When I saw the tweet-out from Tara as to what the theme is this week, I was excited. Images of my baby shoes and my wedding shoes, mixed with The Boy's tiny-toed shoes, filled my blogging eye.
Only what a sodding surprise, I can't find them.
I have really got to organise this house, at some point in the not too dim and distant future.
However, today proved to be quite a fortuitous day. Opening the curtains, I saw that the meteorological situation was reminiscent of December. Autumn dropped by fleetingly on Saturday and decided to go in search of Summer in warmer climes, chillingly chased off by Winter. This morning, on only the 6th September, it was widdling it down!
I glanced at The Boy, glanced at his canvas Doodles and thought, "We need some new shoes!"
The Boy walked before his first birthday; three days beforehand. Then he didn't walk for another three weeks. I kept him out of shoes for another few weeks, and so it was August before he needed his first pair of shoes. And rebelliously, I refused to buy expensive Doodles, favouring a similar style.
The Boy's first shoes – size 5
I bought the next size up as well, and it was Autumn before I ventured into the world of Clarks. The expensive world of Clarks!
Autumn-Winter 2010 collection: size 5.5G – 6G
Sping-Summer 2011 collection: sizes 6G – 7.5F
Autumn-Winter 2011: 7.5 E!
In the 13 months that he has been wearing shoes he has gone from a 5G to a 7.5E. The gap between the last pair of shoes was 6 weeks! Now when they were only costing £15 then it wasn't too offensive to the bank balance. However those snazzy brown Stomposaurus shoes from Clarks (on the left above) cost…
He's only got little feet!
(If I don't find my baby shoes, my mother is going to kill me!)
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oh! i might have to join in this gallery thing. i got a tip from a friend of mine and last time got cubs feet measured in the shop then bought the shoes from ebay. sorted! even brand new ones are 3/4 the price or less.
love baby shoes though!
I've bought them through the Clarks sale before. I ordered four pairs that were the next size up and two different widths. If you do it online then they won't let you purchase them because they need to be fitted. Get the online sale items delivered to a store, get measured, only buy the ones that fit.
I know exactly what you mean! Burton got his first pair of shoes 1 year ago and since then i dread to think how much money we have spent but he has had: 4 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of doddle shoes, 3 pairs of wellies and 1 pair of sandals and 1 pair of Cars trainer type shoes – all in just 1 year!!! He has Clarkes altho the sandals, novelty Cars shoes and 2 pairs of wellies were sainsburys. Its expensive all right!! He has gone from a 4.5 to a 7 in a year altho his last measurement was back in July so prob be another new pair needed soon!
Sorry that was a huuuuge comment !! Lovely shoe post
Our Summer shoes tend to be cheaper brands; we only went for Doodles this time because the cheap shop shoes fell apart!
You seem organised enough to me… Those shoes are really cute. My LO is 8 months and he already has about 5 pairs that don't fit! He mostly just wears socks though because shoes just look a bit squishy yet!
I didn't see any point in him wearing shoes because they were just decoration.
Iyla is just about to start walking and I have been dreading the extra cost of buying shoes every few weeks. Luckily I live in Street which is where the Clarks head-quarters are based and they do wear testing and the kids get to keep the shoes afterwards. £32 though! That is utterly ridiculous, you can buy adult shoes for that price! x
I know! £32! His shoes last year were £25 and I thought that was bad.
Well done you for hanging on to them all in such an ordered fashion, wellies especially get completely knackered in this house, caked in mud and alsorts
We don't wear our wellies enough; need to go splashing more!
They are so expensive aren't they? It shocks me every time. I'm only planning to get the twins one pair of shoes each time and a pair of boots. I hate shoe shopping so much.
He will just have the one pair until his feet no longer fit in them!
I feel your pain on the expense of such tiny shoes and the rate they fly through them!
I do hope you find your baby shoes as well by the way!
They're somewhere, it's just working out where.
That's the problem with kids' feet. They grow! And you can't even really hand them down to younger siblings as their feet are invariably different widths.
Exactly! And they wear in different places too.
Lovely collection! 🙂 Have just given four pairs of practically new shoes to a friend for her daughter, DD2 outgrew them so quickly she did not have time to wear them out!
Astounding isn't it?
Clarks' prices are astronomical…but they are lovely shoes (for the six weeks when they actually fit!)
I actually didn't want a dinosaur emblem all over them, but they didn't have anything else.
Lovely photographs of gorgeous shoes (shame those little feet have to grow so fast!). So cute though!
Thank you. I took impressions of his feet earlier this year, when they still looked like baby feet.
I used to work for Clarks years ago, measuring tiny feet and making sure I sold them shoes that fit. Only shopped there once for my kids though, and that was when I had a gift voucher!
Luckily I had a £10 voucher from a complaint I made about someone refusing to fit him as they were closing. There was still 15 minutes left before the shop shut, I was tamping.
It seems such a waste of money doesn't it. However, shhh, don't tell anyone else, but I found a clarks outlet store near me in Spalding and you can get some great bargains. Leather first walker sandals for £8!!! They were £25 originally. x
Bargain indeed!
I love how you have kept them all and such a good idea to buy next sizes up too! I dip in and out of Clarks and often buy 'high street' versions of Doodles etc! Love how you did the pics x
Great photo's of all his shoes! We had the toy story wellies too, I do love kids wellies! Luckily for me, my baby shoes are still with my Mum, for safe keeping! x
I loved Clarkes little shoes. I've still got Aiden's first pair somewhere in the loft. They had dinosaurs on too. He's 11 now and just started secondary school. How I miss those dinosaur days!
Oh how they grow! I buy all of my daughters winter shoes from Clarks then sandals from cheaper shops during the summer months! Last years winter boots were £42, my mum was with me and her jaw dropped at the prices.
To be fair all her Clarks shoes look as good as the day they were bought, she always outgrows them first!
I know how expensive shoes are…they cost me a fortune every time we do a round! Asking for clarks vouchers for christmas is always a help!
Love his little collection of shoes. x
It's crazy how much we spend on kids shoes and how little lifetime they have on their ever-growing feet isn't it! Love how you've arranged the pics into collections 🙂
Never quite get how they can justify those prices for children's shoes.
I had forgotten about Doodles so thanks for reminding me
Kids shoes are a rip-off. I could make you a pair with a bit of 4×2 for a fiver 🙂
I would pay good money to see that. Not £32 though 😉
lovely pics. i have twin girls as well as two older children so dreading how much shoes are going to cost in a few months when they start walking!
It's frightening isn't it? Keep them out of shoes as long as possible I say!
I love the Peppa pig wellies, just bought Jack a new pair today in a size 8 as his 7's were getting a bit hard to get on, I'm putting off buying him any decent shoes at the moment just incase his feet grown again, his £32 startrite ones from last year look barely worn.
They're from Asda, he's not actually seen them yet but is going to love them when he does! Perfect for splashing in 'muddy puddles'.
I looked in Asda yesterday & didn't see any so got the Next cars ones