[Jon-and-Lou]

Hi, 7 months in, and our 2 year old daughter has outgrown her old winter shoes, and her sandals are not warm enough.

Is there such a thing as foot measuring and shoe fitting akin to Clarks shoe shops in the UK?

and if so, any recommendations for shops in or around Christchurch please?

[peebles16]

There has been another thread about this but upshot is not much choice around. There is a shop in Bishopdale that does stock Clarks shoes but the don't seem to measure feet in the same way here just to warn you :o I can't remember the name of the shop but I'll have a search around cos I'm sure I kept their card :yes

Karenx

[YouMeAndThree]

I've been to stores which don't even have size gauges, merely a Thomas the Tank floor mat with outlines of various size feet :exit

If you need to do the fitting for yourself, you will find loads of information including video guides from the Startrite (http://www.startriteshoes.com/fitting) website.

[Kerry and David]

Future Feet in Auckland sell Clarks and offer a postage service, this link shows how they decide on the correct shoe

http://www.futurefeet.co.nz/Shop+Online.html

Will see if I can find some more links.

[Sam B]

Why is this then? Are we just over-obsessed with the perfect shoe fitting in the UK and conned by the propaganda put out by Clarks, or are all NZ children wearing badly fitted shoes and damaging their feet? Is there a podiatrist out there who knows if it matters?

[Kerry and David]

I don't know if this may be of use

http://www.instepfootwear.co.nz

[Georgebulldog]

Why is this then? Are we just over-obsessed with the perfect shoe fitting in the UK and conned by the propaganda put out by Clarks, or are all NZ children wearing badly fitted shoes and damaging their feet? Is there a podiatrist out there who knows if it matters?

This is what I'm starting to wonder, I'm now quite obsessed by getting the right fitting shoe & paid a fortune for Clarks here but you may notice that in some shops there are only 1 width fitting, I did manage to get my dd fitted but only length & I feel I need to stop trying for anything more than that, she still insists on wearing sandels even now

[Tanya]

We also use Instep in Bishopdale - they do stock a few smaller widths and can often get some Clarks in from OZ if you are prepared to wait!

We have ended up going for a brand called McKinleys for DD as her feet are very narrow and they are a narrower shoe. For my son he also has a narrow foot,we buy him Clarks but its a black Clark school shoe which looks like a trainer - they fit him so much better and are a bit more robust when it comes to kicking balls at school compared to a traditional shoe!

HTH

Tanya

[spudulike]

I had this problem when in NZ too and was told there was good reason NZ has so many podiatrists! UK aren't obsessed with well fitting shoes, it's because the 26 bones in the feet don't harden until you're 18-21. They damage and bend very easily and can cause lots of problems in later life. I found a shop in Wellington that measured although still tried to sell me shoes that were too big to get my money's worth! I used my own judgement and bought clarke's shoes (or similar) in that shop as I had an idea by that point which shoes fitted their feet.

Sorry, not much help but can understand where you're coming from!

L :)

[YouMeAndThree]

We've never found a Clarks shoe to fit DD1 - so I've never been a fan. I do struggle getting winter shoes fitted compared to summer sandles for her high arched, very narrow heeled feet.

No hobbit feet in this house :laugh

[JandM]

I think a lot of UK shoe-shops pay lip-service to the idea of measuring and fitting, but then will try and sell you whatever they happen to have in stock: 'Yes, madam, he's a size 5 E. Here's a 5 1/2 D that'll be all right.' But to be fair, different makes and styles do fit differently, and what matters far more than the actual size label is the comfort and growing-space.

I remember an assistant putting shoes, which ought to have fitted according to the measurements, on my son, and him saying as soon as he stood up, 'My toes are touching the end.' We left that shop when the assistant started arguing that his toes couldn't be touching - as if an 11-year-old wouldn't know, and anyway, I could feel he was right. When we tried another shop, I told them what size he'd been measured at but didn't fit, and the woman at this place said, 'Ah, does he do gymnastics?' which he didn't, but did do dancing - and she explained that exercise like that makes the feet more flexible so they spread more when you put your weight on them.

So basically, the measurements are only a starting point, and the important thing to look at is that child's foot in that shoe.

