How much do you pay for kids shoes / school shoes

CATS

My son's school shoes are £70 - £75 but they last him the whole school year. Anything cheaper breaks within a couple of months. He wears trainers outside school

raq

Hi there

My two boys, 8 and 6. We also bought clark shoes in september and they are going back to school next with at least another months wear out of them.

Outside school they where nike trainers

So we are all aware it is best to pay out the £75 and they you won,t be hitting other shops 8 - 10 weeks after

WantToBeSE

I don't buy clarks anymore, after i bought my son a pair that fell apart after a month. I paid about £35 for them.

My younger son is still in primary and is allowed to wear trainers, so i normally buy him sketchers (about £30-£40). My older one is at secondary now, and is only allowed to wear all black shoes, with no other colour on them. I normally get his from tesco or from sports direct.

Spendless

CATS wrote: »

My son's school shoes are £70 - £75 but they last him the whole school year. Anything cheaper breaks within a couple of months. He wears trainers outside school

What brand of shoe do you buy? If this style suited my son's flat foot and lasted him longer, it would be more cost effetive for me to do this. ETA Sorry, and how old is your son?

Spendless

During the Primary school years if we were towards the end of a shoe life with just a few weeks to go till the end of the school year I would buy the trainers that looked very much like a shoe. I think they were from the clarks range. These would then become 'playing out in' footwear for the summer holidays before starting again with a new school shoe for the new academic year.Wasn't an option when son got to secondary school and uniform policy became stricter and son grew out of child's sizing.

marisco_2

I stick to Clarks when buying shoes for my boys. I have tried getting them shoes from Asda etc but have found the quality to be quite poor in comparison. So that negated the initial saving as they wore out quicker and needed to be replaced regularly.

When they were younger I found Clarks shoes in an outlet store for a discounted rate. However there was little choice in style and limited shoe sizes available.

When my children are home from school they dont wear their school shoes, they have a small range of trainers, boots and beach sandals for the summer. That way their school shoes dont get worn out fast by them rough and tumbling and playing with their friends.

embob74

I bought Clarks but got annoyed at the short length of time they fit for. I did feel that they were measuring very close to the limit so you have to return more!
DD doesn't look after footwear (seriously how can you scuff the front of your feet until they wear through?!) and after she lost a shoe at school which didn't turn up in lost property until months later when I had thrown the other one out I refused to spend that sort of money on her. I was buying from Shoezone type outlets but their shoes are shockingly plastic now. I tend to trawl the shops trying to find a decent leather shoe which is sturdy but that she likes and that actually fits.
I'm surprised at how few places do half sizes. I'm a 3 and a half and find that some 3's fit, some 4's fit but most don't so it's obviously quite a big range from one size to another.

skylight

I buy from either Clarks or Brantanos and dont worry about the cost. It's got to be paid for so will therefore have to be budgeted.

I did make the mistake of buying cheap Asda shoes once and only made that mistake once!

Sadly we dont have any outlet type places near hear.

mrsa

Thanks for all the replies. Interesting to see the different options. Just wanted to add that I agree how important good fitting shoes are aswell as a good sturdy leather school shoe.
I do however feel Clarks in particular have a very good marketing ploy directed at parents that make them feel they are 'harming' thier child if the dont get measured and fitted from them.
I have personally had a few bad experiences from them with ill-fitted shoes, rubbing my sons feet (more than once) one pair they fitted a different width than measured as were out of stock and reasured me would be fine and they kept slipping off!!
I tend to get them fitted at John Lewis, or local independant store.
I am going to look into Hush Puppies....has anyone tries Kickers ??

valk_scot

Outside of school shoes I go to Decathlon or Sports Direct for trainers and outdoor shoes and sandles, Sports Direct is especially good if you have boys. For girls party shoes that will only be worn a few times then whatever fits and looks good tbh, supermarket shoes are fine.

For school shoes, both my kids's schools don't really mind if they don't have "proper" black leather school shoes so I tend to look for plain black trainer type shoes. My son developed plantar facilitus when he was eight or so, my GP said it was quite common in kids who were spending long periods of time playing on hard playground surfaces in uncushioned school type shoes. Sports Direct currently sell a black real leather lace up semi-trainer type shoe by Karrimor that's reasonably smart, doesn't have a visible brand logo and is ~£16 per pair for adult sizes, ~£12 for kids sizes. Good cushioning on the sole and very comfortable for walking to school. They come in half sizes and women's fit too.

If a child has flat feet then a podiatrist can supply support insoles that can be used with most enclosed shoes. Get a referral from your GP, flat feet can affect other parts of the developing skeleton.