Uniform - shoes

[clare21]

Having been un/lucky enough to go through primary school without uniform all is about to change. So where best for school schools. Both sexes as I've twins. Imagine no more going to school every day in stinky football boots!!

It sort of depends.

Dd has a very high instep so Clarks shoes are not deep enough/fall off her feet. An independent stockist who is very knowledgable about feet (including dds pronation) has always been best for her & she has always ended up with Start Rite

Ds however has narrow feet & whilst we have always taken him to the same place usually & also had start rite or ricosta clarks shoes fit him & are cheaper.

However where we live there are three shopswho sell Clarks) two are ok but one does very bad fittings. Whilst on holiday once we went to a Clarks who did a fab fitting though.

Clarks have always worked well for my dds.

Hmm study uniform guidelines hard and also ask around as to how closely they are kept. At dds school even 16yr ols wear clarks/ startrite without issue but other places pumps / canvas shoes are worn though " nit allowed"

I've only got a dd, but we've found (a) 99% of the girls wear a black lace up brogue style and (b) Startrite last better than Clarks and are no more expensive if you look around a little.

If you do decide to go for Clarks, and want to avoid the hell of school-shoe-shopping, you can find measuring tools online (dc stand on paper, draw around foot) and then they are free postage/free returns, so you can order 2 or 3 pairs and return the unsuitable ones.

(Caveat - this obviously only works if your dc have 'average' feet - dd is very much right in the middle of width fittings et al so its easy to find fitting shoes.)

How much walking will they do, both to, and around, school? DD calculates that she does a minimum of 90 minutes each day, more when she has to get to sports fields.

Lace up black Brogues, and Clarkes do some good ones, have worked all the way through including sixth form.

And boys. We went for M&S shoes from the mens department, especially when DS' feet got to about size 9. (Their chldrens shoes are OK before then.) Children's feet tend to be longer nowadays and I remember five or six sets of parents in late August, all trying to find size 11, 12 or 13 shoes for their lanky teenagers.

Lots of football in break time so they got destroyed pretty quickly.

Happy enough with the cheapies from Sainsburys.

Not many girls wear brogues here, they were very popular 2/3 years ago. DD tried them on once, but didn't fit her. Generally she ends up with Startrite as they fit her better, so try and find a shop that sells Clarks and Startrite so you have maximum chance of getting the right fit. Either way, both brands have lasted us a year each time, whereas some of the local kids who've worn cheap ones, have to get new one as they've worn.

My y7 girl has been in Kickers all year (just the one pair!) and they're in great condition still, I've been very impressed.

My dd will be going into year 7 in September and we often get the bus home with kids from the local secondary. I've checked out what shoes they wear and found that lots of girls wear kickers, some wear ballet pumps and one or two wear mary jane type shoes (regular comp.) I can't remember whether I've seen brogues or not.

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions. Now to buy the things....!

Brogues here for most of the girls but dd found them uncomfortable so ended up with these www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/291505128972?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&rlsatarget=&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0 Another girl in her class has them and as she is one of the popular ones according to dd, dd was happy with them.

Mary Janes would get you eaten alive at our local comp not saying its right but it's true

They try to get away with deakins, depends what mood the staff are in though as technically they aren't allowed

Most wear kickers, brogues or ballet shoes

Girls here ware black lace vans or converse. Juniors are in cheaper copies. Check if theres a leather rule.

All my 3s schools insist on leather (vans or converse absolute no). The boys wear lace ups or loafers. The girls who walk to school tend to wear brogues, those dropped off at the door ballet pump style.