Does everyone go to Clarks for first shoes?

[yellowflowers]

They are so expensive. Can I get my baby's feet measured there then get shoes elsewhere? And where else does them by width as well as length?

i second notjustclassic - doctor told me not to buy shoes at all until completely walking - this caused me to lose faith in clarks quickly since they wanted to get shoes on dd 6 months earlier - doc says not even cruisers or pram shoes! Plus dd has been measured wrong twice by clarks - now if i do go there (rarely) i insist they measure manually and not using that electronic computer machine thing!

When walking i would get measured properly and try elsewhere but be careful with the width which is difficult to gauge - dd was a G fitting and never managed to fit next shoes at all

oh thank you that is really helpful. She is ten months and cruising and just a couple of weeks off walking I would say.

Worth looking for a factory shop / outlet. We drive over to the StartRite factory shop - wellies for a couple of quid, proper leather shoes for about £18, and I often see the same ones in the shops for £30/£35!

But yes not really necessary until they're walking - I just used soft wool booties with leather sole to keep DS's toes warm :)

they are rubbish, go to 2 shops or same shop twice and you'll get two completely different sizes! their range is rubbish too, they've got mothercare-syndrome! (see media request thread, earnt a good reputation in the past but now cruising on that without delivering)

go to your local independant shoe store, they'll usually stock clarks as well as others but their fitting service and range is far better I find

and agree clarks are very naughty at selling shoes to smalls that shouldn't have them yet, actually children should only wear shoes when they really cant do without them (e.g. walking outside on pavements etc)

dd had start rite first

I have bought all DD shoes at Clarks apart from one pair. I've never had a reason to complain. Great shoes, great service. Have occasionally been told to come back another time as DD still fitted her shoes. Never felt pushed into buying.

Have found Russel & Bromley's helpful too but ended up always goin to Clarks.

John Lewis I've never bought shoes at but heard great things.

I think it's terrible to take advantage of their measuring service and then buying somewhere else. You either like their service and buy there or you go somewhere else and measure yourself.

"I think it's terrible to take advantage of their measuring service and then buying somewhere else"

people can only do this if they are buying other CLARKS shoes somewhere else where there isn't the clarks shop mark up for SAME shoes

clarks size just applies to clarks shoes, it is not their size in start rite or other brands

Start-Rite are very helpful with a good choice of shoes. Had Clarks assistants trying to sell us shoes that didn't fit!

I went to an independent shoe shop (Whistlers in Brixton) as nursery said 11mo ds had to have shoes to come to nursery (v annoyed they didn't mention that until after his settling-in sessions so had only the weekend to shop!). The cheap shoe stores only started with sizes 6 or so.

Ended up with a very nice pair of red Start-Rites. I tend to get a pair in the next size up off Ebay each time I get new shoes, in case they get lost or suddenly outgrown.

More recently I've gone to both Clarks and Johnsons in my parents' town, as both tend to have limited stock though the staff are lovely.

I did as it was what I was told I should do. That was with DD1. DD2 got hers from Mothercare and a play pair from ASDA.

You can buy a start rite foot measurer and measure them yourself. Then buy on ebay.

This is helpful, measure in millimetres, calculate online.

www.startriteshoes.com/fitting/fitting-calculator