Summer sandals for children

My parents were hard up too (post war). I wore my brother's.

Ooh used to love my Clarks sandals..always got them around Eastertime..loved the x-ray machine too..probably would NOT be allowed now! Remember Tuf shoes too! ?

I remember those x ray machines - my children always had their feet measured with these and shoes fitted; the machines suddenly disappeared from the shops to be replaced by a measuring tape as I recall. I do get twitchy at times about any potential damage from unnecessary rays! I too wore the classic Clarks sandal as a child, but remember the excitement of having a RED pair one year; they must have started branching out from the standard brown at some point in the 50's/60s. Do I remember navy blue also, or am I having a sandal fantasy here? My DGD always has lovely sandals, with tiny leather flowers, or sparkly decorations, and in such pretty colours. How times have changed; I could never get anything really nice for my son to wear when he was very small, but boys seem to have much more to choose from now.

sandals are the bane of my life ,I bought our 8 year old gd some with small cork wedge heels and her other granny has forbidden her from wearing them ,as heels are really bad for your back....well I've worn heels since I was about 9 and my back is just fine .Poor wee soul loves them too, and she wouldn't be wearing them all the time just for parties.I dont see a problem ....maybe I'm wrong

Unfortunately I didn't have these sandals. Money was too tight to buy such luxuries as properly fitted shoes and my DM used to go to the local market and buy black ' sandshoes' (plimsoles) for us. Luckily, most of the kids in my class wore similar, but some of the boys wore black lace-up boots with metal 'segs' on the heels, which they used to rub along the ground and create sparks, showing off in front of impressionable girls. The only time I remember getting any new sandals was one Easter, when my DM bought me a pair of red ones from M&S. As soon as I was earning enough to buy my own footwear, the dreaded 'winklepickers' became essential. Needless to say, my feet are a mass of lumps and bumps!
My DDs always had their feet measured and decent quality shoes bought throughout their childhood, but as soon as they reached their teens, they insisted on fashionable footwear, just like their friends were wearing. Deja vue, or what?
Sorry for the nostalgic ramble.

How I remember them. Later, there were navy ones too.

So glad that others had "cut-toes". I used to be mortified by that, it showed that we were "poor"!

flippy

I had those Clark's sandals in red or blue and they always used to rub my heels and give me a blister until they were worn in. My dad used to cut the toes out of them too at the end of the summer to make them last until it was time for school shoes.

I don't think my DGD would like them now, they do have Clark's or Startrite but the open ones with two velcro straps over. They seem to wear black Mary Jane shoes for school all year round.

I had these and so did my sisters I remember in the summer when we wore them without socks we ended up with a flower looking pattern on our feet

No money in our house for such posh sandals ....don't recall what we had instead unless they were from the cheapest shop in town ! I do remember having to do a display for Princess Margaret once in which all of the Brownie packs in Ipswich had to represent a season ..ours was winter and instructions went forth to buy and wear white sandals !!!! my mum managed to find a pair of plastic ones in Woollies ,,,,,oh dear ! all my friends had white buckskin (if you remember them you are as old as me !) ..they had to be cleaned with a special fluid and left to dry overnight .......still, I came to no harm ! My daughter's school insisted on only navy blue sandals by Start-rite as part of their uniform ...she had very narrow feet and often I had to order them from the only shop in town to have a measuring machine (no online ordering then !) ......

Yes. They had crepe soles, and I was always tripping up in them. I hated the stitching around the outside too!!?

Knew which ones u meant before I saw the pic! White crepe soles which soon got blackened.

Oh yes. I had them as well.

My mother used to take me to PeterJones department store in Sloane Square, Chelsea, and I got measured up using one of those X-ray machines.

Does anyone remember them?.

Oh yes! It was all the rage to wear them one notch too big when I was at school as this made the buckles tinkle as you walked!

In the '50s at secondary school we wore black lace ups but had to change into sandals indoors, most of us had Clarks. In the summer term we could wear sandals outdoors to come to school. Changing shoes must have kept a lot of winter mud and dirt out of the building.
We also wore grey knee socks with white ankle socks in summer. Some wore ankle socks all year round. When we got to what would now be Y10 we could wear stockings and skirts instead of gym slips. Still checked dresses and white socks in summer term! Lisle stockings had just given way to nylons but tights didn't come in until the early '60s. Suspender belts were essential of course and black school knickers right to 6th form!
I'm wondering at what point we were allowed slip on flat shoes with uniform, surely we didn't wear black lace ups and sandals to the age of 18!

Startrite was what I bought for my two.
It appears from some of the photographs of our new royal babes this is what they are wearing?

Apparently the "in" sandals at the moment are Salt Water ones. They're quite similar to the Clarks styles. My daughters pulled faces at me when I said they looked a bit old fashioned

Those were my sandals. I don't recall there being much choice. I cannot believe the amount of different footwear my GC have!

We went on holiday to Kerry when my DD was about 8, She had Startrite sandals & was very envious of the little Irish girls strappy "Jesus" sandals but was pleased when Maeve said how much she wanted Startrite sandals like my DDs !

OMG, I remember these. I used to be at Boarding School so I used to smuggle my platforms back and hide these in my drawer. I remember my panic when my mother was supposed to visit unexpectedly so I had to find the sandals and
make them look "worn" by the time she got there. I hated the blessed things which made my flat feet look like plates of meat and the short white socks bought to accompany them when I had tarantula legs which I wasn't allowed to shave. Being short, fat with greasy hair and acne I painted a pretty picture...not!

Yes I remember these and I wore them up to around the age of twelve/thirteen. Then one morning in Home Economics the teacher said that we would be discussing feet/footwear for that particular lesson. I think we had some warning as we all made sure that we had on clean socks that day.
What we didn't know was that as we all sat in a circle the teacher would get us all to stick our feet out and compare our shoe styles. The more sophisticated/trendy girls were wearing more fancy shoes and I felt rather embarrassed and ashamed of wearing such a 'babyish' style.
The next time we were treated to new shoes I made sure that I picked something more grown-up. Hence the bunions.

I remember those, but I'm with HurdyGurdy - to me they are shoes, not sandals. I wouldn't call footwear 'sandals' unless they had open toes.

HurdyGurdy they were sandals a opposed to winter shoes which were sturdy lace-ups. We didn't have the choice of shoes & mostly hated them but daren't argue with Parents so had to wear them. Only time I wore any different types of sandals was on holiday, remember the plastic ones you could paddle in? They stuck to your feet when you took them off

My DD worked for Clarkes when she was at College, she always ensured shoes were fitting perfectly before the Customer left the shop. Like many parents she rarely buys Clarkes now.

My DS wants me done for child cruelty because I bought him a pair of blue kickers with my 21st birthday money when he was 3 nannypiano ! He says he can remember the humiliation of wearing them but I don't believe him. He is "remembering" the photographs.

I have never lived it down that I bought what I now know were nicknamed Jesus boots for my two boys then aged 5 and 6. They were the same as many men wear today. I thought their feet would be cooler and more comfortable and they looked very comfortable for hot weather with just a couple of straps, (sure everyone knows the ones) I'm surprised when they mention it now that I wasn't had up for child cruelty, lol

I had these, as did my DD years later, although there was a lot more colour choice in the 80's. I recall she had a red pair and a powder blue pair too.

My DGD's would not be seen dead wearing them today though. They almost live in trainers or converse.