A few months ago I was offered the opportunity to review the Autumn/Winter 2013 range of shoes and boots for The Boy. As I'd actually just bought him his school shoes and normal Winter shoes, I decided to invest in a pair of Winter boots for him instead.

We were booked into the Cardiff branch for a Saturday morning appointment and, despite turning up a little late, we were seen very quickly for our 'measure and fit' appointment. Due to his age and shoe size, the sales assistant measured The Boy's feet using the computerised measuring machine, which resulted in him being measured as a 10.5G. However, I did ask her to manually measure his feet with the measuring tape device as he had previously been wearing an 11F for three months, measured by an expert with over forty years experience. At this point she found that he was indeed over an 11F and so fitted him with an 11.5F.

This goes to show that a machine isn't always right, and the experience of a human being when assessing a child's foot, the size of their arch, fit around the heel and the rise of the instep is far more important to fitting a child with new footwear.

In the end we chose a pair of traditional, brown, leather, Chelsea boots for The Boy. With a zip on the inside to enable easy pulling on, they are stylish and would look good with a variety of clothing. At £40.00 I felt that they were a good price, especially as I knew they would last him all Winter, and were sturdily made with quality materials. My only reservation is that the machine should not necessarily be trusted automatically, trust your parental instincts!

I was provided with a voucher for £40.00 to buy footwear for The Boy, trialling the 'Measure and Fit' service, my opinion is honest and unbiased.