Children's shoes con

Buttonmoons

I've got so so feet, they aren't ugly, but my big toe is wide set from the next, the doctor says I have a bunion on that foot (I seriously dont, I fell in the train station and I think I messed it up somehow) and I was put in the nastiest shoes ever! Plimsoles etc.

My DD has a lot of "fashion shoes" from the likes of H&M and New look to go with her outfits, but definatley clarks for trainers and school shoes, the cheap ones get wrecked in a moment, and she has been climbing trees and walls etc with her clarks and all they need is a polish (since Sep!)

balletshoes

silly_moo wrote: »

I never had my shoes fitted and neither had my 3 siblings and there's nothing wrong with our feet. Ever since I was about 8 years old I was allowed to pick my own shoes and decide whether they felt comfortable. Occasionally my mum or dad would poke to see if they were not too tight. But when I went to high school I was buying shoes and all clothes with my friends and my parents only got to see them when I got back home. It's all down to how the shoe feels on your foot.
I would be mortified if at the age of 16 my parents took me to have my feet measured. At this age (and younger) you can surely decide whether a shoe fits or not?

:rotfl::rotfl: at 16 I was wearing heels and pointy-toed shoes to school, and 3-inch stilettos out of school. I didn't care how much they pinched my toes, I wore them anyway!

I did used to put my DD in properly-fitted Clarks shoes when she was younger, but I struggle to get her in the shop at all now (she's 10 and can fit into an adult size 3 or 4). She is living in various pairs of boots to school etc at the moment, she doesn't even have a pair of shoes she could wear to school. Her feet are kind of doomed anyway as she's a dancer, but she's sensible enough (right now) to pick shoes for school that she can wear and that she can walk about in all day (she learned her lesson when, last summer, she decided her heeled sandals would be absolutely fine for a 3-hour shopping trek in town - they weren't :rotfl:). She knows heels of any kind are strictly out of the equation for school.

Mrs_Arcanum

Until I chose my own shoes at around 13 my feet were fine (wide but fine). Now I have bunions, thankfully not too bad. Mother also had good shoes as a child (her grandfather was a high quality cobbler) but fashion shoes gave her corns and hammer toes.

jellyhead

dizziblonde wrote: »

Some people are just destined to get "bad" feet I think. I spent my entire childhood being dragged down to Clarks and fitted properly for the 2 styles of shoes that came in my width fitting in the entire shop (and they were never the nice pretty ones grrr)... I've still got dreadful problems with my feet, ingrowing toenails, massively high arches, so many issues I can't wear many types of shoes now... I think genetics HAS to play a part however much you stack the odds (and I didn't even wreck them in persuit of teenage fashionistadom because I lived in Doc Martens by then). Quite what they'd have been like if I wore any old junk that didn't fit properly I don't know though!

Personally this bump will get fitted out in the factory shop Clarks up the road to keep the costs bearable... and those wretched horrific creations with the toys in the soles are banned point blank - I've seen the state of the inside of some of those shoes after a couple of weeks of wear and, especially considering they're Clarks and therefore not cheap, they're horrific - the insole collapses into the toy alcove and they've got no support in them whatsoever! Plus I think all primary teachers would like to reserve a special circle of hell for the idiot who invented them as the little dollie appears during carpet time for the umpteenth time that day.

As for scuffed shoes - considering I was inevitably found up a tree or playing football with my socks hanging around my ankles... I kind of expect kids' shoes to get scuffed - that's what the polish stuff is for! Only comments I make on it within school is a "don't kick the wall like that please, your mum will have a fit if you go home with those nice shoes all scuffed"... similar to my requests to stop picking that miniscule hole in the knee of your trousers so it's not mahoosive by hometime!

Unfortunately those yotoy shoes are usually the only shoe in the whole shop that will fit my kids (they are both wide-footed with high instep, and have rarely been able to choose between 2 styles).

We have never had a problem with the inside collapsing. Maybe it's because we take the toy out immediately, so there's no chance of the lid of the compartment rubbing against a toy that wasn't put back properly.

I've never let my boys take the toy to school.

We have an independent shop and most parents I know buy Startrite from there, but the lady in charge of the shop says Clarks are a better fit for my boys.

They often have a kind of bumper on the toe so they don't look scuffed

Youngest's friend is a girl, and never gets Clarks, but I think some people can get away with cheap shoes but others can't. I know my boys can't because their feet are like mine and I always go for Clarks for comfort. They don't last like doc Martens though.

thatlemming

My mum made me and my brother wear Clarks (from the factory shop) until we were at secondary school. I understood why when I started taekwondo and noticed that my feet were so much nicer than most peoples

laddujaddu

*speed-queen* wrote: »

I'm a clarks trained shoe fitter,
and I understand that quality fitted shoes are expensive
but I can assure you, I and I'm pretty sure almost all fitters will ALWAYS make sure a child has the best possible fit.

We try and leave as much room as we can but due to the different styles of shoes, variations of children's feet, and the fact you never know when or how much a child will grow, it is not always possible to make them last longer than 3 months.

I would personally rather fit a shoe with 'some' room
that may need changing at say 3-4 months, than having to leave them overly big so they will 'last' as these are much more likely to rub.

If you do find your child has completely grown out of their shoes in 2 months or so (perhaps not toddlers, they can grow super fast)
it may be worth taking them back to the store that they were fitted in with a receipt, they may say they were wrongly fitted (we all make mistakes) and refund you or even if not as a gesture of goodwill they may exchange them for you. This is not guaranteed but worth a try.

I'm sorry you feel you've had bad experiences, I hope you continue to buy fitted shoes, I personally think they are really worth it.

xXx

do Clarks fit adult shoes or only kids' ? TIA

marywooyeah

I've got feet like a corpse as my parents put me in cheap shoes and now find it hard to find shoes that fit - one of my feet is wider than the other too.

I've had 2 pairs of the same clarks shoes, on both pairs the heels caved in (kind of springy material) and the insoles have too. Another pair I bought for £40 and the wedges split on them within a month. I bought my son a pair which had dinosaurs etched into the sole, he wore them twice and now they are too small - paid £32 for them!

I don't think I'd ever buy clarks shoes again, in my experience they're so expensive and either don't last or fall apart.

jellyhead

Have you found anything that lasts longer than Clarks for adults? I haven't. I haven't tried Hotter yet, which my mum swears by.

Clarks rarely last 6 months for me but I am heavy on my feet and clumsy, so I probably ruin them faster than other people would. They are comfortable, which is more than can be said for most other brands I have tried.

Bella56

jellyhead wrote: »

Have you found anything that lasts longer than Clarks for adults? I haven't. I haven't tried Hotter yet, which my mum swears by.

Clarks rarely last 6 months for me but I am heavy on my feet and clumsy, so I probably ruin them faster than other people would. They are comfortable, which is more than can be said for most other brands I have tried.

I tend to buy trainers (Nike, Brooks, whatever fits) and they last 2 to 3 years. I wear 'em until they fall apart!
My osteopath swears by Ecco but I've not tried them as they seem quite expensive.

suki1001

I cannot beleive how flimsy Clarks girls shoes are. I don't understand why they have to be such slaves to fashion. i really wish they would design something more sturdy for girls. I took my dd to get some the other day. We ended up getting boys shoes for her. It actually disgusts me. I'm glad she was happy to get boys shoes. Why can't they just add a bit more to them?