is it really worth buying 'good' shoes for school?

[tigermoth]

My 6 year old son is very hard on his school shoes. He scuffs the toes so badly, the shoes get holes in after half a term. The uniform rules state he must wear a pair of black shoes, not trainers or boots.

In the distant past, I used to buy him 'good' shoes by clarkes, but I seem to remember they hardly lasted longer than the cheaper shoes I now buy.

I have no great love of Clarks and their ilk. My oldest son suffered badly with their fitting service. Clarkes rarely had shoes that fitted him comfortably. By the time ds1 was 8 years old he was buying shoes 'of the shelf'. He has perfectly healthy feet. So I have been a lot less precious about getting 'proper shoest Ds2.

However, I will happily spend more money on proper Clarkes shoes if anyone can convince me they last much better than cheap ones from Ladybird or Asda. So what's the verdict please?

I do like the sound of those sandals, Zebra - mind you, I am a sandals type of person.

All you people saying you won't veer away from Clarks and other shops offering width fittings, can I tell you our story?

My oldest son (11) has exceptionally wide feet. For years and years I assumed that he could only get shoes from shops like Clarks. Off the peg shoes were a complete no no. Shoe shopping was a dreadful, futile experience as of course (as you all must guess) Clarks rarely had shoes in his width fitting. By the time ds1 was 8 he was feircly rebellious about Clarks and their ways.

On our last ever Clarks shopping trip, the fitter told us that ds`1 was a size 2 H fitting. She then found us a pair of shoes in that size. Amazing! Ds1 hated them on sight and insisted they were really uncomfortable. The fitter insisted they could not be. DS1 said he wanted a pair of size 4 off the peg shoes that he had seen in another shop. With huge misgivings, I agreed to his wishes. I threw in the towel shoewise. I said to ds, ok I will now rely on you to tell me if the shoes fit you, and no one else. These are your feet, not mine.

Ds 1 wore the size 4 shoes very happily for six months. Fast forward three years and ds gone through quite a few pairs of off the peg shoes, he tells me what fits and what doesn't. His feet are absolutely fine. o

Anyway, I am rambling but you can see why I am not too enamoured with the idea of expensive, fitted shoes. But I would buy them if they last longer than cheap shoes, as leaking shoes are not much fun. I will keep checking here to see which way the verdict falls.

I hate Clarks. Measured DD's feet wrong and the shoes were too tight. Took them back and they agreed with me and refunded my money. I can fit my children's shoes better than some of them (not all but some).

I bought DD's shoes at Brantano. Hush Puppies - £32 I think - leather scuffed off in a matter of hours! but they fit, they polish up okay, they have three sets of insoles so if the right one fits well but the left doesn't they change the insole to adjust the fit. I was impressed with that. Nice sturdy sole too that won't wear out on the long walk to school and laps of the playground!

my ds clarks shoes last him about 8mths longer if his feet have not grown.my dd s shoes lasted the whole school year.And i had got them in the clarks sale for £12.00.My dd now has a pair of startrite for school i got in sale in june for £18.00.

Clarks Bootleg for older boys are brill IME - if not outgrown they will last a whole year even with playing football etc in 12-16 yr-olds.

Smaller boys are very hard on shoes (DS2 used to go right through the toes of his, using them as brakes on his bike) so IMHO it is probably less important to get properly fitted shoes for them because they will only be in them for 2-3 months before they have to be replaced. I think if a child has average-width feet, and the shoes you try on are soft enough to feel where their toes are, then cheap ones are fine.

We have a Clarks outlet here, so I buy DS's from there, and I let him tell me if they fit. They are cheap cos it's the outlet, and I do find the last longer.

DD has the narrowest feet ever, and so I end up spending a fortune in a local independent shop to get her ones that don't fall off when she walks. Of all the things to inherit from her MIL, she chooses the expensive feet!

We are a Clarks family here. I get dd and ds's shoes there, and my own too. They seem to wear pretty well, and I only buy new shoes when they have grown out of the old ones. Both children scuff them up within days, but dh polishes the school shoes every morning, so they look fine. We get sandals, plimsoles, wellies and slippers unfitted, using the fitting sizes from Clarks. The only problem we have ever had was at dd's last fitting, when a quality assurance person over-rode the assistant's fitting, and got it wrong.

We have just been in France for half-term - got 3 children lovely new school shoes. They don't even MEASURE there!! Just asked me what size, brought out a few possibilities, held them up against the sole of the foot to see if they looked about right, then tried them on.. And dd1 who has narrow feet and can't ever seem to get boots here, has an elegant little pair of black zipped ankle boots which feel to me as if they fit with some room for growth, and she says they feel fine. Liberation from Startrite (Clarks always too wide) at long last... but going to France every time we need shoes might turn out to be a bit pricy
So, I'm inclined to think once you're past the toddling stage all this fitting stuff is a lot of mumbo-jumbo, and we perhaps need more confidence in ourselves and our children to decide whether shoes fit, and whether it's worth spending a fortune or not!

thanks for all your thoughts. Janh you have a good point. If ds gets an average two months wear out of his shoes, the 'room to grow' argument that 'proper' shoe fitters push is less important.

I must try Brantano again and check out those Hush Puppies. If no luck, I will buy off the peg cheapies.

We do have a bargain Clarks outlet nearby. They never have black school shoes in small boy sizes with the all important velcro strap. Lots of lace up shoes. I suppose that's why they are surplus stock, as small boys are happier with velcro. Anyway, our school frowns on children having shoe laces unless they can tie them up themselves. Ds2 can't be trusted with this task yet.

Jmb, I got my son a lovely pair of French shoes in Corsica a few years ago when we were on holiday. As you say, no fitting service to speak of, just lovely shoes that actually lasted.

Off shoe shopping tomorrow - oh joy!

tiger-I buy off ebay-have you before??

Bought clothes of ebay and some birkenstocks for me, but never children's shoes. Does it work? Are the shoes mostly worn already? not sure about that.

No-I only buy new ones or if someone says they have been worn once!
(I believe anything,me!)