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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that I am still an okay mother even if I don't buy DD's shoes from Clarks?

63 replies

missblythe · 23/05/2008 15:10

She has perfectly acceptable pair of canvas Mary Janes for JojoMamanBebe, and some navy Crocs. They both fit her.

MIL has just had a massive go at me for not gettign her 'properly measured at Clarks', because her feet will 'be damaged for life in cheap shoes'.

Now, I don't see why shoes need to be Clarks, as long as they are not too big/too small/too tight.

Also, I don't like the ones in Clarks that come in her fitting (ie. one pair of sandals)

Surely humans are designed to go barefoot, so we don't need shoes to give us 'support', do we?

Anyone would think I'd used a Greggs sausage roll to shoehorn her feet into two Fruitshoot bottles!

OP posts:
posieparker · 23/05/2008 15:12

The trouble is that if she wears crocs and canvas not fitted shoes how do you know they fit? Crocs can be held on by her gripping with her toes and if you are saying the ones from Clarks are only available are one style I'm guessing her feet are either quite wide or narrow?

micci25 · 23/05/2008 15:13

my dd has her school shoes and sometimes her summer sandals (if there are none in the next sale) from clarks but all her other shoes are tesco or adams and her trainers are barbie ones from woolies, she tends to wear them the most and we had such a fuss getting the right size she choose pair we got to the till she said they were too tight, then too big etc.

PuppyMonkey · 23/05/2008 15:15

We're a Jonathan James family all the way. £8. You can't beat it.

NoBiggy · 23/05/2008 15:20

Well, Clarks' fitters are not all the same. My mum is one, and "qualified" after being talked at for half an hour.

If you can find somewhere that does a thorough fitting, ask them to explain what they're doing, then you can do exactly the same next time, in whatever shop you end up in.

And it's not just Clarks that do "proper" shoes. There's Start-Rite obviously, and Hush Puppy, Ecco... Don't know much about Next, Woolies and so on, but for some feet they'll be a good fit.

Clarks are so lucky. They don't actually need to be that good, as long as it's accepted that if you go anywhere else you are an irresponsible cheapskate with a lame child.

muggglewump · 23/05/2008 15:25

YANBU
I don't buy Clarks either, too pricey for me.
I buy from Woolies/Asda/shoezone.
I make sure they fit as best I can, I can see and feel if they are too tight, too loose, slipping off and DD can tell me too.

HeadHeartorHormones · 23/05/2008 15:32

Clarks - never has a good reputation been so undeserved.

Maybe, back in the 70s they were good? Or perhaps our mothers were just taken in by the flash machines that x-rayed your foot!

(Independent children's shoe shops that sell a range of brands and do nowt but fit kids all day are my prefered choice).

posieparker · 23/05/2008 15:36

Hush Puppy and Ecco are not the same standard as Clarks. Clarks trained fitters are not talked to for half an hour, unless they work for a really shoddy manager.

posieparker · 23/05/2008 15:37

If you buy a pair of Clarks shoes and they have been fitted you are entitled to your money back if they are a bad fit and compensation if they cause a blister.

EffiePerine · 23/05/2008 15:38

Ecco are far better quality than Clarks IMO (and they fit DS's feet better). The only Clarks shoes he has had have been rubbish.

We go to an independent shoe shop and they are great . They don;t mind measuring DS's feet and telling me that he doesn't need new shoes if he hasn't grown much.

frogs · 23/05/2008 15:40

We've had this. Tell MIL that if she thinks your dd needs extra shoes she's welcome to take her to the shoe shop and buy her some.

FGS. Dd2 wore crocs all of last summer, and I think they're great. The only reason she hasn't got any this summer is that she already has one pair of birkenstocks (handed down but virtually unworn), one pair of doodles (bought by MIL) and one pair of start-rites (handed down but virtually unworn).

