For those of you with upright walkers, we’re wondering: Where do you buy your child’s shoes?
Our nearest local mom-and-pop children’s shoe store (the one where people actually help you and know things about kids, development, feet, and merchandise) has closed, leaving us with a few boutiques that carry a small selection of shoes, Target, and The Internet.
In my family, we’ve turned to the Web: mostly Zappos and Amazon. Julian was not picky about his clothing in the past, which allowed us to dress him in jeans, hipster t-shirts, Converse shoes, Vans, and other styles that reflected our own urban/skater taste. Then, he discovered sports, and now he wants to wear only sweatpants or worse — sweat shorts — and his “sprinting shoes”. I’m in denial that he’s no longer my doll to dress, so his closet continues to hold stuff that I like.
For those of you who don’t want your little dude wearing white sneakers with Diego prancing about on them, here are some ideas for alternatives, a sample of Julian’s current shoe collection.
(these are rubber, like Crocs, so they are lightweight, flexible, waterproof, and odor-resistant)
in the past, but I could only find this current version on amazon.
One last note. Just as I was finishing this post, I clicked over to Facebook (Can you say “short attention span?”) and saw that these folks had left a message for us: Addattoos: Funky tattoos for your shoes.
Maybe a good stocking stuffer? Maybe a good item to have in your back pocket in case you order some plain Converse and your kid whines for decorations. Yes, shoe bling — it’s a thing.
Do you have a go-to kid’s shoe store? What does your kid wear on his feet?
I only do Stride-Rite. We, fortunately, have an outlet near is, and I buy multiple sizes of the same shoe when they are Buy One, Get One Half Off. So once or twice a year we make the trek to Stride Rite. Not sure what their selection will be like once DS gets bigger (he’s 3.5 years old now) and starts having an opinion, though…
Well, my little guy isn’t walking yet, but I’ve been eying boy’s shoes at Piperlime and Nordstrom – both have an excellent selection of pumas, vans, and many, many more cute shoes.
I also love Stride-Rite, but not the prices – still feeling the sting of my most recent purchase. My 3.5 year old son has zero opinion at the moment, so I tend to favor the following at all times: 1 pair brown leather Stride-Rite shoes that are borderline athletic shoe/semi-dress shoe, 1 pair cheap tennis shoes without cartoon characters and 1 pair Crocs. This combo works for all seasons at my house. And, I’m excited that my son is almost big enough to wear some hand-me-down cowboy boots from a cousin. Can’t wait to pair them with jeans!
I go to Nordstrom occasionally for shoes for my daughter (4) and my son (2). They also have shoes from Target and Old Navy and Stride-Rite. She likes Toms and he has a cute pair of Pumas. They also both have some kind of slip on sandal and fake Target Crocs too, plus a few pairs of Converse and/or Vans. Since we live in SoCal, they can get away with wearing any of those shoes all year long so I find that we need to have a large variety of shoes around for whatever mood they are in. My little baby is only 2.5 months but I’m already saving my 2 yr old’s shoes for the baby.
We’ve gotten most our boy’s shoes from Ross or DB Shoes. We have also done Zappos bc we had a credit there. I have my eye on a toddler version of the New Balance sneakers that my dad has worn for YEARS (always same model & color) and I thought it would be cute to have matching papa-and-grandson shoes. But I can’t bring myself to pay over $40 for a pair of toddler sneakers.
Right now he has a pair of sneakers, Keen-type sandals (Keen knockoff, I think they are Stride Rite), and Target Crocs. My husband always swore our kid wouldn’t wear Crocs (he thinks they are super ugly), and then he went out and bought a pair “for summer.”
I usually dress my 2.5 year old twin boys in converse, etines, vans, pumas and adidas. Thankfully they like the skater/surfer style that goes along with living on the central cost of California. Although, they have their own names for most of their shoes (like their red and black vans) are called their “airplane shoes” – oh the mind of a 2.5 year old!
I have a motto for clothing & shoes – of “never pay retail!”, so I get most of their shoes from Ebay or on sale from the company’s website. Sometimes I’ll find a cute pair of converse at Ross, or Marshalls.
When they were little guys (just barely in shoes) I bought shoes from stride rite (usually from their sales) or from our local children’s resale clothing store.
We go to Nordstroms and typically buy the stride rite brand for my daughter (who just turned 3). Our typical shoe-style is to have one pair of stride rite sneakers that get worn every single day to daycare/preschool until she outgrows them (lots of wear on them, so I want them to fit great and be ultra supportive for her foot). For me, it is worth the price (which I actually don’t think is that bad compared to other shoes I see at nordstroms). She had her first pair of crocs this summer and we usually have one pair of “dressier” shoes.
We do StrideRite as well. Thankfully, Grandma (my MIL) has agreed to buy kiddo shoes in lieu of lots of toys. Shoes we need on a continual basis; toys we have enough of already!
We’ve (for the most part) timed purchases with coupons, and I also watch for clearance on their site.
I don’t mess with dress shoes – we just do 1 pair sneakers in a solid color he can wear with everything.
I’m also looking at those shoe tattoos and thinking “Those would be great to help a kid learn ‘right’ and ‘left’…”. Independent toddler puts on his own shoes now, just not on the correct feet. :-\
@Nicole T, Like you, I don’t mess with dress shoes either. My sons each get one pair of solidish colored athletic shoes, one pair of rainboots, and one pair of water shoes. Done.
The ones that fall apart are put in a FREE box or donated. The ones that are not beaten to hell get passed down to a little brother.
I have been known to use the Mabel’s Labels shoe tags cut in half to help kids tell right from left. If this is a novel concept, I can blog it with photos.
For my boys, they live in Crocs for half the year, and when it is cold they have some sneakers, but if it’s raining, they’re in their boots. For the younger ones whose feet grow quickly, I was fine with Target sneakers and such because I don’t want to pay a lot of $$ for something they will outgrow so fast. My older boy is now 4 and his feet haven’t been growing as quickly, so I’m more apt to pay for, say, Stride-Rite, which will last the longer amount of time between growth spurts.
@RookieMom Heather – I may have to invest in some Mabel’s labels for your trick. Right now though, I will continue to laugh at the shoes on wrong feet.
Like others, exclusively Stride-Rite. We have an outlet near us. I don’t buy online because I like to size the boys’ feet each time, and have them actually try the shoes on. Every time I have bought kids’ shoes from elsewhere (except for the occasional Zappos purchase) I’ve regretted it. This includes Target, Children’s Place, and Carters — they fall apart way too quickly.
I love crocs for the summer and junk food brand slipons from the gap. I’m still in need of some good winter/snow shoes though…
I held out on Livie and Luca shoes for so long, not wanting to pay that much for shoes. I finally caved with a big sale, and now I’m sold. My daughter loves them, they are adorable, and because her feet seem to grow incredibly slowly (so far) we get a ton of use out of one pair since they are well-made and don’t fall apart. I only buy them online because they have great sales from time to time that beat the little boutiques’ prices by a lot.
[...] Cool shoes from Whitney’s son’s closet. [...]
We go to our thrift stores for shoes. Kids outgrow shoes so fast that kids shoes are often in great shape. We don’t always find what we need, but usually we do. My 7 year old just brought home a pair of seemingly brand new Uggs for $10. She loves them, of course, and I get to enjoy 90% off retail.
You are so right about thrift stores, @Kassandra, and we have really nice second-hand kids stores here. I rely on them for jackets, rain boots, and snow pants. (These get very little use in California.)