Measuring your feet for shoes

When most people want to buy a new pair of shoes they go to a shop and try on different shoes without actually knowing their correct shoe size. This can be OK if you find a size that is a perfect fit, but you are far better advised to know your correct shoe size in advance. This becomes even more valuable with orthopedic shoes where width sizes as well as length sizes are available.

This is particularly valuable if –

• Your feet fall between two different sizes.
• It is a cold or warm day and your feet may be larger or smaller than usual.
• You have feet that require a narrow or wide width fitting.

Ultimately, knowing your actual shoe size will make it easier (and quicker) to buy good fitting shoes and it will enable you to buy shoes in both the correct width and length fittings. Wearing shoes that are a poor fit, i.e. that are either too tight or too loose, can have a detrimental effect on the health of your feet. This may not be evident now, but it could cause problems in later life.

The correct way to measure feet

Below is a step by step guide to measuring feet accurately and precisely. Always measure both feet individually as it is common for the left and right feet to have variations in size. When this is the case you "may" need to buy shoes for each foot in a different size. You will find that there are several internet based companies who will allow you to order a pair of shoes in un-matching sizes for different lengths or widths of fit.

Step by step guide

• Firstly, put a large piece of paper on a flat floor surface. You will need two pieces of paper, one for each foot. Then place your first foot on top on the paper. You must make sure that you are weight bearing (as if standing normally) as the measurement is taken.
• Secondly, using a pencil, draw an outline around the foot, or better still get somebody else to do it for you. This must be done accurately so that the impression or tracing is a true reflection of the foot's size and shape. Pay special attention to the areas around the heal and the toes and at the widest (breadth) dimension of the foot as these are critical when it comes to obtaining measurements. Repeat this process for the other foot.
• Thirdly, using the tracing, measure both the length and width of the feet by taking the widest and longest measurements. Try to be as precise as possible and take the dimensions in inches to the nearest 1/8 of an inch. This will result in two pairs of measurements, one for the length and one for the width of each foot.
• Having measured the feet, the next step is to acquire the measurement that will be used to obtain the shoe size. In order to do this it is necessary to subtract a dimension of about ¼ inch from the width and length measurements that have been taken. This subtraction takes account of the over-tracing around the foot caused by the thickness of the pencil. If you feel that you have been very accurate in following the profile of the feet during measuring you may wish to reduce this figure to 1/16 inch.
• Finally, you now have measurements which you can use to obtain your correct shoe size and you do this using a "foot size to shoe size chart". There are separate charts for both men and women and for British, USA and European shoe sizes.

Foot size to shoe size charts

To convert your foot size measurements into usable shoe sizes you will need to go to this page - Shoe Size Tables. From this page you will find links to shoe charts for both men's and women's shoes in USA and international sizes (tables).

Simply take the measurement that you have in inches and look it up in the appropriate table. You will then have your exact shoe size.

As an extra tip, always take foot measurements with your legs straight and whilst standing on flat ground and do so in mid morning or over lunchtime when your feet are most likely to be at their average size. This is because your feet will probably be larger at the end of the day than at the beginning. Some people choose to take two sets of measurements - one in the morning and one at night - to ensure that their feet do not expand sufficiently to cover two shoe sizes over the course of a day.

Most good quality orthopedic shoes will have hook and loop (Velcro) fastenings that will offer a good degree of fit adjustment. This means that the shoes can be loosened or tightened as the day progresses. If you want to know about aids that can make it easier to put shoes on and take them off, take a look at this shoe aids page.