New School Shoes- Alternatives To Clarks Please

[colette]

I have always gone to Clarks but have become a bit disalousioned(sp). Last time all the shoes cost £32 as they had a toy in[hmmm] . These were the only choice they had for dd in her size. After 2 weeks the shoes looked nearly done in and she said they wee uncomfortable.
I am looking for reccomendations for reasonably priced hardwearing school shoes and am thinking that I will fit them myself( am not that confident about this though) Sometimes I have looked at shoes and as dd has narrow feet was a bit unsure. Any advice/reccommendation please ? I want to go into town tomorrow nad get most of their school stuff , as we are in scotland they start back mid August and I usually leave it so late that the shops don't have their sizes

Get T Bar Kickers - they come in lots of colours so they do Black ones and Navy ones and they are the best longest lasting shoe that doesn't look crap after 2 weeks.

DD does have narrow feet too and they are fine.

I have had lots of problems with Clarks shoes before, so now I go to an independent shoe shop. The boys often end up with Ricosta shoes by a company called Primigi. They sound Italian but I think they are actually German. And they cost about the same or less than Clarks shoes.

I think there's a site where you can search for independent shoe shops. Here you are:

www.shoeshop.org.uk/

We also like Geox but have recently been told no trainers which is rather annoying.

Thanks Twinkie and mummypig - will research. Been meaning to opt out of Clarks for agres but always leave it so we have run out of time.

If you live anywhere near SE London there is a fab shop caller Pares one in Sidcup and one in Blackheath and they are ace.

Twinkie, do the kickers come up small? I remember bying dd kicker boots in an independent shop when she was a toddler and they gave me a whole size bigger than she measured as 'they come up small'.

I have fallen in love with the T bar kickers for dd for school, but the only place I cna find them is mail order. So I am taking her to have her feet measured today, but do the T bar kickers also come up small???

No Twinkie Glasgow

kicker boots deffo come up very small. dd was a size 8 and ended up with a 10 in them! They were fitted in the shop as well. Very hard wearing though, she still has them.
I might try and find an alternative to Clarks for Sept. dd's last pair started coming apart at one of the seams after only 4 weeks! I managed to glue it until the end of term! And I suspect I had to pay more cos it came with a toy...

You might be able to order kickers direct from their website kickers.co.uk

Cali, I completely agree with you. (I grew up in Holland without the aid of trained shoe fitters and my feet are fine!)

I always buy ds's school and casual shoes/trainers 'off the peg' as it were and just check them myself. Plus at age 8 he can jolly well tell me what feels okay.
For dd however I have to confess I went back to Clarks yesterday. Not because I wanted her shoes fitted, but because she has such narrow feet, everything I tried in other shops was just too wide.

I was pleasantly surprised though, I had a lady serving us who you could actually talk to, who let me check the fit of the shoes too, and for once they had a large variety of styles, most of which I liked. I normally cringe at the Clarks girl school shoe offerings.

DD has freakish feet (C/D width) so we have to get start-rite, we occasionally find a European make that are ok, have had some success with Comapgnucci (but they are more expensive than start-rite).

Start-rite available onlinewww.startriteshoes.com/

I went to John Lewis and bought dd start-rite they were £38 but so much better quality than Clarks At £32. Califrau I agree with the daft guilt thing great marketing ploy passed down the generations. My mum always took us to Clarks .
The problem with J.L was we were waiting 45 mins and it was not even that busy

We've mostly had Start-rite, they have never worn out before being outgrown. I just bought DS1's first school shoes this week and they are lovely Start-rite ones. No toys or lights or anything. They were almost the only ones in the shop as they hadn't had the new autumn collection delivery. I sat in the deserted shop, imagined the baying crowds next week... and paid up quick .

Cali, as a kid we never had Clarks, only Start-rite. My parents were so skint our clothes were from jumble sales but for some reason my mum still thought Clarks weren't good enough. I wonder what she knew...

I've recently switched to Strat-rite from Clarks too, much better fitting shoes and seem to wear better too.

Ricosta are FABULOUS!
I get the black waterproof boots for my boys.

They are not cheap, but they do magically grow with your child. For the 2nd year running DS1 has has his from Spetember - July.

If given a choice between clarks and startrite, I would now go for startrite.

Start-rite much better than Clarks, less naff styles as well.

DD is now 11 and still wears them

We are looking at dd's first pair of school shoes at the moment! Clarks are rubbish as they do not start the 'school' styles small enough and I'm certainly not getting a pair with a silly toy in the heel even when her feet are big enough! I went into Jones' and looked at the start-rite shoes are they look so much better. They come up small and thin (as well as bigger) which is perfect and the styles look more comfortable and robust too. So, even though we could get family discount from Clarks, we will be going to Jones' and getting Start-rite I think!

My mother always insisted on Startrite shoes and I always bought them for my daughter for school.

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Rhinos( startright)
Doc martens Mary Janes( indestructable)

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dm