Size Shoe or Shoes

Units for shoe sizes vary widely around the world. European sizes are measured in Paris Points, which are worth two-thirds of a centimetre. The UK and American units are approximately one-quarter of an inch, starting at 8¼ inches.

Men's and women's shoe sizes often have different scales. Shoes size is often measured using a Brannock Device, which can determine both the width and length of the foot.

Most people go to a shoe shop and try on various shoes without really knowing what their correct shoe size actually is.

This is fine if a particular size is a perfect fit, but not so good if your feet fall between sizes, or if you have feet that are narrower or wider than the regular fitting.

When either of these instances is the case, you need to know your correct shoe size and, if necessary, buy good quality shoes that offer width as well as length fittings. Failing to do this can endanger the health of your feet and your feet are the foundations on which the rest of your body relies.

How to measure your feet :

Firstly, follow the procedure below for both feet as it is not uncommon for the left and right foot to be slightly different. If this turns out to be the case, there are many companies (often internet or mail order based) that can supply you with a matching pair of shoes of different sizes or widths.

The measuring process :

1. Place a piece of paper (larger than your foot) on a level flat surface and then put your for on top of it. Make sure that you are weight bearing as your foot will be slightly larger when this is the case (and this is the measurement that you need).
2. With a pencil draw around the outline of your foot (or get someone else to do so). Do this as carefully as possible and try to keep the outline true to the shape of your foot, particularly at the heal and toe and at the points where the foot is at its widest.
3. Measure the length and width of your foot from your tracing (at the widest and longest points) in inches being as accurate as possible, i.e. 1/8 of an inch. These are the pair of measurements (done separately for each foot) that you will use to determine your exact shoe size.
4. To obtain the measurement from which your shoe size will be derived, subtract a figure (no more than ¼ inch) from both width and length measurements to take account for the over-tracing around the foot.
5. Use a man's or women's foot "size chart" (see details below) to determine your correct shoe size. This will be variable depending upon where in the world you live and the size charts that are used in your location.

Shoe size charts

Foot/shoe sizing charts allow you to take the measurements derived from the procedure above and to convert them into "actual" shoe sizes that you can use to try-on, or to order shoes.