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shoes other than clarks?

Hi ladies,

I have been buying my DD's shoes from Clarks up to now but have been looking at their boot choice and I dont like any of them & cant beleive they are ??42 a pair anyway! I obviously want to make sure whatever i buy they are a perfect fit so would like to buy from a shop rather than online but not sure where is good for childrens shoes. My DD is walking really well at 18 months & a size 5F.

Many thanks

xxx
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Replies

  • I don't have an answer but will be interested in the answers. My dd is 17 months & walking well but barely a size 3 & finding non expensive walking shoes/boots for her is impossible. I can't afford Clarks prices but alot of the shops don't stock much of a size 3 walking shoe selection, they seem to start at size 4 which swamp dd's feet.
  • Start rite boots are lovely, but they can be pricey. We have a shopping outlet about an hour away from us in Castleford where they have a Charles Clinkard shop selling last seasons boots at a cheaper price. It's worth a look to see if there's one near you.

    Personally I only really trust Clarks and Start Rite, I don't buy shoes from baby clothes shops etc cos even though they're cheaper, the fit is never quite right.

    Good luck with finding some. xxx
  • Hi
    I get some of mine from Dunnes they are a really good fit. I tried Next but they were too clumpy. Also got trainers from sports direct. xx
  • We have a small independent shoe shop near us that are fabulous and have a good selection of all sorts of kids shoes def worth checking your local towns to see if you have an independent shop.
  • I heard on the grapevine that Mothercare will soon be introducing a new line of shoes half the price of Clarks and staff members will be trained in fitting shoes!! It will be interesting to see how good they are! xx
  • definitely check if you have an outlet near you, we got pippa a pair of shoes from the clarks outlet for ??6, i won't shop at the charles clinkard outlet. There staff aren't trained to fit children's shoes properly, i had a bad experience at the one in castelford and emailed the company and they said they don't fully train there outlet staff to fit childrens shoes they just do basic training if you want a fully trained member of staff to go to a normal store imageimage so i refuse to shop there on principle now, helps there's a clarks outlet round the corner and there staff are trained properly. Pippa never needs the size she measures as she has a really high instep, so i have to have someone with experience to measure her feet.
    xx
  • the clarkes and startrite factory shops are great, also you have Brantano that does clarkes and other makes at reduced costs and I also buy hush puppies from an independent shop near us and they are really reasonable at about ??25 pair
  • I don't like Clarks as the staff in our shop are flippin useless!

    I go to a small independent shop near us and they sell all sorts of brands, hush puppies, buckle my shoe and lots of others, they take ages to measure and make sure the shoe fits properly which I think is fab.

    I also noticed in the in the window of Barratts that they have trained shoe fitters in store, not tried there myself but might be worth a look x
  • OMG girlinleeds, I didn't realize the fitters aren't properly trained in the Clinkard shop, got both my 2 their boots from there last winter and the woman checked the fit etc, I assumed she knew what she was doing! Thanks for the info hun, I'll stick to Clarks if we go to Castleford again.

    We have a lot of independent shoe shops near us, one is just down road and they have clarks shoes so I'm going to try there for Lily's new shoes for nursery.
  • Interesting replies, wish we had an outlet nearer us, would save a fortune!

    Skye has been recommended ankle boots too Lara by our ortho consultant. She had hip dysplasia picked up at 3 months old, and was in a brace for 3 months. She now still walks with one foot slightly turned inwards and uses her toes to "grip", high instep too!! Now concerned that when I go to get her some ankle boots that they won't accomodate the high in step maybe? These girls LOL!

    Luckily there is one lady in our local Clarks that is fab, well trained and v knowledgeable, so I make sure I see her only. Sadly our local independant shop just closed after over 50 years trading : (

    I always find that I can't get away with cheaper shoes because of Skye's high instep and G fitting feet. I have found John Lewis own brand shoes to fit quite wide so have bought these for summer knock-about shoes though.

    I have often looked at the Mothercare shoes and wondered if they'd be okay on Skye, but worry they'll be too narrow on wider than average feet? Guessing they probably produce shoes on an average width fitting of F, and if your child is wider than this then probably not even worth trying them??

    iz & Skye x
  • I'm a bit stuck with this as Chloe has hypermobile joints and the physio and consultant have both said she must only have Clarks fitted shoes as they are the only ones to trust in their experience with her joints. She also has wide feet with a high instep and often has to go a few sizes bigger to accomodate her feet properly. When she wasn't walking I did get her feet measured at clarks and then bought some at next, mothercare etc but certainly wouldn't now I know what issues she has. Hubby moans like hell when it is time for a visit as he knows it will be expensive as she needs at least 2 pairs each time - a smarter pair for not nursery wear and a pair that can be wiped down and doesn't matter if get wrecked at nursery. I have also been advised to get her boots for her the support of her ankles but we have a mare with them as she has big calfs too so longer boots won't do up but most of the ankle styles don't fit her instep!!!

