i want to talk about childrens shoes and whether you get what you pay for etc etc

[nailpolish]

i have bought my children shoes of varying prices

dd2 at the moment is wearing shoes bought by mum that cost £45 (she is 2 yrs old) and she also bought dd1 shoes from the same independent posh-and-v-nice-shop that cost £40

dd1 today got a new pair of trainers from Asda. i spent a while trying to see if they fitted correctily, nice leather ones, etc etc, obv. i am not a trained fitter what ever that is

i just cant afford the trainers in the independent or clarks

will my dd's feet be scarred for life

somehow i dotn think so

i wore hand-me-down shoes at times

DISCUSS

no it didnt - lol

but i recognised the name

Haven;t read the whole thread yet, only the OP but we just can't afford the clarkes/start rite shoes. BUT our local independant clarkes seller has there sdale at the moment and i managed to get ds2 start rites for £5 and DS! clarkes for £10!

Have just worked out that DS's shoes from Brantano were Chipmunks. They were brilliant!!

They have some cute girls ones - I like these here

Personally, as long as you check regularly that their toes aren't right at the end of the shoe, think cheap shoes are fine. But have no scientific knowledge to back that up!!!

I have another question - why are boy's shoes sooooooo boring!!!!

i think (but am prob wrong) that the issue with clarkes over other shoes is that asda/wyndsors/sainsbury etc just do one width of shoe which isn't a universal fit/ clarkes will give u a shoe size and a shoe width.

I think cheaper shoes are fine as long as they are comfortable and feel secure but not tight iyswim

ah thanks MOM

thats great you got such bargains!

what about second hand shoes? last winter dd1 had a pair of expensive boots, she didnt seem to wear them very long and she had grown out of them, i have kept them for dd2 who is probably going to fit into them soon

are 2nd hand ok do you think?

I think the secondhand issue is whether they have been worn so that they have moulded into the shape of the first wearer's foot - then they should probably be avoided.

I would like to buy beautifully made shoes for ds but am stuck with vinyl coz of vegetarian issues - and all the posh companies don't go anywhere near vinyl. Found a good pair at Mothercare last time. And we didn't have to wait an hour with a ticket system to be served.

Have been anxiously watching ds's feet but can't see any probs so far.

I got my eldest school shoes from (shhh) Tesco this September. £12 becaue refused to get some from Clark's again after only buying thme at Whit. Look better than teh Clark's ones did after that much wear.

Right, read rest of thread, both kids have f width feet which is average, I think. Will stick with Clark's/Start Rite for teh youngest.

yes, i think my 2 have the average F width too Tinker

which helps

EniDeepMidwinter, where is the buckle my shoe factory shop please?

I don't know where the shoe factory is, but Clarkes are good for getting feet measured so you can get cheaper shoes elsewhere. Startrite don't size in the same way as Clarkes, and I've been told that the fit for wellies and slippers is less important if the child spends less time in them. Basically, fit matters most for the shoes the child wears most. So far, shoes are the only new clothes dd has had.

DD1 cannot fit into Clark's to save herself. They are too wide even the narrowest ones they make.

Poor soul has stringy, long feet just like the rest of her stringy, long self.

expat i think your dd's just sound so gorgeous!

mrshuh, good points, i have myself been into clarks with dd's to get feet measured, not bought anything then gone straight to asda to buy shoes!

she's a bean pole, naily! her legs are like a filly. all tights are baggy on her.

she'll probably go through that gaingly, awkward stage.

she sounds a bit like my dd1 expat!

yes! tall and skinny as a rake.

DD is 19 mo and until recently I always bought from Clarks but was getting a bit bored of the range (our shop is quite small and always only ever seems to have one or at best 2 styles in her size). So I tried an independent shop for the last pair - got some Umi shoes (used to be Elefanten) paid more than I would at Clarks and really not that happy with them. Dye keeps coming off them (took them back and got no satisfaction) and when they scuff they look really awful.

I also bought her a cheap pair of Asda black shoes for Halloween and the poor little mite only wore them for a few hours and got horrible blisters on her heels (which I didn't know about until afterwards obv) - felt guilty for ages

Guess the moral of my story is I'll be sticking with Clarks!! Somehow their shoes never seem to look too bad scuffed!!

I think it's a peculiar british thing that we spend an inordinate amount of money on our childrens shoes.Correct me if I'm wrong ,someone from somewhere else.
I grew up in Canada and it was trainers /winter galoshes and boots and flip flops!

I have an unworn pair of brown leather boys boots from Buckle My shoe.They are free for postage ...wait for the catch ,right foot size 26,left 27!
Anyone interested?

but i remember wearing hand me down shoes

hated it but there you go

and i have beautiful feet

so surely its not all that bad

I think any shoe is faine aslong as it fits.It's pretty easy to tell by feel if they fit imo..not the rocket science they make it out to be.

It's all marketing bollocks NP.
Am surprised that your normally cynical self hasn't seen through it.

The infamous 'trained fitters'.Hmmm,how long did the training take then? I'll tell ya,ten minutes in the storeroom with a middle aged overweight grump called Pam.

All that guff about 'delicate bones' and 'special fittings'

Utter crap.

Mine wear any old thing from any old place.
The cheaper and older the better.

More money for me that way.

ah moondog

oh how i do love you

Even worse is the specially trained fitter.
(That's twenty minutes with Pam.)