kids shoes is it all a marketing spin

[codJane]

apprently in france etc htey dont ahev all this fuss abtou kids shoes paranoid parents and doodls and omg he will have a cliub foot if he wearrs a width to small etc

That's what she wears, Enid.

And unless they're narrow, there arent enough holes to buckle it properly on her skinny foot.

AND, they're too wide at the sides and her foot moves round and blisters.

Since she's got dyspraxia and trouble with her gait already, I'd rather just stump up for properly-fitting shoes.

The girl's got enough to deal with as it is.

She's a D/E, too, MMJ.

Size 9.

aren't most big retailers crap online

don't know how they set up the website - think they must get a tiny troglodyte straight from college and get them to report to the marketing manager; latter goes on and on about maintaining the brand, so tiny troglodyte duly fills website with lots of gorge pictures and cinematic Flash-based intro and uses cheap search engine, rendering said website unusable by anyone who actually wants to buy anything, reducing online income and doing self out of job

or else they just want to get you into the shop i suppose

The worst thing about Clarks is the waiting aroudn while some fussy mummy hums and haws for half an hour over PFBs first shoes and the assistant just sits there.

It makes my blood boil, I tell you.

Last time after waiting for 10 mins I just measured my ds's feet myself, to much tutting from the staff & took him over the road to M&S & bought some off the shelf. Will prob. do same again this time.

I think that they need properly-fitting shoes so that they have the support their feet need once they're walking.

I bought those lovely little ankle boots for my 10mo son (but not from Clarkes - Ugh! They're stock is too brightly/stongly coloured, as my son is always dressed in pale blue and white) and I had his feet properly measured and fitted. Worth the money IMO.

I have long skinny feet Expat - spent most of my childhood in boots as they were the only things that stayed on (the same pair 3 winters in a row iirc!!).

I'm a big believer in properly fitting shoes (and do actually go with the crocs for the reason suggested ). I am anti any footwear until they are walking outside though!

My friend thinks its bordering on abuse that DS had no shoes until he'd been walking a few months (it was winter, he wasn't going to be walking outside and could get a better hold of the floor barefoot) - he did end up in cruisers though as the proper shoes were too heavy where he wasn't used to them!!!

Can't get on with Clarks at all. Have never had very good service and their fitting service in our local branches is rubbish. The stock and the styles not great either.

We go to a lovely little indeoendent shop locally now. Loads better. Still expensive but lots better all round.

Agree properly-fitting shoes are important for growing feet. You can't just buy a 7H or whatever, you need to check that they fit and have room for growth. I know shoe-shopping for children is hell but it fitting is important.

Am still scarred by an entire childhood spent desperately trawling shoe shops for a C width fitting. We always ended up having to order from Clarks so why my poor benighted mother couldn't just go in there in the first place I do not know. And do I have lovely narrow feminine feet now I'm grown up? Of course not. Bloody awkward feet that make it hard to find shoes that fit, yes, lovely feminine feet, no.

Hula, agree independents are the way to go. Ours wave at ds as we walk past and often rush out to give him a sweetie. They also wave to the teenagers, causing mega-embarrassment as Mr Cool Dude has to wave back given he's been buying shoes there since he could first toddle.

why does the spotty teenager in clarks insist that a D fitting is wide, or try to sell you shoes on saturday that will be too small by monday, and kids shoes that only go up to a 5 in boys so have to have mens (DS reached that at 8 buggered if I am paying that much for shoes that will be used as football boots and bike brakes) or for eldest DS no we don't do it in a 12. Their best one is when I took a pair of my own shoes back after a week as they had fallen apart and they accused me of walking in them

I have flipper-like feet and lucky old DS inherited them. I spent most of my teens trying to cram my feet into ridiculously narrow shoes and I know the pain. Therefore DS goes to clarks or startrite and has his shoes fitted as I'm afraid that if his foot is forced to fold over like a calzone pizza to get into a narrow shoe, he might, really, have a few problems, not least starting with blisters.

hmmm, regarding op.
my grandfather was big on properly fitting shoes. all my dads shoes wer hand made, so fitted properly.
my parents couldnt afford this for us, as had become more expensive, so we always had clarks.
i would buy better for my kids if i could, but clarks is all i can afford.

Me and my sister were always in Clarks shoes(many tantrums in shop!). She now has bunions.

I am jolly annoyed at Clarks promoting shoes for CRAWLING!!!! May have to boycott them.

well,i was told years ago by a friend who worked in "Stead and Simpson" as a manager that all british shoes are exactly the same. Even the ones made in Clarks. The only thing that Clarks do apparently is measure you differently and tell you a size so that if you go to another shop with their measurements you'll never get any to fit!!!!Strangely enough,another friend mentioned it to me not long ago. Don't know how true it all is but it's funny that different people have told me the same story.

Don't think crawlers etc are worth buying, dd was bare foot or in soft leather shoes until she was walking properly but Clarks have been great for her, poor poppet has high arches, as do I and dh, and wide feet so its really hard to find shoes to fit her, she's 2.2 and wearing a 6.5 G, but even some styles in a G will press on her arches. I loved Crocs too, but the 6/7 press on her arches too. She has had some boots from mothercare, took ages to find some to fit as she had fat calves too, slimmed down a little now! And she loves her bunnyconverse boots but its so hard to find shoes to fit and Clarks have been very helpful for us. We don't have a startrite near us, although I've heard they're good too.