Anyone got a spare teenage dd to give an opinion on these school shoes please!

[Debs334]

Dd is starting secondary school in September. She is very small and worried about looking cute/babyish (!). She has small, very wide feet (size 1) and we've struggled to find anything she liked. Her feet are too small for the older range at Clarks and John Lewis only had very babyish shoes in her size. She found these shoes (pic), which were a bit doc marten-esque and she was really pleased with them. However, she showed them to her cousin on FaceTime this morning who said she 'hated' them. Grrrr. So now dd is wobbling about them. I realise this a massively first world problem but I want dd to walk in on her first day (she doesn't know anyone at the school - new to the area) feeling full of confidence. Any opinions welcome, have we got this horribly wrong?!

Sorry, both my teens are out at the moment.

I'll try and ask them when they get home tonight, but, IMO (and what would I know - I'm a Mum ) they do look a bit like boys' shoes to me, if I'm honest. As I say - I could be completely wrong and will ask them tonight if I get a chance.

My (15yr old) dd wears something like This but without the bow and my 12 yr old (so just finished Yr7) wears something like this This

I asked my friends DD (14) who is here, she thinks they are awful and look like boys shoes.

Sorry!

Ds2 just finished says the girls all wear shoes like backforgood has linked to.

I like the ones your daughter has chosen but I am 35!

It really does seem to be bballet style pumps etc that all the teen girls wear here.

Every single high school girl near me wears [[http://www.clarks.co.uk/p/20350526 these]. Every single one. They must have sold a phenomenal amount of that style of shoe.

Ds2 just finished yr7 that should say.

Ds1(15) and going into yr11 Said they look like something some boys would wear bit with different laces.

Fwiw I think they are nice and much better than the ballet style shoes.

My DD (12) has just got those exact shoes. They were the only ones in Russell & Bromley which fitted her properly, and tbh she wasn't keen on them when they were first presented to her.
However, she loves them now! She has changed the laces for normal round, less ribbony ones and has been happily wearing them for the last 3 days to break them in before school. (They need it as very stiff leather)
You're right, they are quite Doc Marten-esque, but we actually prefer them to run of the mill girly shoes.

DD1 (14) says they are sweet, but if they look clunky on her she will look like a baby doll.
DD2 (12) says "no one judges you on your shoes" but they look a bit heavy.

My 12 yr old says she thinks they are fine but she is quite quirky and wears the plain kids dr martens. The plain black lace ups which look like adult ones but are softer go up to size 2 but she's blumming grown out of them now. Her older sister wears the adult ones (ouch at the cost). Their big sister only wore dolly shoes/ballet pumps and put up with cold, wet feet. The shoes were cheap but constantly needed replacing. I once made her have a decent pair from Clarks and she cried.

It so depends on the child and the school. We've done 2 secondaries. The one definitely had a mould the other is much more laid back and anything goes.

Ooh good luck. It will soon be half term. She'll have a new bunch of friends and this will be a distant memory...

Agree with LynetteScavo - the Clarks shoes she links are the shoes that all the girls round here were wearing last term.

I asked dd aged 13 if she would wear them to school, and she said 'maybe' if the laces were different.
Which is not a no. At all. And is in fact very, very positive feedback

Personally, I think they are very nice.

I'm afraid my DD who is going into Y9 looked horrified, shoes with laces, including the Clark's ones so popular elsewhere are just not done by girls at her school. She does however wear some T-bar shoes from Topshop that aren't a million miles from the style she had in infants so her taste may not be main stream!

i'm 15 and would definitely NEVER wear them but they would be cute for a year 7 - they might be a bit clumpy but they're still loads of people who wear brogues in year 11. it really depends on the person - some cool people can pull them off realy well - but on others they can tend to look childish (me- which is why i dont wwear them

Kickers - every kid at DD's school wears them and she's worn them every year since year 7. They last a whole school year too.

DD1 (almost 13) says No way Jose!

Sorry.

I tried to get her to take the Clarks ones linked to last year for starting secondary and she refused, to be fair I think it was a good decision as they are not very robust. Your ones will at least last a while.

We looked at those yesterday in Russel and Bromley, are they Startrite? DD (11) went for the Startrite Penny loafers, and loves them, they were £60, ouch!

DD going into year 10 in September said change the laces for thin ones.

Then said "she'll be fine, Year 7's can get away with anything" (but she'll want to change them after 1 term!)

DD (16) - just left yr11 - says she'd wear them minus the ribbony laces. Mind you she wears DM boots and great big clumpy sandaly things all the time. I like them, but that would immediately lower their street cred though!

Dd14 says whose are pretty much what everyone single 'alternative' girl at schools wears. She likes them. Big clunky shoes like that are all the teenagers wear up hear, school or not

DD (14) said they were alright. She doesn't think they would raise any comments from anyone.

Which surprised me. I expected a much more positive response since, when we were looking at shoes the other day, she picked these as the ones she wanted when we do the inevitable shop for school shoes.

Mine has just chosen these for Y9... resp.schuh.co.uk/womens/rocket-dog-telaney-black-flat-shoes/1370987060/

I don't like ballet flats as she would wear them out in no time and get wet feet as she walks to and from school most of the time....She doesn't like Mary janes etc and has opposite problem to OP... She wears a 7 and thinks her feet look huge in a lot of shoes

Dumbledoresgirl... Those are v similar to the ones my DD chose last year (after trying on every pair in the shop)... Lasted all year and were v good....

I've given up trying to second guess what this year's choice will be as I am usually wrong on what is cool or not...

dd (going into year 9) says style ok , laces and soles a bit thick

Just bought very similar ones from Startrite for my DD who also starts Y7 in December. None of the ballet flat styles fitted her properly. The thing with her friends seems to be 'no Velcro strap', anything else is OK!

www.startriteshoes.com/girls-shoes/school-shoes/burford-black-leather-girls-lace-up-school-shoes

www.clarks.co.uk/p/20350526 these come in a 1