School shoes: where do you buy yours?

A question about : School shoes: where do you buy yours?

Hi everyone!

We want to compile a list of where to buy shoes for your kids.

There are the obvious ones, such as Clarkes and John Lewis.

Where else do you know of?

Reply below to let us know

Update 7 Feb 2014:

See what our twitter followers said when we asked them too: @MSE_Forum

Update 18 August 2014:

See our Where do you buy your School shoes? poll

Best answers:

• shoezone or brantanos my LOs grow out of shoes before they wear out even cheapy shoes
• Luckily for me, at my daughters school the current fashion is for black pumps from Primark. Ј2 a pair ! She's 13 and wouldn't be seen dead now in shoes from Clarks !
• Clarks or Startrite usually, because they last the distance. Often from John Lewis or a little specialist shop in the town.
  MIL bought DD some from Asda in September and they were in the bin before Christmas. The velco wouldn't fasten after six weeks or so and the whole shoe went all all saggy after being wet.
  Sometimes we've had a year out of the Clarks shoes but I usually get them re-measured once a term or when we're passing a shop.
• Thanks for those!
  We've had some good responses on twitter too including Amazon and Next.
• I get our son's feet measured at Clarks, and then buy Clarks shoes off t'internet from anywhere that has them cheap!
• I've utterly given up on Clark's as mine both wear their shoes out before they outgrow them.
  Hush Puppies are a must, and TK Maxx tend to have them during August/ September- I've been known to buy two sizes at once. My son is currently wearing some Geoxx (Ј28 from Am@zon) and they're holding up well; certainly on a par with the Hush Puppies. (For reference he had one pair of HPs (Ј17) last him from September in Reception until May; the second pair lasted from May in Reception until Easter Y1.)
  The last pair of (Ј38) Clark's I bought lasted my daughter, who's much gentler on her feet, from Easter until October. She's back in Hush Pups now...
• I always use Clark's. They generally last much longer and the few times they haven't lasted as long as expected they've refunded me for them. Including once when I mentioned in passing that a pair had only lasted 5 months instead of the school year.
  Supermarket shoes don't last 5 minutes and neither of my girls are heavy on shoes.
• Another vote for Clarks. The only problem is that everyone in DDs class has the same shoes!
• Always Clarks for best fit & length they last. One child has very wide feet, the other very narrow so Clarks fit better than supermarket or like. Have tried Hush puppies but too wide for child with narrow feet. Regardless of fit, I find them hard wearing. I do always try and buy from a Clarks outlet shop as they are so expensive!
• I'd like to recommend The Elves and the Shoemaker in Kent. We have always had great service, the staff are really friendly and great with the kids, customer service is excellent and they have a good range of shoes.
• Marks & Spencer- I liked Clarks when DD was a baby, and for preschool but I found although they seemed to last they scuffed too easily. The shoes dd currently has for school have lasted so well, not at all scuffed, still comfortable - I think DD will outgrow them before they cause issues.
• Hi
  I always buy my two Clarks but we have a Clarks outlet near us so we go there.
  Ifind the quality good and they do last.
  Jen
• Shoe Bee Doo in Ilkley (West Yorkshire)
  My daughter is very hard wearing on shoes, and cheap ones and clarks just aren't worth it.
  Asda - Ј10, lasts a month if lucky = Ј2.50 per week
  Clarks - Ј35, last about 6 weeks = Ј6ish per week
  Decent shoes - about Ј50 but last about 6 months, with a Ј8 reheal = Ј2.25ish per week
• Go Outdoors - our school permits boots, so we get them hillboots & dye the leather. That way we get boots that fit, that can cope with most flooring & that don't collapse in weeks.
  Supermarket for trainers...
• I get mine from a place called Happy Little Soles (an online shop)
  Not cheap, but we scrimp and save elsewhere. Growing feet are so important and it is one of the few things we as a family will absolutely will not compromise on
  Saying that, cost wise, my daughter's cost Ј40 as did my son's.
  My daughter's feet grow very slowly and she has had them a year now. My son has had his since July (worn daily since Sep as he also wears them when not at school) so I do feel that in the long run they are value for money
• Where ever you buy them from make sure they are polished with proper shoe polish! I've lost count of the amount of people that say that their childs shoes are a mess and havent lasted and when you look at them its obvious they've never polished them. My DD shoe shoes get polished daily for the first couple of weeks and then at least weekly after that. Also don't buy polish from the supermarkets its far cheaper in shops like Home Bargins!
• Clarks - my daughters feet are so wide that they can't fit into a lot of supermarket shoes. And they get velcro ones to have a bit of extra width! The shoe boxes would probably fit them better....
• My daughters have been polished less than once a month, so very impressed with them, and she is very active too so lots of climbing, running and jumping in them every school day.