Men's Shoes Size Tips
Most people select a shoe size based broadly on trial and error, i.e. they know that they generally take a particular size, so they start with that size and then experiment.
That approach is fine if you are in a shop and able to try on a pair of shoes, but it has major drawbacks if either, you want to buy a pair of shoes online, or you have feet of a slightly different size.
Measuring your shoe size accurately and correctly
The following procedure will enable you to accurately measure both of your feet and you can then use a sizing table to determine the precise fit-size of the footwear that you want to buy.
Repeat the following for each foot.
Step 1
On a flat and even surface carefully draw around your foot on a piece of paper. Make sure that you are standing up and applying weight through your foot and, if possible, get a third party to mark out the foot's profile for you. Be careful to keep the pen or pencil line as close to the actual foot as possible and be as precise as you (or your line drawer) can be around the heal and especially the wide toe area.
Step 2
Using the pencil imprint of your foot, measure the length and width of the foot carefully with a ruler or tape measure. The width measurement should be taken at the widest point and, for UK and USA sizing, take the measurements in inches with the accuracy level being 1/8th of an inch.
Step 3
You should now have two sets of measurements, one for each foot, but you must now make a "measuring amendment" to correct them. This correction takes into account the fact that the tracing will have been slightly oversize all the way around. At this point you must decide on the correction factor which will be a reduction in the length and width measurements by either 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch. You make the determination based upon how close you felt the tracing line was to the actual foot.
Step 4
You will now have separate length and width dimensions for each foot and it will be immediately apparent if you have one foot substantially larger than the other. If both feet are of a similar size, then you can buy your shoes in pairs, however if you have a significant discrepancy between the feet it may be advisable to buy an un-matching pair of shoes. There are a number of specialist suppliers who offer this service.
Step 5
Now equipped with the dimensions of your feet you need to convert those measurements into useable shoe sizes and this is done using an appropriate shoe/foot size chart. You simply find the dimension of your feet in inches and line that up with the shoe fitting size on the chart.
Shoe size charts
There are different size charts for men's and women's feet and there are also different size charts for different nations. i.e. The USA, UK and mainland Europe all have different sizing charts.
That approach is fine if you are in a shop and able to try on a pair of shoes, but it has major drawbacks if either, you want to buy a pair of shoes online, or you have feet of a slightly different size.
Measuring your shoe size accurately and correctly
The following procedure will enable you to accurately measure both of your feet and you can then use a sizing table to determine the precise fit-size of the footwear that you want to buy.
Repeat the following for each foot.
Step 1
On a flat and even surface carefully draw around your foot on a piece of paper. Make sure that you are standing up and applying weight through your foot and, if possible, get a third party to mark out the foot's profile for you. Be careful to keep the pen or pencil line as close to the actual foot as possible and be as precise as you (or your line drawer) can be around the heal and especially the wide toe area.
Step 2
Using the pencil imprint of your foot, measure the length and width of the foot carefully with a ruler or tape measure. The width measurement should be taken at the widest point and, for UK and USA sizing, take the measurements in inches with the accuracy level being 1/8th of an inch.
Step 3
You should now have two sets of measurements, one for each foot, but you must now make a "measuring amendment" to correct them. This correction takes into account the fact that the tracing will have been slightly oversize all the way around. At this point you must decide on the correction factor which will be a reduction in the length and width measurements by either 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch. You make the determination based upon how close you felt the tracing line was to the actual foot.
Step 4
You will now have separate length and width dimensions for each foot and it will be immediately apparent if you have one foot substantially larger than the other. If both feet are of a similar size, then you can buy your shoes in pairs, however if you have a significant discrepancy between the feet it may be advisable to buy an un-matching pair of shoes. There are a number of specialist suppliers who offer this service.
Step 5
Now equipped with the dimensions of your feet you need to convert those measurements into useable shoe sizes and this is done using an appropriate shoe/foot size chart. You simply find the dimension of your feet in inches and line that up with the shoe fitting size on the chart.
Shoe size charts
There are different size charts for men's and women's feet and there are also different size charts for different nations. i.e. The USA, UK and mainland Europe all have different sizing charts.
Finding correct shoe size is hard and tricky especially when you don't know what to look for. So thanks for the information.