School shoes. A challenge for you

[BlueSmarties]

These are the only school shoes I have found work for my dd- they go up to size 5.5. DD wears a 6 in other shoes and a 5 in startrite. We have tried lots of styles but always come back to these as they are the most comfortable and she does a fair bit of walking. Her current pair have lasted over a year as I think she has stopped growing- she has just turned 15.

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I'd second that choice of Startrite Samba. We have worn those for several years and have always found them comfy and sturdy. John Lewis stocks them too, in Reading.

[Tinkers]

A pair of DM lace ups bought and now being broken in around the house (actually playing piano at the moment, not sure that counts as breaking them in).

We looked at various places. She didn't like any of the startrite ones. She didn't like any of the non lace up DMs either. There wasn't a local toughees stockist, and as she is a 5.5 and they don't do half sizes she needed to try them on. However Size 5 DMs fitted nicely. Another plus is they support her feet so much better and she isn't rolling over the insides.

[Enjoyingthejourney]

I also hate shoe shopping but thankfully a house full of boys currently means that we lean towards practicality rather than design. I am, however, not looking forward to when DS enters his teens as he is already a size 7 at the age of 8! If he continues to grow at this rate then it will be difficult to find places that stock school shoes in whatever size he may be then.