Help! Daughter wrecking/wearing out shoes in a week or two

nicki_2

Can anyone recommend shoes that are suitable for school but won't wear out/fall apart after 2-3 weeks?

My daughter (11 years old) is really heavy when it comes to shoes and its costing me a small fortune to keep her in school suitable ones. Since Christmas she's been through 2 pairs of boots, a pair of "trainer" shoes, a pair of black trainers (which I thought would last longer as they had a thicker sole) and has just about worn through ANOTHER pair of the "trainer" shoes! This is not including the 2 pairs of casual shoes she's worn out! Her nan has just bought her a new pair of trainers today as apparently the ones she got for Xmas from my sister and has only been wearing as casual shoes for 5 weeks tops have worn through already! Its always the sole wearing thin/splitting that's the problem or the sole comes away or she kicks the toes out of them completely.

I won't let her wear the ballet style ones for school because of the way she wears them out, and she doesn't like moccasin or loafer styles. She also can't have much of a heel as they're for school. Short of paying out for Doc Martens/Clarks, are there any other thicker soled ones out there and where can I buy them? We normally get ours from Wynsors as its the only place to buy shoes without going to a supermarket or town!

ETA: She'll be going to secondary school in September and will be travelling a lot further than she does now, just getting to the bus stop is going to be twice the distance she walks now!

meer53

Don't know what to suggest really ! My daughter is 11 (12 in July) and is still wearing the M & S shoes i bought her at the start of term last Sept. When not at school she has a pair of boots we bought from Primark, ankle boots from Asda and a pair of black plimsolls which they all seem to want to wear at the moment ! The plimsolls are nearly done but the boots are still fine. She's never actually worn a pair of shoes out.

Maybe a visit to a podiatrist would help ? It could be the way she's walking. Could be worth trying paying a bit more, cheap ones can sometimes be false economy.

TeaCake

I always had Doc Marten shoes for school, as a proper tom-boy (football, tree climbing and the rest ) they use to last 6 months at least.
As an adult ive found that sketcher trainers last well where supermarket / cheaper brands fall apart.

My feet 'eat' shoes it seems so I rotate my shoes - work shoes only for work, weekend trainers for the weekend and to change into after work, gym trainers only for the gym. It means that my weekend shoes might wear out quicker but the more expensive work shoes dont.

Mands

nicki wrote: »

Can anyone recommend shoes that are suitable for school but won't wear out/fall apart after 2-3 weeks?

My daughter (11 years old) is really heavy when it comes to shoes and its costing me a small fortune to keep her in school suitable ones. Since Christmas she's been through 2 pairs of boots, a pair of "trainer" shoes, a pair of black trainers (which I thought would last longer as they had a thicker sole) and has just about worn through ANOTHER pair of the "trainer" shoes! This is not including the 2 pairs of casual shoes she's worn out! Her nan has just bought her a new pair of trainers today as apparently the ones she got for Xmas from my sister and has only been wearing as casual shoes for 5 weeks tops have worn through already! Its always the sole wearing thin/splitting that's the problem or the sole comes away or she kicks the toes out of them completely.

She has no incentive to keep her shoes in good condition. If they wear out the someone else replaces them; all she has to endure is the grumbles.

Give her a shoe allowance and let her buy her own. Things become much more valuable when you have to replace them yourself.

Best of luck,
Mands

j.e.j.

I don't know Wynsors shoes, so not sure if they're good quality or not, but as someone who is also heavy on their shoes (!) I've always found cheap footwear to be a false ecomony.

Skechers often have thick soles but they aren't cheap. I would say go for Clarks or DMs. She surely wouldn't wear out a pair of DMs in a week or two.

Have you got any outlet shops near you? Another option if Clarks, etc are too costly might be to look out for a new pair on EBay?
Amazon also sell shoes, sometimes at reduced prices.

cte1111

My daughter kills any cheap(ish) shoes like this. I've found I have to buy Clarks (or even more expensive) for her or else they are destroyed within weeks as you have described.