The last pair of fitted shoes we had were Primigi (from independent shoe store, yadda yadda) and dd2 went through the fronts in 8 weeks. Bollocks to that, i say.

micci25 · 23/05/2008 15:45

ohh i did that frogs, to my gran, and dd1 came home with a new pair of doodles a couple of days ago, she was convinced that the reason she fell over and hurt her mouth was that her tesco shoes didnt fit her right and she needed a 'proper' pair of shoes or sandals (which she has but wont wear as they are black her tesco shoes are pink and glittery)

i explined that she would be getting some lelli kelli ones in the summer hols as she has saved since last year to herself some with her pocket money but gran thought that these were not good enough so i said 'get her some then coz i cant afford both and she wants lelli kelli ones!' so she did

uptomyeyes · 23/05/2008 15:46

Ecco shoes all the way for my family. They are well made, lightweight, they last ages - DS1 is almost 11 and a pair of school shoes can realistically last for the whole school year. They are fitted by a good local independent shoe shop. No deformed feet in this family - except my own and I wore Clarks solidly until about the age of 13.

However despite the fact that all my kids have crocs, they aren't great for their feet apparantly - something to do with allowing the metatarsals to spread???

Issy · 23/05/2008 15:54

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request

AbbeyA · 23/05/2008 15:54

It wouldn't have to be Clarks, but all my DCs have wide feet so IMO it has to be a style that comes in a variety of widths and it has to be measured by a trained fitter. I prefer to have expensive shoes and cheap clothes.

posieparker · 23/05/2008 15:57

Got to add be careful of crocs on elevators, I know a couple of children who have got stuck. Escalators!!!!!!!!!!

StarlightMcKenzie · 23/05/2008 15:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

magnolia74 · 23/05/2008 15:59

We have been to 3 different Clarks stores and not one measured ds1's feet the same They have an awful reputation and the shoe fitters are normally either very young or very rude from my experience.
We now go to Startrite for Ds1 as he has wide feet but the girls all have M&S for school and Tesco/Asda/sports shop for trainers and flip flops ect...

I don't like paying £32 for a pair of shoes but luckily the girls ones are all half that price

posieparker · 23/05/2008 16:02

Measuring is a guide, not a precise thing.....

magnolia74 · 23/05/2008 16:06

Sorry Posis but to be told 4 g in one shop, 4.5 H in another and 5g in another is ludicrous! Some guide eh?

scaryteacher · 23/05/2008 16:06

When ds needed his first pair of shoes I went to Clarks who tried to sell me something too big as his feet are wide. I declined the offer. I went to Start-Rite who measured him, I pointed out the style I liked, and was told that we sell what fits Madam, not what you like. Shoes have come from Start-Rite thereafter until we moved abroad.

I too would rather buy cheap clothes and expensive shoes for him.

AbbeyA · 23/05/2008 16:07

I go to a small independent shoe shop and I think they are pretty good.Not all shoe fitters are good at their job!

cheesesarnie · 23/05/2008 16:08

i think so long as your child has shoes your doing fine no matter where they are from.

AbbeyA · 23/05/2008 16:09

It may be the way you were brought up, my mother would never stint on shoes, I complained at the time but my feet are in good shape.

Elloeise · 23/05/2008 16:17

My mum always took me to clarks untill i was 16 and had left school as she said you needed to have shoes that fitted well other wise the shoe would mould my feet and not the other way round, as untill that age the bones in your feet are still 'soft' so even things like having socks that are too tight will affect them.

Skip on a few years and with this in mind and the fact i was trying to to the best for ds i took him to clarks. My ds has a medical condition were his feet turn in so was refered to the cdc and has to have special insoles in his shoes and was told to go to a specialist shoe shop and bye 'start rite' shoes.

So off we troot with a pair of shoes bought from clarks two weeks earlyer and it turned out that the shoes from clarks wer TWO sizes too small making his condition much worse and making his toes curl up

mum2oneloudbaby · 23/05/2008 16:24

I agree the shoes don't need to be Clarks but why not use them and any other good shoe shops ie independent ones to measure your dds feet. then you get a good idea of the size but not just from one source which may be unrealiable

there isn't an obligation to buy then you can tell MIL her size and if she's that desperate for her to wear clarks she can go and buy some!