School Shoes When Kids Wear Uniforms

Updated on August 20, 2013
M.S. asks from Salinas, CA
21 answers

My kids go to Catholic school and wear uniforms daily. They have MAYBE 3-4 "free dress" days a year. I usually buy them two pair of shoes each at the beginning of the school year, then a pair for Christmas, another in the Spring. They always need certain shoes for soccer, indoor soccer, track, basketball, volleyball throughout the year. When they were younger and in kid sizes, two pair of shoes was not a big deal, but now they are both in adult sizes (11 and almost 13 years old) so we are looking at $60-75 per pair of shoes. We are not swimming in money but its not like we can't afford it. They don't get school clothes and we only have to purchase new uniform items every couple years (other than new pants/shorts for my son). My husband thinks they should just have one pair until they wear out then get another. Who wants to wear the same pair of shoes EVERY day? So do most people buy more than one pair of shoes for their kids?

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C.B.

answers from Reno on

My children go to Catholic school and I get them two pairs of shoes. One pair of tennis shoes and one pair of dress shoes.
Good luck to you and many blessings

3 moms found this helpful

I.X.

answers from Los Angeles on

mine is in kindergarden. I bought her three pair to wear with uniforms: two boat style and one dressy marry jane. In addition I plan on buying her some tennis shoes. My kids own about 8 pair of shoes at any given time. If they were boys I think it would be less. My kids are h*** o* shoes.

2 moms found this helpful

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S.S.

answers from Chicago on

My kids went to Catholic school. They had black or brown leather shoes for every day wear at school. A pair of shoes for PE they left at school. In addition to those they had misc flip flops, and an extra pair of tennis shoes. And cleats for sports and my daughter had cheerleading shoes. I did not buy them shoes just because. I bought them only when they out grew them. But I am not a shoe or purse girl it's only been the last couple years I have had more than 2 purses at a time lol

2 moms found this helpful
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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

I wear the same pair of shoes tp work every day and I don't wear a uniform.

I bought my daughter one pair of sneakers at the beginning of the school year and she wore them until she either outgrew them or they fell apart.

2 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

It is always better to have at least 2 pairs of shoes, especially with teens. Their feet sweat and so their shoes will last longer if they can air them out every other night.

If they have not started smelling yet, I promise this will be the year. Your house is going to have the underlying fragrance of feet. Their closets may even take on this odor. Lots of families have the kids leave their shoes in the Garage or on the front porch..

And You will probably have to have a rule of "Do NOT Take off your shoes in the car.. "

You could always purchase a less expensive shoes on sale once school has started. That is when shoes tend to go on sale. Even going to
JC Penney, or Target.. Those shoes hold up pretty well. And for $25 or less.. it is not a big deal.

1 mom found this helpful

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

Yes because if they wear the same pair every day the foot odor would knock you over.

1 mom found this helpful

X.O.

answers from Chicago on

I went to Catholic school for 13 years and wore the same pair of shoes every day until they wore out. My parents had 5 of us in school, so we didn't have the money to get more than that.

From K-6 we wore gym shoes every day. 7-12 we had to wear black, navy or brown dress shoes, and bring shoes for gym.

My son is starting 1st grade and his school requires dress shoes for every day, except for gym day. I bought him 1 pair of dress shoes.

1 mom found this helpful

K.M.

answers from Chicago on

Mine is in 1st grade, wears uniforms and has 1 pair that is for school and another pair that is for winter/home. In the winter he wears snow boots to/from weather permitting and changes into slip on shoes (think converse style) when hanging his coat/backpack in the classroom. Once the shoes are done then we move on to the next pair. When I was in high school, I had one pair of tennis shoes for gym and one or two pair for every day more girly style. The additional shoes were typically purchased from payless, wal mart etc. and were not very costly. I would keep the cute shoes in my locker and walk to school in the tennis shoes or do gym class in them and wear the cute ones all day. Once I got a job and could buy my own shoes it got crazy! I do think that girls tend to have more shoes than boys as a preference. If my son were female he might have a sandal style, gym style, and slip on style and probably a mary jane style for dressy events.

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J.B.

answers from Boston on

My kids get one pair of shoes at the beginning of the school year, plus they have one pair of dress shoes. As they get older they add more, but those are for a special event (e.g. daughter needs spring/summer dress shoes and fall/winter dress shoes which we'll get as needed). My kids pretty much wear the same shoes day in and day out until they wear them out or grow out of them.

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L.O.

answers from Detroit on

my daughter usually has a pair of tennis and a pair of dress shoes. sometimes she has a pair of tennis she is growing out of and a pair that are a size up and maybe a bit big. and she has a pair of crocs. but she doesn't wear them much in the winter.

in the summer she has sandals... flip flops crocs... and the tennis that are left from last school year.

1 mom found this helpful
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T.M.

answers from Tampa on

Wow, maybe I am in the minority here, but I buy more shoes for my kids. My kids wear uniforms to school and usually must wear tennis shoes everyday. I just went to the Sketchers outlet and bought 3 pairs of shoes for my son and 3 pairs for my daughter. Two pairs were on clearance. The others were buy one pair, get one pair half off. It was also tax free weekend in Florida. I paid $121 for all 6 pairs. Since I will have the kids alternate their shoes, they are likely to last most of the school year barring any huge growth spurts.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Shop sales.
Then you can buy 2 pairs of shoes.

