ones I know) tend to buy Nike/Adidas rather than Clarkes/Startrite.

I mean Nike, Converse, Vans etc..I didn’t realise that was a tacky thing to do 🤷🏻‍♀️

It's not

Mine didn’t have brand name shoes until they were about 12. They had Clark’s shoes and trainers, properly fitted. I’ve never understood why people get school shoes fitted but buy trainers from a shop where they don’t fit them - and hope for the best.

Depends on the brand and age really. Gucci trainers on a four month old, bit tacky. Nike/Adidas/Converse trainers on a six year old, totally normal.

Making your ten year old wear Shoe City unbranded trainers just to make the point (when you could easily afford “normal” trainers), isn’t a marker of being middle class anywhere outside of MN. There nothing wrong with it either if it’s what you can afford, but it isn’t a badge of anti-consumerist honour either.

I’d always assume they wouldn’t be great for their feet so would avoid.

What 2 year old needs Nike trainers anyway.

I tend to buy them startrite or Clark shoes when they first start walking but a lot of startrite shoes are ugly. Dd2 has a pair of pink uggs she was given as a gift which keep her feet toasty and I've recently bought her a pair of Nike trainers. I bought the trainers from Nike and as a member I got a further discount on the sale price so they were less than £20. Often non branded trainers are more expensive depending on which shop you buy from. I'd rather get her a decent pair that can be washed and last till she outgrown them. We are neither wealthy nor struggling, just middle of the road.

It's just that old mumsnet thing of new money go for all branded stuff whereas those from old money don't. Definitely not my experience, my wealthy friends always wear branded clothes but quite often they've had them for a long time because the quality (in some brands at least) was better.

My daughter’s first pair of shoes/the ones she wears every day are Nike. We tried 5 or 6 different shops and they were the only ones who had walking shoes small enough for her. We’ve since got her a couple of pairs from Tesco but they are slightly bigger. My husband and I are both low earners but combined we’re probably doing ok.

I wouldn’t buy any of them my three year old is still in Clarks shoes. He has wide feet and I wouldn’t risk messing up his feet by buying Nike trainers and guessing if they fit ?

Depends on the brand and age really. Gucci trainers on a four month old, bit tacky. Nike/Adidas/Converse trainers on a six year old, totally normal.

This is where I stand. Very tacky and performative on babies/very long children. From about three up, is normal.

Of course, this is only my opinion, everyone feel free to do as you like.

I’m higher income family. My kids got gucci trainers, clarks, adidas, nike. Whatever i feel like it and good on them. I didn’t think its tacky at all. As long as you can afford it just go with it.

This!
My DS has 1 pair of shoes for winter plus a pair of winter boots and same for summer. They are always the shoes which fit his feet correctly and we take him to a kids shoe shop to do it.

He has very nattow feet so there is only 2 brands which really fit him

I wouldn’t have wanted to spend money on expensive non fitted shoes. So we were either fitted, Geox type shoes or supermarket. That’s just my logic though. Other people may be more confident in fitting their own child’s shoes.

Having said that, I don’t know why you would spend that much money on them, before your child is old enough to want to be cool.

I grew up in really quite a chavvy place, very few people went into higher or further education etc and everyone wore sports brand stuff all the time (like in the late 90s and everyone was head to toe in Kappa). Parents were so proud to put chunky Nikes etc onto little baby feet (non walkers even). So ridiculous, baby didnt need them, it can actually hinder natural development at that age, it was just for the parents aesthetic. I moved away for uni and so I think I associate it with the people back there.
I wear branded trainers but that's about it, and definitely not my kids. I have a 3yo and she's still in clarks. The important thing with kids shoes is wide toe box and flexible soles, as their feet are developing still. Most branded trainers are just smaller versions of adults trainers and don't properly account for this, so I avoid. We looked at next, supermarket etc too but all the soles are too inflexible for a small child's foot. Any child physio/physical development specialist would say the same (I've read some things from some which is why I go around test bending soles before buying).

IME the wealthy families who ‘prefer’ non-designer tend to have kids who are very overweight & so have limited clothing choices for them. Even something like wide feet (looking at you DN lol) would restrict you because the best Nike / Adidas / Converse styles are all designed for narrower feet. I personally love Nike trainers and DMs / Kickers / Joules for my DS. If that make me a chav I’ll take it