school shoes - I'm going crazy

[richmal3]

I'm going mad buying school shoes for my DD (age 10). She's vegetarian and won't wear leather, so we have to buy 'cheap' (about £20) shoes, and they wear out almost immediately. The soles go through within about 2 weeks. She walks 3 miles a day to school and back, which to my mind is not that far, but doesn't wear her school shoes at other times. Even when she was still wearing leather shoes, and we bought Clarks, they would only last a couple of months.

This is driving me crazy and the thought of another 6 years of it makes me want to weep. I always take the shoes back and get a refund when they wear out but I hate the awful waste, and also it's really hard to find shoes that fit her (she takes a 6, so mostly can't wear shoes aimed at children, and we live in a small town with a very limited choice of shops) so when we finally find a pair and they wear out in 2 weeks, it's incredibly frustrating.

I'm sure when I went to school I would wear a pair of shoes until I grew out of them. My daughter has never, ever, grown out of a pair of school shoes - they always wear out first. Does anyone else have this problem, and can anyone recommend hardwearing, non-leather shoes??

Can she wear trainers for the walk and then her shoes when she gets there? Like those New York types.

I live abroad and lots of people here wear crocs for work. There is a black ballet pump one that I think is called Alice.

Black converse? Or as the above, walk to school in trainers and put on school shoes when she gets there? Ride a bike?

How about vegan Doc Martens? Pricey but will probably last a long time (as long as she doesn't grow out of them...)

thanks for suggestions. Only problem of changing shoes is that my daughter is hyper sensitive about what she thinks people are thinking of her (that's a whole other thread!) and I suspect would refuse that option because 'people would laugh at me'. Might look into crocs though - hadn't thought of that!

Anything here?

Years ago (not veggy any more!) but I used to get shoes from Vegetarian shoes in Brighton, and they lasted really well. They've got some nice girly school type shoes that I've linked to but they also do a veggy DM shoe if that's more her sort of thing.

Doc Martens are very popular among the local secondary school children, so their vegan ones might well be a good solution.

Feel your pain.

Try French online brand La Redoute. One of mine got synthetic biker boots by R Teens for under £30 last year which lasted about five months. They weren't too awful and I've just checked and they still have them in black and in her size.

www.laredoute.co.uk/biker-boots-with-side-zip-fastening/prod-324162305-758714.aspx

Just read the reviews for those biker boots... and people have commented that they needed to get them re-heeled ... it was the worn heel that made me chuck them in the end... but in the reviews someone mentioned they got them re-heeled right at the beginning and I suggest that would be worthwhile for your daughter's situation if they were of interest...

Good luck it's never easy with shoes