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Measuring for Children's Footwear -- Where Were You When Jonathan Was Young?
I love the Internet. I'm so glad I'm born in the generation of the World Wide Web. I can start out looking for one thing and get lost for hours finding out about something else. For example this week, I was trying to find some information about shoes, because finding a pair of shoes for Jonathan is a major pain. He’s picky about what he’ll wear AND he hates shopping. He does have a brand he likes (sold 90 miles away, of course). To avoid taking him with me, I make him stand on a piece of paper and draw his foot. Very archaic.
So in a search for Children School Shoes I came across a fascinating site. And I was lost for an hour reading through it. I like to read "about" pages. I learned Start-rite Shoes started in 1792 in Norwich. James Smith was the first leather worker to offer a less expensive alternative to "bespoke footwear." (Cue in an internet search for "bespoke footwear" to discover these are individually made shoes specifically for your foot. They are expensive because each pair takes 40 hours to make.)
The site is a wealth of information. It has advice to new parents on foot care for their children from birth through school age. It talks about how the company has made 15,000 pairs of shoes for children of the Prince of Wales (think Prince William and Harry). The company headquarters sits on the same spot of the original store. I love Europe!
The piece of information I absolutely fell in love with is this video of how to measure your child's foot to order a pair of their shoes online.
Unfortunately, they don't have a Start-rite in my area, but I see they have over 400 store locations in UK and 38 other stores world-wide. Of course, they have their online sales too. I provide this information for my fellow bloggers who have kids with shoe issues. Had I known about the company when Jonathan was younger, I would have had my brother and sister-in-law pick up pairs of shoes and bring them over to the U.S. when they came to visit. (And I would have used this exciting piece of technology to know what size to order.)
21 comments:
Good info, thanks!
I love Europe too! Visited two years ago, we all just loved the beautiful countryside and the people!
Those shoe-measuring outfits are so cool!
Show shopping truly is one of the tortures of parenthood.
That's pretty stinking cool.
Yes, good old Europe. They know how to do things,lol.
Great info Corrie. I found that eBay was a great source of shoes when my daughter was younger. Many brand new items offered at bargain prices and from all over the world. I live in a small town with very little to choose from so worked for me!
I've never heard of Start-rite only Stride-right. I hate shoe shopping for my boys. Ugh.
Oh wow, sometimes it is good to live in Europe. You have probably just about saved my bacon with this Corrie, my little fella, well, lets just say I only ever managed to get him properly fitted for shoes once, at 13 months old and never ever since. We buy them a little big and hope for the best. This would really make life easier and take a little bit of worry away from me. THANK YOU!! Jen.
That's wonderful information! My Son doesn't care about his shoes but I have a hard time finding pants that he will wear. No denium, no snaps or zippers. Thanks for the info!
I tell you, this technology is great. I am waiting for an in-house ATM machine. :0)
That's really cool!!!!
Both of my boys are a pain in the butt about shoes. Kooper is very hard to size right. Kamden is very particular about what he likes and doesn't like. AND it is not worth the fight to try and get him to wear something he doesn't like. The girl is the easiest to please.
There is something wrong with that picture!
Great post - I will have to go and check out what I can get
Cool info -- thanks for sharing.
There is an award waiting for you on my blog if you'd like to stop by!
:-)
Traci
38andgrowing.blogspot.com
I love the internet, too. It's amazing to think about our lives before it existed.
My youngest has very wide feet. It is very hard to find shoes for him. Thanks for the link.
Oh wow, that is really awesome!!
I loved when the kids stopped growing. No more new shoes. It's amazing how often shoe sizes change.
Wow that sounds cool. Skyler is just about to start walking on his own. Hopefully soon, so I imagine a good pair of shoes will come in handy soon. I doubt they sell those in Canada though.
I was just thinking about that the other day. Someday there will be no one left who remembers life WITHOUT the internet. Crazy, no?
When my son was younger, we just bought whatever fit. It didn't really matter because he wasn't particularly active anyway, and cheap was good! Then one day I had a little epiphany: Maybe, just maybe, he kept saying that his legs were tired after only a few minutes of walking because he had poor-fitting shoes. Sixty-five dollars later, he had his first pair of New Balance sneakers, and we haven't heard a single "my legs are tired" in 3 years. Not one. I'd like to say that he went on to become a great athlete and has medaled in many track events, but this is my son we're talking about -- anything that takes away from playing video games is "pointless."
That is a cool site. Thanks for letting us know Corrie. I have trouble getting just the right shoes for my 1st grader. This may be the answer for me.
Good info...we have shoes issues (among other issues) too.
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