Back to school shoes from Jake shoes

We were sent these shoes in exchange for an honest review.

In two weeks time, my eldest will be back at school and starting year 1. Where have the last 4 weeks gone? So it’s time to start thinking about buying the uniform and school shoes unless you’ve already done so. I was recently asked by Jake shoes if I would like to review a pair of their school shoes. I had a browse of the range of shoes they stocked and knew I would have to pick a pair of Lelli Kelly’s for her as she talks about them every time the tv advert comes on.

I will often shop around and buy school uniform from a variety of high street shops or supermarkets but shoes are the one thing I don’t skimp on. I took her for her first school shoes last August to a local shoe shop, got her feet properly measured and bought a pair of shoes that lasted her well. School shoes need to be comfortable, durable and of course stylish too. They get a lot of wear since they are on the feet for at least 7 hours, 5 days a week so they must fit well. I took F to get her feet measured at a local shoe shop and then ordered her the correct size and style from Jake Shoes online. I later realised they have shops in Manchester, Stockport and Altrincham, all local to us. I’ll definitely be popping in next time we need shoes.

We chose these patent shoes as they were one of the few Lelli Kell shoes available in G width fitting (which my daughter needs). They are part of the colourissima range which gets advertised a lot on the kid’s tv channels. This range of shoes comes with 4 interchangeable hearts that can be personalised by your child. The hearts attach to the shoes by Velcro. Two of the designs includes a white area that your child can colour using the pens supplied. These pens are magic colour changing. For example, if you colour over the grey with the supplied white pen, you get pink.

My daughter loves the novelty of this feature. Fortunately, the book that is supplied with the shoes explains how the colour changing hearts are not for school wear. She loved this feature but luckily for us, she is happy to stick with the two smart options supplied for school. Neither the less she enjoyed colouring in the hearts and I could see this being a lovely activity for children to do before starting school to get used to their new school shoes. It’s also nice that children feel they are personalising their school uniform a little.

Along with the pens, each pair of shoes also comes with a mini kid’s make-up pallet and a pair of pink socks with a large bow on the back. Again not exactly essential for school shoes but my daughter certainly liked the novelty of all these items and I can see why. I still remember wanting the school shoes that came with keys when I was a child!

The shoes themselves seem really well made and comfortable. There is soft padding around the heel and the velcro strap makes them easy to adjust to fit well. The velcro fastening also means I don’t have to worry about my 5 year old struggling after P.E. to fasten buckles. As she has size 11 feet, I’ve found more and more styles in that size are buckled and she just isn’t ready for this yet at just 5.

The soles look really sturdy and they have plenty of grips. This is so important for kids who will be running around all day. My daughter seems to be fairly accident prone so I like to make sure she has grips on her shoes to try and minimise the trips and falls.

These shoes retail for £54.99 which is a little more than I would usually spend on shoes (£35-40). I do think part of the reason for the higher cost is all the extras that these shoes come with. Whilst these items are not essential, I can see how the novelty of them appeals to young children. Jake shoes stock a wide range of Lille Kelly as well as other big name brands like kickers and Dr Martins.

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Disclosure: I was sent these shoes in exchange for this review. All thoughts, opinions and photos are my own.