Trainers for teen girls - what are your 16 yos wearing?

[Phillister]

My 16 year old needs new shoes. She has never been interested in footwear at all (which is a blessing TBH! No peer pressure to have the latest expensive fashion) but as she gets older I'm quite conscious of not embarrassing her with my choice 😀She's neurodiverse and she seems to find it quite stressful - so I'm happy to try to suggest a comfortable, reasonably fashionable (and ideally reasonably priced!) pair.

Adidas Sambas seem to be the shoe of choice at the moment

Agree I see a lot of adidas samba. Also nike air max type. Just beware if she is flat footed or over pronates as I find adidas excruciating to wear

Adidas samba or specials, black and white Nike dunks are still quite trendy too round here.

New balance 530s are in and really comfy too, I have some myself!

I teach 16 year olds - they're all in New Balance, white Nike airforce 1s or Adidas Spezials... I love a pair of trainers and they love to show me any new ones they get

As a former probably ND teenage girl, I don’t think you need to be making her ‘fit in’. Although I had very specific fashion choices at that age and didn’t care what others thought so I was a bit different to your DD.

At school, it’s converse high tops. Black and white. Then new balance for non school. Don’t know which ones but they all wear the same. Some are in air force ones to school as well.

Thanks everyone! She's worn my spezials and they're too flat for her - so will look to the New Balance and Nike. Just looking for something comfy and reasonably current!

Adidas campus round here

Thanks - it's less about me trying to make her fit in and more me trying to avoid the expense of a mistake if what I buy makes her stand out too much! Between her age and personality, getting it too wrong would matter to her. But comfort is really what I'm looking for - had to give up my own shoes for her on a recent city break 😫

New Balance are a good option if she likes something a bit more supportive.

Look in Office. Generally, footwear will be pretty much on trend if they sell it.

New Balance is by far the most comfortable. Don't go for Sambas as they are notorious for tearing open the ankle/heel area of your feet and you might end up spending just as much money for blister plasters. They're also designed for very narrow feet and ankles.

If you want absolute comfort and trend, you could splurge for Salomon XT-6s. Those are predicted to be one of the most viral shoes for 2025. They're high end trekking / trail running shoes and nothing can beat them in comfort & durability. They're currently massively hyped up in the fashion and influencer scene. It's still early enough that not many schools or teens know about it, so having them first will guarantee someone being a trendsetter.

UGG Lowmels
New Balance
Nike Dunks
Jordan 1s

My 15 year old has
New Balance 530s
Adidas Campus
Adidas Samba
Adidas Spezials
Nike Air Force but these never see the light of day now
Nike 270s but pretty much only for pe

Oh and she lives in crocs.

Wow those Salomons are ugly.

Take a look at On Cloud. Me and my daughter find them really comfy and they are becoming more fashionable x

Around here, it's converse high tops

Just go into Office on a Saturday and see what other teen girls are buying...

Nike Cortez are ageless and cool.

Nike Airforce 1 or Nike pandas.

Air force 1s are the shoe of choice for school here

My dd2 just got the new balance 9060 for her birthday, €190! Her feet have stopped growing so in theory should last ages but knowing her she will want something different by the summer. If it wasn't a birthday present I would not have spent that much