Will ds end up crippled if I don't buy his shoes from Clarks?

[LiegeAndLief]

Ds is 17 months old and just gone up a shoe size (measured by Clarks). Blanching at the thought of shelling out another £30 on shoes for him, I went to Next, tried on lots of shoes (no width fitting so several were too narrow) and bought a pair which seemed a good fit and ds walked in fine. Although I am no trained shoe fitter.

Anyway, this morning was attacked by a fit of guilt walking past Clarks and ended up going and buying him another pair. Have compared them to the Next shoes and really can't see any difference in terms of fit, size, flexibility etc... am I missing something?

BTW am not meaning to start a thread comparing Clarks, Startrite etc as the only "proper" children's shoes available near us are Clarks.

no but I have this guilt too
If you can get them measured somewhere and than use your judgement when buying I think that is fine

No, but Clarks push the subtle guilt message. It's good for business.

Tbh as long as childrens feet are measured by a reputable company (and i have known clarks to be shite at this!), then i wouldn't worry too much about not buying them from there.
My sister buys her sons shoes from asda , and there's nothing wrong with his feet what so ever!

i think it is a racket. they don't measure consistently and have a very poor choice. if it were that important to have width fittings there would be more available for adults. ds (like me) has v high instep, wide feet and long toes so lots of shoes don't fit him.

i go to an independent shoe shop, it is a little more expensive than clarks but the choice is so much better that i can get a really good fit with a bit of space to grow - he's only needed 2 pairs in the past year.

I will have to watch this thread. I think TsarChasm is almost certainly right, and it probably dates from post-war when working-class kids had been wearing hand-me-downs as a matter of course.. plays on the fear of the poor, like so much else..

Pray tell me, are ALL the Continentals, who are unlucky enough to have never heard of Clarks, crippled of foot?

If you have the patience, saintliness and 3 spare hours required to go in the nightmare that is called Clarks, please carry on. I gave up on the place to be honest, far too overpriced and I hated the fact that you couldn't actually choose the shoes you wanted, just had dd's feet measured and they brought out anything that fitted.

I ended up buying dd's shoes from Woolies or Next, but the best place was a little independent shoe shop, which measured feet correctly and were significantly cheaper than Clarks. But shoe shops like these are becoming harder to find nowadays.

Anyway, dd is 12 now and has perfectly shaped (albeit size 6!) feet.

ds has continental shoes. they don't have flashing lights in them either.

Yes, plainly your DC will be crippled. You need the Special Measuring Computer, the ticket queueing system, the 100% markup, the flashing lights, and the secret toy hidden in the heel. What are you thinking of woman!

I like your post GetOrfMoiLand

Isn't it absurd that you can't choose the shoes you want for the money they cost? Or at least have some choice. I've known us have no choice whatsoever when it came down to it I don't buy my shoes on the basis of what have you got left that might fit?

I'm forever linking to this site Shoesforkids Not much coice but bargains to be had if you know the size you need.

Clarks need some serious head to head competiton on the high street. They are way too big for their boots, if you'll pardon the pun

Hello Threadie!
So - where do we all get shoes from then if not Mr Clark?

I get mine from Ebay!

I go to Mr Woolworth, Mr Asda, and Mr JJB, and then I have occasional fits of guilt/gullibility and get a special measured pair from Mr Clarks.

Hello Batty!

Well, I religiously bought Clarks shoes for DS (3yo)until we left the country last August so no longer available.
I can confirm that he is still walking, not crippled and his feet are still adorably soft. Have to admit the Clarks guilt stayed a long time and I fretted for ages before I HAD to buy new shoes.

Hello! I go to v v posh shop and get fitted for the £60 ones that I like. Then I buy them orf the wunderweb.

Ok my dd is a D fitting and we get no choice at all.

She has ended up in trainers again. I don't know what we are going to do when she starts school in Sept.

I hate shoe shopping, I used to love it, choosing that first pair, looking at all the gorgous styles, until they tell you that you actually have to have these (the ugliest chaviest shoes in the whole shop) and you have to grin and say loveley else dd will pick up on it and refuse to wear the only bloody shoes in the whole world that fit her. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Sorry but I do feel better for that.

Ooh, sneaky tricksy bat. Don't the claws wear through at the toe?

lol onebat - hushed silence!!

Bloody sodding Clarks. Thought those days were gone (dd is 12) but looking for some replacement school shoes that weren't (a) huge vile clodhoppers (b) stupid ballet shoes in JANUARY or (c) tarts disco shoes, I actually had to go in to Clarks just to see if they had anything. Bloody place, as soon as I saw that sodding ticket machine and the 'magic' foot measuring computer (and the screaming hordes) I buggered off out of there and went to Jones Bootmakers instead.

It comes to something when you buy your dd's shoes from Jones' and your own from New Look, believe me!

Lol at 'tart's disco shoes'. The joy of not having a daughter!

more likely to cripple jim by getting them from clarks ify dd's fittings werecanything to go by... Would never shop there again for my kids. Continental shoes often bought at tk maxx do us.

Nothing in Clarks will fit on Ds's wide, high feet, so we have to go to independant shoe shops where they stock lovely continental brands which have decent amounts of room, and lace up so that the fit is adjustable. And the staff know what they are talking about.
As long as you check the fit regularly, you should be fine.

I am very fastidious about filing, threadie.

try ebay GOM - go to posh shop and note all the brands that are the right width for your dd, then search Ebay esp Ebay shops

So £25 rather than £45 say??

must dash.

Mine get one pair of school shoes from clarks and the rest of their shoes from high street stores.

No guilt clarks rip off merchants, just paying for the name they don't last any longer and i will only buy from clarks in a sale as i need 4 pairs of shoes, costs a fortune....As long as the shoes well fitting and plenty of room for childs feet its fine i use woolies, next, brantano, asda and tesco, shoes are shoes where ever you buy them from as long as a good fit i don't see a problem!!

Was expecting lots of people askance at the fact that I could even consider buying ds's shoes from Next so thank you all for not making me feel like an unfit mother!

To be fair to Clarks, the ones near us are fairly pleasant - no waiting, nice staff, plenty of choice - just very expensive. Sadly no independent shoe shops nearby.

So ds now has 2 pairs of shoes (bit excessive for a one year old), but I am feeling significantly less guilty .

Now how am I going to tell dh I've just bought another pair of shoes...

I know it's probably hype but I pretty much always buy Clarkes. Once bought Start Rite and once my spendthrift husband bought Timberland. But Clarkes it is.