Girls shoes for secondary school

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What shoes would be good for a girl starting Y7?

DS has worn Vans leather lace ups. Lots of the girls at her school wear them. Some have worn the canvas I es but they are not allowed, they got away with it for a while and then there was a clamp down. The leather Vans have worn well, not too expensive with a discount at Office (by luck) and are considered "cool"!

Doc Martin's lace ups or MaryJanes are the only acceptable school footwear for my 15yr old dd. This year that is!

Dd in year 8 ended last term wearing £5 black plimsoles from shoezone. Don't know if they'll survive the start-of-year uniform crackdown, though.

Brogues or Kickers at our local schools. I'm currently wearing a pair from the Debenhams school wear department to work because they were about twenty quid in a blue cross sale and I couldn't resist them. They're reasonably well constructed but actually at that price you could buy three for the price of a Startrite and a resole.

Hmm we bought DD a pair of Dr martins. They last for ever. You need to becareful though and buy the ones with no patterns or yellow lace. The school criteria says black shoes with a one inch heel.

My dd also has Clarks from the women's department here
www.clarks.co.uk/p/26111967

she likes them as they are a bit different from the usual brogues. Seem more robust than the school shoes they sell (albeit more expensive though!)
she has narrow feet and these were the ones that fit the best too.

Well we started our shoe shopping and went to John Lewis as it is near by, she liked the Brogues style but the JL own she said the tongue was too hard so they were out.
The lady said the best fit for her was a Startrite Velcro one which we both thought was too 'young' for secondary school,
The Startrite Brogue style she said was a bit too pointy for her feet so we settled on Clarkes Brogue called 'No Laces' as the leather was softer and the most comfortable, they did not have her size so we went home, upon looking online this shoe does not have good reviews so I wondered if anyone can recommend a shoe like Clarkes 'No Laces' please (sorry can't do a link)

OP DD (14yo) has always worn those Clarks ones (just looked on website and found some called No Ties so I assume it's the same?) and they wear well. Her pair for the last year are still in pretty good nick.

TBF she has a 2 minute walk to school but still I have always found them good.

Thanks Clary, you were right, they are the 'No Ties' one's.
A lot of the reviews on the Clarks website say that the soles wear our very quickly so I wasn't very sure about getting them.

Dd (just finished y8) has Hush Puppies ballet flats. She started y7 with brogues but they weren't overly popular at her school so she quickly wanted ballet pump type ones. The Hush Puppies seem to wear well.

What do you think of the Hush Puppies Brogue's called 'Lucy' Senior and 'Jiving' Senior?

My dds are going into Y9 and Y6. They are not allowed ballet flats as too insubstantial, and both have quite chunky loafers, one pair is by Geox, can't remember who the other one is by. One has plain black and one has black patent.

Oops posted too soon. Bought at local independent shoe shop who said this style was very popular with the High school girls, i.e. Y9 upwards.

DD wore Clark's brogues for Y7 and Y8. At some point in Y8 or the beginning of Y9 I realised she was taking ballet flats and changing them. She had black Converses for a while. School has tightened up to polishable shoes for September so I'm getting DMs which will last well. Its easier that her feet haven't grown for 2 years so I know its worth paying for them.

Also we have a deal that if I got acceptable shoes she will wear the new trousers without complaining every day! (They have really tightened up on school uniform from Sept).

DD had the Start-rite Burford brogues last year - they lasted really well and still have some life in them but they have been out grown.
She has Start-rite loafers for going into Y7.
I have to say the customer service from Start-rite when buying online is brilliant. We picked the wrong size and the whole return/refund/reorder thing worked very smoothly and quickly.

Well, just got the parcel from Startrite today - DD went for the chunkier brogue style (Impulsive). She's pleased with them, and I think they look pretty smart. I agree buying online is a fantastic solution, so much better to measure in peace at home esp with the free delivery/returns.

Poor old DD has to put up with Hotter.

Style death at a stroke, but the only thing that fits her orthotic insoles and her foot width and her school's rules on (lack of) decoration.

She has been heard to admit that they are quite comfy, though.

Ricotta did a nice brogue last year. They are the only brand that my heavy footed daughter doesn't manage to wear out in 2 minutes. She has a 2-3 mile walk each way when it's too dark to cycle and they have lasted well. www.ricosta.co.uk/girls-school/Ricosta-Katie-Black-Brogue-lace-up-shoe

I quite like the look of those shoes Mendeleev, they are a bit like the Hush Puppies that I saw online but wasn't sure if an 11 year old girl would like them.
I've found a local shop that sells Ricosta so will take dd there to have a look.

DD has got another pair of these startrite Samba
samba

personally i think they're too babyish for yr7, she has had exactly the same shoes every time since yr2 and are the only school shoes she'll wear. she didn't want laces. she didn't want slip ons and the flatter ones didn't fit well.

thank goodness this is the last size these shoes come up in.

i was despairing but as the lady in the shop said "i should be happy she is so easy to please". she's just disinterested.

The Ricostas are really nice (tried them last year) but despite the blurb, they didn't fit DD's orthotics and wide feet.

I might just get a pair for myself though!

I've just measured dd's feet with the Startrite paper gauge which I normally do and it has come up as 4.5 E, she is normally an F.
The lady in JL measured her as an H fitting and said she has very wide feet which she has never had and I would say still doesn't, she did use a Clarks fitting gauge so I don't know if that makes a difference.
I can't understand how she could come up with such a difference in width.

We had Dr Martens Maccy's that lasted for the whole of Y5 and Y6. Put Clarks and Startrite to shame on wear and tear.

Trying these campers as DD has tricky Y7 commute, therefore shoes that are light but supporting are essential. If they don't last - we'll be back to DMs for sure!

I took my dd shoe shopping today. She never wanted anything other than Mary Janes throughout primary school, but I suggested brogues as they looked supportive and I'd seen kids wearing them and Kickers at her new senior school. She didnt want lace ups at all though and chose ballet pumps. www.clarks.co.uk/p/26109455

I've seen a few wearing ballet pumps at her senior school and Mary Janes too for that matter. Hopefully they will be comfortable for her. The fitter seemed to do a good job of fitting them and we've not had problems previously with Clarks.