SCHOOL SHOES

[hullywully]

Which ones to buy for a 4 year old. Clarke’s paintent shoes or regular ‘mat’ shoes.
Don’t want to spend £40 for them to then be ruined.

I would stay away from patent shoes for school.... until they are older. Also check starrite for the outlet, they have sometimes suitable options for half the price.

Our school ask us to only give them Velcro fastenings until they are in year 3.

If your child has a scooter or bike, make that they don’t stop it using their toe. That wrecks school shoes more than anything.

Label the inside of the shoe. All school shoes look the same.

Not patent. Plain black leather is much easier to polish regularly, which helps them look much better for longer.

I actually find the patent ones from a quality brand such as StartRite look better for longer and no time is needed for polishing.

Patent ones are much smarter. DD1 is on her 7th year of school shoes and the two times she's had plain leather they've looked a wreck. DD2 has insisted on plain leather this time against my wishes so I'm picking my battles! Given the choice I'd always go for patent or at least patent toes.

I was a total mug and bought dr martens. They were destroyed almost instantly. I then got Clark's ones, I think are ugly but can't fault them. They were £38.

Matt finish! btw

Not patent. Plain black leather is much easier to polish regularly, which helps them look much better for longer.

Depends on the dc. My dd3 can trash matt leather shoes before half term but keeps patent nice for a whole term, sometimes until Feb half term, and the I use the patent repair paint to eeek them out a bit longer. Dd1&2 can wear anything and keep them for a year!

DD has had five pairs of school shoes in the four years she's been at school. Two pairs of Clarks and three of Startrite. In each case, she's got new ones as she's outgrown the previous ones. The only pair which I was longing for her to outgrow was the one non-patent pair that she had. They were scuffed within days and never really polished up. The patent ones always looked smart and could easily be wiped with a baby wipe. DD spends her lunch times running and playing football so she tests them well.

Another vote for patent

I asked Clarks which they recommended and they said patent leather is generally harder wearing and doesn’t show the scuffs as badly.
Then they didn’t have any patent ones in DD’s size

I have been buying school shoes for 7 years now, for three dc so that's a fair few purchased. Makes me feel ill to think of!! Patent looks lovely and wears surprisingly well. But four year olds trash shoes whatever you buy. If you are confident on size to buy from m&s, next or supermarkets these can be much more economical. Some years I've had to get a second pair due to out growing or holes in the shoe so it can get expensive.
I am considering doc martens this year for dd1 but she's in y8 so her feet don't seem to be growing so fast and she is much less likely to scuff her shoes out like the younger ones.

I bought dd a pair of patent shoes when she was about 2.5 and they were scuffed to hell within a few days and I tried all the recommendations to try to repair the look of them but nothing worked. I couldn't afford to replace them so I had about 9 months of her shod feet looking incredibly scruffy. Agree with a pp, polish normal leather shoes regularly and they continue to look good for the whole year (assuming dc doesn't outgrow them mid year).
Btw I'm not doubting other dc manage well with patent shoes, I have friends who swear by them, but they are a definite no for my dd.

Interesting-au wouldn't have thought patent would last so well.

I got the rage with Clark's last year as boys shoes were over £12 more than year before as they had a hidden crap toy or app with them. Ds fell for it & thought it was great. Bought from Asda instead & they've been great so gone there again this year for dc. Picked up the order today & hope the light flash good on dd's Disney shoes

I always buy the more expensive of shoes in hope they would last longer but in reality kids will be kids and usually end up having to buy new ones in the same amount of time frame. They run around at play time (I have a boy so football etc) I bought Clarke’s once and they were really good shoes, lasted well. But kids grow very quickly and need new ones quickly too. I think it’s down to preference, but then I just posted about school uniform because I am unsure on what to do so don’t listen to me 😂😂

Some schools don't allow patent so chrvk your uniform policy! ours doesn't because patent often peels and you are left with ugly black/grey/white schoes

Patent are great in my my fairly extensive experience. Matt leather scuffs more easily. We walk/scoot/climb things frequently.

We’ve only had one patent pair from start-rite and my dd very much enjoyed peeling the patent covering off during assembly - it took her about two weeks and then the shoes were fit for the bin. She had begged and pleaded for patent shoes too ! So, we stick with plain leather and polish and although they look tatty by the end of the year they are normally fine. We normally buy school shoes in the Startrite sale in about Feb, so we don’t do August shoe shopping - parents are a bit of a captive market in August in terms of pricing !

Patent Clarks have been great for us, year on year. No need to polish and they don't scuff. If she's had normal leather they've scuffed loads - she does a lot of cartwheels and tearing around.

Decent patent ones have been good here. Sometimes develop a couple of bare patches towards the end of the year but easily covered in patent restorer.

My DD1 has had patent ones last nearly a year - until grown out of. The leather ones were scuffed beyond hope by Christmas. All Clarks and Start Rite. So if definitely pick patent. Though I can imagine DD2 picking the patent coating off within 2 weeks, she’s a ‘pickier’ child than her sister.

Patent have worn best for us.

Clark's patent have always lasted well for us. No problems with scratching or peeling.

Patent all the way here, the only Matt ones I ever bought got trashed within a couple of weeks (although those were M&S the rest have always been Clarks).

Having said that, when my daughter was 2 she had Start Rite patent ones which lasted about a fortnight before peeling. Clarks are much harder wearing.