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Original poster

So have you got problems with your feet due to wearing ill-fitting shoes as a child? Or is it all a myth?

34 replies

emkana · 13/05/2006 19:28

I've just read on a different message board about how very very very important properly fitted shoes for children are.

Fair enough, I try to buy good quality shoes and to get the right size, of course, but sometimes I wonder if things are a bit exaggerated for selling purposes? Did people in the past really have such problems with their feet due to ill-fitting shoes? Will leaving the next size for a couple of months, until you finally make it to the shoe shop, really do such harm? And what about buying cheap shoes from ASDA or wherever - big mistake?

OP posts:
Wembley · 13/05/2006 19:32

Ok so my mum had our shoes fitted twice a year in Clarkes - when Clarkes shoes were bloody awful because of the importance of correctly fitted shoes. I was never allowed fashion shoes like my friends Sad Despite all thia effort my feet over pronate which means I don't put any weight on the outside of my foot, just on the ball and the heel so in my opinion it's a bit of a myth although I do get my childrens feet measured but I also let them wear shoes from Asda etc.

stitch · 13/05/2006 19:35

my parents were always very particulart about our shoes being properly fitted. we were not allowed to wear the very pointy fashions eitherr.
all of us siblings have very healthy feet, with no funny knuckles sticking out.

the shoes has to be broad enough for the feet to not be squeezed. flexible enough to bend, and of course provide support etc.

littlerach · 13/05/2006 19:36

My feet are fine, was made to wear Clarkes most of the time, but also some other ones, like ravel.

My grandmother had awful feet, her big toe overlapped the next one in, and she alsyas told me that it wa sbecause she'd worn very poiny toed and badly fitted shoes when she was younger.

So I don't know!

charliecat · 13/05/2006 19:39

I was always in the cheapest trainers money could buy and my feet are fine compared to other bent/blistered/buckled feet I see hanging out of flip flops.
I was wondering this the other day...wierd :)

LIZS · 13/05/2006 19:39

i struggled to get shoes to fit as a chidl as had very narrow feet. My mum often had to order the fitting in but she did pay out for Clarks, Startrite etc even on a tight budget. Because of a limited range in a narrow fit I often had fairly unflattering styles so as I got older I didn't really want them and by 6th form I wore whatever I liked. I've now got fairly horrid feet with bunions and bumps and find a lot of more fashionable footwear uncomfortable. After having ds and dd, and no longer wearing work shoes but softer casual ones, I found my feet have got wider and a lot of my older shoes no longer fit at all. My mum had bad bunions as did others of her female relatives so think it may well be hereditary as wearing less fitted shoes.

expatinscotland · 13/05/2006 19:43

I had expensive shoes fitted from the time I could stand up.

I still have fallen arches and overpronate to the point where it's caused joint problems.

Northerner · 13/05/2006 19:46

I always wore clarks as a kid (or charles clinkard I think they were called then) and I ahve bent curly toes (all except big one) and I too over pronate accorrding to man in the running shop where I buy my running shoes.

Bozza · 13/05/2006 19:50

Well yes I had Clarkes and my feet are not great - toes bent etc. But that is not down to the Clarkes but down to teenage rebellion and as soon as I had money of my own (ie 12 or 13 so feet still growing) I went and bought cheap shoes off the market. I have very wide feet and the fashion then (mid 80s) was for pointed toed stillettos. Didn't do my feet any good. And I have to confess to still occasionally wearing shoes that don't fit that well.

expatinscotland · 13/05/2006 19:50

i did ballet and then used to climb in painfully tight slippers.

it took years before the calluses went away and i still have bunions.

Spagblog · 13/05/2006 20:11

I read that bunions were hereditory just the other day.
I wore properly fitted Clarkes shoes until I could afford to buy my own. My toes are so nicely spaced that I find it hard to squeeze them into fashionable shoes now!

expatinscotland · 13/05/2006 20:12

No one's got them in my family besides me and my sister - who also studied ballet for years and years.

themoon66 · 13/05/2006 20:19

My dad was the village cobbler and he and my mum used to go on and on about shoes having to be fitted, with enough growing room etc. Being in the shoe mending business, they saw all manner of horrible twisted feet.