Or go to outlet stores.

What kind of shoes, do they wear to school?
Also, kids grow quickly and their feet.

My kids have 2 pairs each. Of covered shoes. They can rotate.
But being in the State I am in, the weather is not harsh... so kids also wear things like flip-flops or sandals to school. It is allowed.
Kids here do not have to, wear covered shoes to school, unless it is a P.E. day.

1 mom found this helpful

J.O.

answers from Boise on

Until my kids quit having growth spurts we went with none name brand shoes. Much, much cheaper, but they were never h*** o* shoes. Jeans is a whole other story.

I buy a pair of tennis shoes, a pair of boots (either snow or hiking) and then a pair of nicer shoes. In the summer we substitute boots for sandals. They have a ton of shoes (my MIL has a thing for shoes and coats), but they always tend to wear the same ones over and over again. Weather dependent on which ones they will wear.

I think 2 pairs at the beginning of the year is fine, and then more shoes if and when they need them, but not at any specific time, just 'as needed'.

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A.M.

answers from Washington DC on

We buy two pairs, but they are Payless school shoes. I know people knock them, but my daughter finds them comfy and they are near indestructible. She outgrows them before they wear out.

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S.W.

answers from Amarillo on

The only thing I can think of is to buy a pair at the beginning of school and about two months into school buy another pair. That way the kid can have two pair and alternate so that the shoe can dry out and not smell. Our feet perspire and the odor has to go somewhere.

Perhaps start a savings account for back to school and put money aside so that you will have the needed money. Look for outlets of your kid's favorite shoes for sales.

Good luck to you.

the other S.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Yes. The both have at least 5 pair of shoes each. They wear different shoes with shorts or on the day gym class in or if it's muddy outside. And of course one of them is a girl, she has shoes and her shoes have shoes...lol.

I gave away over 100 pairs of shoes a while back. So she does get it from somewhere. I think if they want some extra pairs of shoes then perhaps they can babysit or do some work to make money to pay part of that.

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C.S.

answers from Las Vegas on

My daughter wears uniforms too. We buy her other shoes sometimes, however, she always wears the same shoes because she goes to school everyday.

I am with hubby, buy one pair and if you need another pair for some reason, then buy them. That is pretty much how she ends up with other shoes.

V.B.

answers from Jacksonville on

Once they are out of elementary school, they should probably have 2 pairs at a time, to alternate. Not just for boredom, but to let them breathe in between wears.

Also, once kids are in middle/high school, they tend to be more fashion conscious (even if they are wearing uniforms) and will WANT to mix it up a little. My son is 15 and he has 2 pairs of shoes (Sperry's and Vans) and a pair of athletic shoes, and then his wrestling shoes.

Daughter is 12 (7th grade) and she has sneakers (like Nike or whatever) and a pair of more casual Converse that she likes. She has a pile of flip flops for non-school time. And since she refuses to wear dresses of any kind, she can almost get by with just these.

I wait to buy what they need (if they need something specific for a special occasion) rather than always keeping them stocked with a pair of basic black "dress" shoes... they grow so fast, you could blow a lot of money on stuff that isn't even worn.

What I like to do, is go to RackRoom or something like it where you get 1/2 off the 2nd pair, and buy them a pair, and then the next size (or half size, whatever) up. That way you pay less, and aren't running around on short notice when they come saying their shoes are too small.

I have to be careful with my son now, though, because his feet might be getting close to max size here soon. He is in 10s already.. and his dad only wears 9s. So his foot growth might be close to done.

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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

It depends on the kid and the shoe.

Payless has some "uniform shoes" that may be appropriate if you want to throw in some options inexpensively http://www.payless.com/store/home/backtoschool.jsp?icid=f...

You should look for school shoes the way anybody looks for shoes - on sale/clearance. I try to balance my child's needs with our budget. Sometimes I can get shoes really cheap (like her $8 Mary Janes on clearance) and sometimes I can't. If I need to spend $30 for one pair of good sneakers, then, yes, she will wear one pair of shoes most days.

I have a closet full of other people's shoes in my foyer. It tells me that nobody really needs 10 pairs of shoes, especially 10 pairs of the same brand of sneaker in different colors. DD will have fewer choices, but she's still going to have the Mary Janes with the sneaker sole, a pair of dress shoes for church, sneakers for gym, boots for winter/rain and sandals. And maybe a fun pair or two that may or may not go to school.

G.K.

answers from San Francisco on

Payless, Target, Walmart, Kmart, etc.

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A.B.

answers from San Francisco on

I think one pair is fine! That's all I ever had to wear with my uniform. Also, even now, I don't buy name brand. So, I only spend at the most $30 per pair. Even on heels, I can find them on clearance at Macy's for that. If I were you, I'd go along with your husband on this one! Shoes can be worn every day; unless they start to smell bad, I don't see any problem. It's like wearing the same jacket. My friend in high school told me "you could wear that every day" when I said I was embarrassed to wear the same jacket all the time.

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