    I would love to trust other places like Brantano but heard bad things about them before and we have had bad experiences there ourselves and so wary after what specialists said!

    Lara xx

    Isaac has hypermobile joints too plus low muscle tone and poor core stability, he also pronates his ankles as he walks so he has to have orthotic inserts in his shoes, the physio, OT and paediatrician all say he has to have properly fitted boots that hold and support, in my experience with clarks they are rubbish at fitting 'special needs' as Isaac has a h fitting they always go up a size and the person we see at orthotics told us that this will cause him more problems as he has to them grab at the shoe with his toes, we use an independant retailer that sells a lot of the continental brands, she works very closely with the orthotics department of the hospital, try ringing your hospital and see who they reccommend.
  • lea77 basically i complained as the lady measured her and then said you could get some size 5's (she was only a 3.5 at the time) as they'd last her longer!!!!! i was shocked someone would recommend getting shoes so much bigger so i emailed head office and that's when they said there not properly trained, hence me avoiding them, if they won't provide proper training for outlet staff then there not having my money in a full price shop
  • That's terrible advice! Can't believe someone would even suggest that. Totally see why you wouldn't want to shop with them again- what's the point in paying full price for their shoes when they don't put anything into training their staff?

    I like the Clarks shop on Castleford outlet, so will probably stick to there in future. Thanks for the advice hun. xxx
  • Thanks Lara, they are the exact ones I'm looking at getting Skye for autumn/winter! Glad to hear they were okay for Chloe so hopefully they'll be good on madam's plate feet too : ) At least Skye's into a size 4 now so the choice is better! x
  • I think I'm the odd one out, as I've bought DS several pairs of cheap shoes! He's had them from sainsburys, tesco, soccer sports, etc. These are all summer shoes though, and fit his feet fine, he is a size 6, hasnt had the width measured since he was 20 months ish (he's 27months now) but he was a size F so not wide or narrow. I always had to have fitted shoes as I have narrow feet and especially ankles. I also had to have lace-up school shoes because of this so my feet were more supported; I hated this at school as all the other girls wore court shoes with heels.

    When I come back from my hols in late september I'll be forking out for DS to have some Clarks like I did last winter, as I do prefer the quality of Clarks shoes and don't want his feet in cheap shoes in winter. But for summer trainers and sandals, I really cant justify the prices, considering they are only going to get wrecked. I've washed his cheap trainers in the washer for example, I'd NEVER do that with clarks trainers as they cost a friggin fortune! The ladies in my local clarks are very good - I had his feet measured in brantano before and dont trust them at all, they said DS feet were a size 2.5 (at the time - he was about 15 months) and when I went to clarks he was a 3.5 and that pair fitted really nicely.

  • Ebay!My MIL buys my dd shoes brand new clarks from ebay but just last years stock she got a gorgeous pair of pink shoes the other week for ??12 and considering the rate her feet grow its great that we can get the on there because they are so damn expensive!I just take her to get her feet measured every couple of months in clarks.x
  • Iz - try Doogies in Marlow

    http://www.doogies.co.uk/

    They're a lovely little independent store and I was quite happy with how they fitted Abby's feet.

    I still can't use Clarks shoes as her feet are still only 3.5 and their range in that size is awful (1 pair of patent black buckled shoes). I now have 1 pair of wellies (size 4), 1 pair of 2nd hand trainers (great for nursery) and 1 pair of shoes fitted in a shop in France - not easy seeing as my French is appalling. image I can't believe how hard it is to get shoes for little ones.

    H xx
  • I took DD today to get her feet measured. Last time she went to clarks they measured her as a 7 1/2 G and advised me to buy a size 8 if I was choosing doodles. Anyway I popped in today as hubby thought DD's feet looked a bit squished in her sandals. At the same shop she was measured as being a 7 F!!!!! So not only have her feet shrunk but her feet are now narrower too. So I decided not to get any shoes from there and take her tomorrow to another shop as I am now very confused as to what size her feet actually are!
  • Ebay!My MIL buys my dd shoes brand new clarks from ebay but just last years stock she got a gorgeous pair of pink shoes the other week for ??12 and considering the rate her feet grow its great that we can get the on there because they are so damn expensive!I just take her to get her feet measured every couple of months in clarks.x

    I've just had a quick look on Ebay & cant see alot of choice in brand new Clarks on there for the price you mention, the ones that came up are almost as much as the shop inc postage!
    Could you possible let me know the sellers name you get yours from so I can do a better search!

    Thanks x
  • Lara - I can't believe the same thing happened to you! I never managed to get out to the other shop today but hopefully will do in the next few days. They rarely have anything in a G fit at our clarks so I can imagine how hard it must be getting an H.

    xx
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