[peebles16]

My kids both have wide feet with high in-step so 'bog-standard' shoes just never seem to fit very well even in the UK although Clarks did seem to have better options :o Here in NZ after a lot of shoes and trying out many shops we've found good trainers from Warehouse, of all places, that work so that's great combined with school shoes from Mum in the UK :yes

Do I think that NZ kids are all wearing the wrong shoes cos they don't seem to be measured? Don't know really cos my kids just have odd shaped feet no matter where they are they would probably be out of the norm :o

Karenx

[JandM]

Do I think that NZ kids are all wearing the wrong shoes cos they don't seem to be measured?I'd say not necessarily, if their parents are feeling round their foot to check what fits well and what doesn't. That's far more important than using a measuring kit. If we were all rich and had our shoes specially made, the shoemaker would be using our feet for a guide, not any standard measurer.

[Flutterby]

i second that chime about lip service, had my daughter measured at clarks (a size they dont actually stock) and they bought out a wider shoe and when i pointed out that they had measured a different size they suddenly got all funny with me and wouldn't sell me any shoes, if i hadn't have mentioned it they were basically going to try and sell me the shoes they bought out.

You can order a foot measure from startrite if its any use to you?

[YouMeAndThree]

You can order a foot measure from startrite if its any use to you?

On the Startrite link I've posted abve they also have some computer calculated measuring guide. Haven't tried it yet, but basically you take 3 photographs of each foot, taken on a printed off sheet of paper, upload the photos and you size is calculated online. I think their video guides on how to check for the correct fit of various styles of shoe are extremely helpful too.

[M-Squared]

Clarks are over-rated. :exit

After 2 pairs of gym shoes fell apart for my daughter, I resolved to spend the money needed to get her a proper pair. I am never buying from The Warehouse again. I can judge my daughter's foot size just fine, but the shoes kept falling apart.

Went to a great shop in the North City Shopping Mall in Porirua and daughter's feet were measured, then we picked out some shoes to try. The chap in the shop took the insole out, to see if daughter's foot would fit well. I bought her some Puma gym shoes. They were $80 which I think is comparable with the UK, which I also found horribly expensive for shoes as well. But you (hopefully) get what you pay for. I have a pair of Pumas. I wear them 7 days a week and have had them for about 4 or 5 years. They're still as comfy as slippers. :nice1 Quality is defo worth paying for, but it doesn't have to be Clarks... ;)

[JandM]

M and I both bought shoes at the Warehouse when we were over in 2007. The idea was to get something cheap and cheerful that wouldn't matter on rough ground, sand, etc., while were there. Both pairs were super-comfortable, and we lived in them for the six weeks. Then M was unlucky, and his split along one seam a couple of months after we came home, but mine are still going.

[mylesdw]

I don't think shoe fitting is nearly important as it used to be. 30 years ago shoes were mostly heavy, leather and fairly unyielding. If a shoe didn't fit is simply squashed your foot into a new shape! Modern shoes are nothing like that, they are flexible, lightweight and well padded.

A lot is Clarkes' propaganda. Does anyone else remember getting their feet x-rayed in the shop? I've yet to meet anyone whose life has been ruined by ill fitting shoes.

[JandM]

Yes, I remember the X-ray machine - horrifying to think of that now!

I've known various women whose feet gave them hell in middle age and beyond because they'd reshaped their bones wearing fashionable shapes rather than a fit. Toes which plaited themselves permanently to a winkle-picker point, with great corns on the topmost ones. The tendons in the back of the leg stiffened and shortened by wearing four-inch heels, so the person concerned couldn't bear to walk barefooted for more than a couple of steps before going on tiptoes. Not pretty sights.

[Familyofmonkeys]

I've known various women whose feet gave them hell in middle age and beyond because they'd reshaped their bones wearing fashionable shapes rather than a fit. Toes which plaited themselves permanently to a winkle-picker point, with great corns on the topmost ones. The tendons in the back of the leg stiffened and shortened by wearing four-inch heels, so the person concerned couldn't bear to walk barefooted for more than a couple of steps before going on tiptoes. Not pretty sights.

Yep, my mum has collpased arches in her feet mainly caused by poor fitting shoes in her youth causing permanent damage.....she now suffers constant pain and has to wear expensive insoles provided by her podiatrist. And my OH (who isn't an older person :D) has weird lumps on the side of his feet by being made to wear shoes that were too narrow for his feet as a child as shoes fitting wasn't something considered to be important as you 'wear them in' after a couple of weeks and stop getting blisters :uhoh.....as far as i'm concerned new shoes should never cause you any discomfort in the first place if they fit properly.