Interestingly, despite mine always being fitted 'with room to grow' etc, I have now got terrible flat feet and overpronate badly. I run for a hobby and this means i get trouble with my ankles, knees and hip joints. The man in the running shoe shop always look fed-up when I walk in... he knows its gonna be a whole afternoon's job trying to find something to suit me.

I notice other people saying they have the same problem, despite their parents being so careful when they were children. Wonder if there's a connection?

edam · 13/05/2006 20:22

That's an odd coincidence themoon. My mother's father was a shoemaker so she was always terribly fussy about our feet (and I was a C-width fitting so nightmare to find shoes in my size - always had to be ordered). Yet I overpronate too.

Had lovely feet until I grew up and started wearing heels. Now got hard skin and everything. Should have listened to mummy...

nikkie · 13/05/2006 20:42

My Dad has awful problems with his feet and was very poor as a child and often had cheap/second hand shoes or make-do-and-mend with his shoes.

Mercy · 13/05/2006 21:00

I have very narrow but smallish feet (size 4, occasionaly 3) and I remember lots of uncomfortable episodes from my childhood involving shoes. Not sure why as my parents seemed pretty concientious about most things - but I am talking 35+ years ago; maybe width fittings weren't so important then? Feet not too bad now (apart from a major callous? as a result of pregnancy which I should take seriously) but I do suffer from chilblains which doesn't look good colour wise.

What does over-pronate mean?

NotAnOtter · 13/05/2006 21:02

Myth - my feet were JAMMED into ill fitting shoes half my life - did not dare tell my mother i needed new ones - my feet are a neat sweet shape if a little dry and crusty from over flip flopping!

PeachyClair · 13/05/2006 21:03

I have disgsting feet, the toes all overlap etc. I was allowed one pair of shoes a year, despite the fact I had a walking problem and wore shoes down a pair a week or so (Mum was going to take me to GP but couldn't be arsed.... years later Is aw a physio for my back and my legs are differing lengths.)

Mirage · 13/05/2006 21:39

I had properly fitted shoes as a child.But once I was old enough to buy my own shoes,I disregarded my mothers warnings about ruining my feet & now have ugly feet & bunions from wearing cheap stilletoes in the 1980's.

I buy dd1 sandals from ASDA,but proper shoes from Clarkes.However she spends most of her time wearing wellies,which definately aren't fitted.

stitch · 13/05/2006 21:53

i think its also to do with caring for your feet. not just the size of shoe.

what does ooverpronate mean?

jetsetmum · 13/05/2006 22:17

My mum has horrible feet from poorly fitting shoes, overlapping toes & bunions etc. So she ensured I had ugly shoes from Clarkes & now mine are lovely even if I do say so myself.

I used to suffer from really hard skin wearing high-heeled fashion shoes - but now I mostly wear nike trainers etc I don't have that problem any more. So off to Clarkes I go with my boys!

juuule · 13/05/2006 22:27

Had all kinds of shoes as a child and bought my own fashion shoes when I was old enough. Have no problems with my feet.

sallystrawberry · 13/05/2006 22:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nooka · 13/05/2006 22:44

My mother was a sensible shoes from Startright mum, and one of those shoes (which I hated!) gave me a bunyon. I find it very difficult to get shoes that are comfortable (but I also have quite big feet and high arches which doesn't help). But I think that I made a bit fuss about my shoes in general (because I didn't like them), so I suspect that my mother ignored me when I said they were uncomfortable. Something that I can sadly imagine doing with my dd, who is also somewhat of a drama queen!

lorina · 14/05/2006 09:12

When I was a kid I always had to have Clarks shoes.And I seem to remember my mum always saying " just bring out anything that fits her" so I usually ended up with the ugliest ones in the shop! This happened right until I left school and could buy my own gorgeous rubbishy shoes.
I have lovely little trotters so those clarks didnt harm my feet but they certainly damaged my confidence and happiness at school ! GrinGrin

CarolinaMoonfish · 14/05/2006 09:26

I always got bought ultra-sensible shoes as a kid and my feet are now a nice enough shape, if a little flat.

Am doing the same for ds, and also try and leave him barefoot as much as poss.

My MIL, for example, has such bad bunions her big toe is at right angles to the side of her foot, and I can't believe that's happened spontaneously.