Where to buy children's shoes otehr than Clarks?

[lobsters]

I've just bought DD's first shoes and was seriously unimpressed by the selection in Clarks, mainly because they were all pink esp in the really tiny sizes. We ended up buying a pair of supposedly boys shoes. Where are good places to buy small childrens' shoes, where they have a good fitting service? Any Berkshire/ Oxfordshire (and I might even take her into central London) suggestions welcome.

Apologies for the typo in the title, that should be other

try local start rite or ricosta stockists - there is a search facilty for stockists on start rite website.

i found the ricosta pepino shoes best as first shoes - very lightweight boots offering very good ankle support.

ecco

agree about Clark's selection being rubbish. We got DD's first shoes there and they did not wear well.

her second pair are ecco and they are just the most marvellous shoes - she's been wearing them since September (her feet seem to have stopped growing temporarily) and they are barely scuffed. Also they are really lovely, she gets loads of compliments on them.

She also had a pair of ricosta sandals in the summer that were pretty good, although again didn't wear brilliantly.

ecco is great if your child has average width fittings - they don't come with wide fittings though unlike start rite and ricosta. although thats not a problem unless your child has wide feet.

i agree that with ricosta need to look at shoes carefully (esp for girls) before you buy to assess whether they will wear well - ie darker colours with scuff zones wear better than pastel pinks.

also have had good experience with start rite particularly when buying navy shoes for DD, polish up very well.

admittedly the Ricosta sandals we got were pastel coloured, so I guess they were never likely to wear that well. they were gorgeous though.

Also DD has very narrow feet, that has not been an issue.

Seems MumNW really knows her stuff. I'm just recommending something I have found good, but based on very little experience so far

skidoodle - both DD and DS have very wide feet (DS is "H" width fitting) so choice is more limited, and have found start-rite better than clarks - both in terms of fit and quality although they are a little more expensive. But yes the ecco shoes look really lovely so am that DS can't wear them.

I agree with OP about clarks, never been massive fan.

re: pastel coloured - made mistake of buying DD pastel ricosta sandals and they scuffed so easily now look very closely at shoes when I buy them (more of a problem with girls shoes, boys are in darker colours.

I do think that boots are better as first shoes as they offer ankle support.

Boots are good as first shoes as long as you are not one of those parents that insist on shoes before they are walking. If they have been walking for a few weeks and are confident then boots are great, otherwise they can be too much to cope with while learning. Any good fitter should be able to tell you if your child can cope with them though.
Would agree that Clarks can be a bit limited if you want something other than pink but usually wear quite well (speaking as a mother who has never bought anything else and as an ex Clarks fitter).
All the brands mentioned in posts above are good quality, the trick is to find a good fitting service. I find the best thing to do is speak to other mums locally and see where they recommend.

Do you have an independent children's shoe shop anywhere near you? There must be somewhere in Berks/Ox

Personal experience that startrite are best for my dc - wear well and really nice fit. Worth paying a bit extra I think

Just to add, in my many years of fitting for Clarks came across all shapes and sizes and for some kids Clarks never fit well, equally some found that Start-rite would never do the job. Everyone is different!
Please, by all means look around and see if you can get something you like the look of and fits well, but don't compromise the fit for vanity!! I know you probably wouldn't but I have seen sooooo many who have and quite a few painful issues that have been the result so I am passionate about the issue.
Please don't take offence

My DS has never had a pair of Clarkes shoes - never liked them.

We go for Startrite from John Lewis everytime, Im a huge STARTRITE fan!!!

Not sure where you are in Berks/Oxon but we got DD's first shoes from Scuffs in Abingdon (startrite shoes) and found them very good.

Primigi are good too

starite are the best for a choice of boy shoes as we just found lot of girl shoes and only two choices in boys at clarks. try john lewis they have a variety of choice

I know ur problem... check out here www.kswiss.com/kids/boys , they usually have good prices and sales. I am satisfied cause they ship shoes wherever u will tell them;)