Are children's shoes a rip off? Do you buy clarks or cheaper?

*Bright-Idea*

I take my daughter to Clarks to get them measured and then go to Tesco/Asda to get shoes that are 'scuff resistant', usually about £10/£12.
I bought her Clarks at £28 a time when she was in reception and within 2/3 wks they were always ruined. I find that the shoes I buy now seem to last much longer and it tends to be the sole that gets worn out before you get any scuff marks on the upper (that's after 3-4 months btw) but I do take her back to Clarks every 8 wks or so to get her measured. She had been in a size 11 for a year and then between July 1st and Sept 1st she went up to a size 13 :eek: .

As much as I would love to buy Clarks for her all the time I can't afford that amount of money every 8 weeks or so because their shoes just don't last imo.

SPANIEL36

When My Two Daughters Were Younger I Always Bought Proper Sized/fitted Shoes. I Had To Really As Their Feet Were So Wide. No Though I Go Shoe Zone As They Have A Large Range And Last For Ages..oh And They're Not Badly Priced Too!!

caris

Hi


I nearly always get my grandsons shoes from Clarkes, because he has very narrow feet, and we have trouble finding shoes that fit him correctly. He is always measured in Clarkes shoe shop, but on a few occassions even they have not had his width fitting, so we have had to go else were to get them, his last pair of shoes were from ecco, and they were not cheap, for his trainers I buy geocs, I find that they are just the right width fitting for him, but again they are around the £35-£40 a pair, so for us the cost of shoes and trainers is really expensive.

caris

daveyjp

Clarkes for us so far (third pair just bought), but only from the local discount outlet. We save about £10 a pair.

vikingaero

We have 2 monsters who seem to go through shoes every 2-3 months. We use Clarks, Clarks at Outlets, Russell and Bromley and John Lewis. We always buy school shoes from proper retailers and buy leisure and trainers from Next and Brantano.

Last time monster #2 needed shoes I knew that I would be rogered when I saw the Gore-Tex label on the shoes............ £45. Even my shoes don't cost that much!

Smiley_Mum

Always buy shoes/boots from an independent shoe store in town. They are expensive, £40+ for leather shoes, Riccosta or Startrite and usually Ecco boots for Winter time at £50 a pair. We walk virtually everywhere so I'd rather buy decent footwear which is going to last. I've bought from Brantano in the past for my two and was lucky if they lasted a fortnight. I don't buy a lot of footwear really for myself. Just a couple of quality pairs of boots/shoes and keep them in a good state of repair, last for ages. Relace the boots every so often to change the pressure points on the laces and they last longer. Bought Clarks when they were little but now they have such narrow feet, I just can't get a good fit on them.

zippybungle

I have always only bought Clarks shoes for my 2 Boys (2.5 and 5), however I do try to only buy them from the Clarks Outlet or from the Sale.......If you have a Clarks outlet nearby then it's definately worth a visit if you are planning on buying a few pairs of shoes. My best bargain was a pair of 'Doodles' shoes for £3

I also like Clarks shoes for myself as I am very fussy about my shoes being comfy :rolleyes:

Zippy x

amandada

So many people are saying they buy Clark's shoes and they fall to bits quickly.....I've always bought Startrite, Ecco, Riccosta or similar and have never had a problem....my dd's school shoes usually last her from August to Easter when she grows out of them. She walks to and from school....doesn't anyone else think it's a problem with Clark's being poor quality/value for money?

milkydrink

I used to buy Clarks when she was really little (& sometimes Startrite) & then when she reached school age I used to get her Kickers (boots in winter & shoes/sandals in summer), they were more expensive than Clarks, but they lasted till she grew out of them, whereas Clarks she always scuffed badly & they looked tatty in a week (she was very hard on shoes).
The Kickers were as expensive then (15 years ago) as they are now!!!
I'm sure I paid up to £65 for the patent kick-hi's, they are no more than this now!!
They were measured & fitted at a very good independant shoe shop.

I think I gave her a taste for expensive shoes!!! Silly me!!!

So if you want quality shoes that stay looking smart, try Kickers.

mummy_Jay

My boy (aged 3) goes through shoes in approx 3 months or less (in both size as speed he wears through them), I take him to clarks get him measured and buy him one pair from there as his main shoes aprrox £30 a pair, then I buy the wellys and a pair of trainers (he can go through trainers in a month at times, but he needs something he can wreck) from another brantanos or supermarket.

It works out about £100 - 120 a year, its expensive but you have to look after their feet, but it does mean I rarely buy shoes for myself.