Hellobee

Besides my love of hair and makeup, one of the girliest things about myself is that I love shoes, and my love for them has now moved over to choosing shoes for Baby Pencil. He has so many pairs of shoes waiting for him!  It’s pretty hard to dress up a little boy because so many places cater toward little girls’ accessories. But I’ve found my sources and want to share my favorite styles and stores!

My favorite place to get cute boy shoes is at Zara. What I like about it is that they are good mix of trendy yet cute and they last a long time. Also, people don’t usually buy their kids’ shoes here so they tend to be more unique. I get asked all the time where I got Baby Pencil’s shoes! Since they are a European company, you’ll have to get used to the sizes. They tend to run a little bit big. Overall, I love their winter bootcut style shoes! Most of them are pretty easy to take on and off, which is so key for toddlers.

These in particular lasted a really long time and looked great with jeans! I also use these shoes if he needs to dress up a little. Zara can be expensive except when they have sales. Most of these shoes were originally $35 but I would get them for $19.99 when the sales hit the stores.

I also love TOMS shoes, especially their hightop style. I always pick unique styles and colors so that it really “makes” the outfit.

I purchased these slip-on converse high tops because they were having a sale at Nordstroms and I love them! They look like a lace-up but there’s actually some stretchy banding on the sides so they slip them on. The laces are short and just sort of hang off. They’re easy enough to have Baby Pencil slip on and off by himself. It’s nice to have a unique gray color too! His outfits look so boyish and scruffy.

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I’ve had 3 pairs of these shoes because they fit so well on slim feet and they are very light and airy. Baby Pencil gets sweaty feet so these seem to suit him well. I tried New Balances but found that Nikes seemed more comfortable. (New Balances tend to suit better for wide feet, according to the shoe man at Nordstroms!) They sell them at Nordstroms for about $50 but you can easily find them at Nordstrom Rack for about $30. I always pass by the toddler shoe station when I’m there just in case they got more in stock in a bigger size. I love the simple black and white ones for a sporty look, and they go with everything! I used all of these pairs until they were completely unusable. Well worth it!

My advice for buying toddler shoes for boys:

• Don’t spend more than $15-20 for up to 2 years old. After that when their feet stop growing so fast, I’d spend as much as $30 for a good pair. But my average price range is always $20.
• Buy unique colors and styles. Always keep your eye out at places like Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls, Ross and the yearly sales at Macy’s & Nordstroms. Certain childrens’ shoe stores have seasonal deals too, like Stride Rite.
• Make sure the kids can slip on or velcro on the shoes themselves. I wouldn’t recommend a lace/tie up style at this age! (2-3 years old.)
• Make sure the bottoms are flexible and sturdy.
• Get your kids’ feet measured properly so you know if they have wide/slim feet, and in our case to figure out if one foot is slightly bigger than the other.
• Make sure you try them on and that your kid likes them. If they hate it and never want to wear it… it’ll be a huge waste!
• Make sure you can return them if the fit is wrong.

On any day, Baby Pencil is usually wearing pretty normal or plain clothes. But add a pair of cute shoes? Then everyone compliments his “outfit” when really, it’s just his shoes. Put on a cute hat and then even more compliments! That is the power of accessorizing!

Anyone else have styles or places to shop for adorable toddler shoes?