Although, in extreme cases, people can be three or four sizes different from one foot to another. You may be in for a surprise!įeet are not symmetrical – for most of us, one foot is slightly larger than the other, usually only by half or one American size. Have a think about when you last had your foot measured, or discussed the fit of your shoe with a professional? With so many conditions linked to correctly fitting footwear and the bio-mechanics of walking I would encourage everyone who reads this to take the time when next purchasing a new pair of shoes to take advice, to get their feet measured again. It is vitally important that good support is maintained for the foot at all times. Whilst most of us have had the same size – within a half-size or so for most of our adult life – different manufacturers will have a slightly different fit – a narrower shoe will feel very different from a wider one. It is always surprising how many adults are wearing shoes which are incorrectly fitted.
Shoes in Europe do not go up in half sizes, but use whole numbers. This means that a woman measuring a 39 could wear a 39 women’s shoe as readily as a 39 men’s shoe, the design and detailing would be the difference, not the sizing. The shoe sizing system in Europe is a unisex system, unlike the system in the US, covering all shoes. Instead, the range goes from small shoe sizes, mainly worn by children through to the larger shoe sizes mainly worn by men. Unlike the US system, there are no separate sizing systems for adults and children in Europe. The size of the shoe though does not vary, increasing 0.5cm and 0.4cm respectively, regardless of width. US shoes are likely to be available in narrow, medium, wide and extra wide widths, and the same cannot be said for European shoes. One criteria for any shoe to be federally recognized as ‘medical’, or ‘diabetic’ is that the shoe must be available in a range of widths. The US children’s sizes are distinct from the US shoe sizing.
Again, to speak generally, women’s shoes tend to be manufactured slightly narrower than men’s shoes that are given a slightly wider cut. Women’s sizes in the US range, in the majority of cases, from 4 to 12 and men’s sizes from 6 to 16, although as in everything there are exceptions and larger shoes can be obtained.
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