Her Dad and step-Mum keep buying her cheap shoes / boots and they are worn out ridiculously quickly, e.g. they bought her 3 pairs of boots from Primark before Christmas and they are already all in pieces. I guess they think I am being mean only letting her have one pair of shoes at a time, but the only ones that last cost at least £30-£45.

uk_american

I sold a pair of basic Doc Martens last year on ebay for around £40, there are bargains to be had if you keep an eye out. They are such long-wearing, good quality shoes--would recommend that you check out ebay/gumtree, etc, especially if your daughter won't mind getting a used pair. As long as your daughter keeps the leather polished, there's no way to wear them out quickly.

(My reason for selling: I bought them secondhand at a charity shop in the US to try them out based on all the positive reviews, but my 'insert-wearing, weak ankle' self never got accustomed to the heavier weight of the shoe.) For an active student I imagine they'd be a good match though.

anniemf2508

My daughter was the same with shoes...i ended up having to buy her boys shoes for school as they are generally made to be more robust, this worked, but she hated wearing boys shoes. Eventually we managed to get her back in girls shoes and the pair shes wearing now have lasted since september so far
they are these ones :http://www.javari.co.uk/Childrens-Shoes-Girls-Junior-Youth/s/ref=topnav_sd_you_gw/279-5297700-7985857?ie=UTF8&node=216842031&pf_rd_r=02DNXGYR2NMDYAD29TAT&pf_rd_m=A9UMZ77PKDFNW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=homepage&pf_rd_p=253283267&pf_rd_s=headernav2#__ie%3DUTF8%26cAsin%3DB003Y3B5FY%26fromPage%3Dsearch%26sr%3D1-6%26qid%3D1332016096545%26asinTitle%3DToughees~~20Shoes~~20Kids~~20Christine~~20School~~20Shoe%26contextTitle%3DSearch~~20Results%26clientPageSize%3D100%26node%3D216879031%26sort%3Dshoesbrowserel2%26nodes%3D216879031%26rnid%3D216879031%26asin%3DB003Y3B50Y%26ref%3Dsr_1_6%26pageCode%3Dd[/url

they are almost like a dr marten and are really well made

anniemf2508

sorry the link is:
http://www.javari.co.uk/Childrens-Shoes-Girls-Junior-Youth/s/ref=topnav_sd_you_gw/279-5297700-7985857?ie=UTF8&node=216842031&pf_rd_r=02DNXGYR2NMDYAD29TAT&pf_rd_m=A9UMZ77PKDFNW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=homepage&pf_rd_p=253283267&pf_rd_s=headernav2#__ie%3DUTF8%26cAsin%3DB003Y3B5FY%26fromPage%3Dsearch%26sr%3D1-6%26qid%3D1332016096545%26asinTitle%3DToughees~~20Shoes~~20Kids~~20Christine~~20School~~20Shoe%26contextTitle%3DSearch~~20Results%26clientPageSize%3D100%26node%3D216879031%26sort%3Dshoesbrowserel2%26nodes%3D216879031%26rnid%3D216879031%26asin%3DB003Y3B50Y%26ref%3Dsr_1_6%26pageCode%3Dd

daska

meer53 wrote: »

Maybe a visit to a podiatrist would help ? It could be the way she's walking. Could be worth trying paying a bit more, cheap ones can sometimes be false economy.

This might be worth pursuing but you'd be looking for a referral to whichever dept does the gait analysis - might be podiatry or physiotherapy, with any luck the latter, in our area only diabetics are referred to podiatry.

adelight

What about horse riding ankle boot things? I get through soles fast too and have found these last ages, they have a very thick doc martens style sole and it's almost impossible to stub the toes.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/new-childs-size-3-horse-riding-leather-jodhpur-jodphur-boots-black-/150771313532?pt=UK_Sporting_Goods_Athletic_Shoes_ET&hash=item231aabab7c#ht_1231wt_952 i know they're not the most feminine things but would be fine with jeans or under trousers.