You Do Not Have a Shoe Size
writing.kemitchell.com
writing.kemitchell.com
this from a guy with one foot size 12.8 and the other foot size 13.6. My feet have hurt every day since I was a teenager
PS I would pay, like a lot, to get shoes to fit my feet exactly
Maybe a store like that doesn't exist in your country, but it's definitely a thing.
While the machine was doing its beepy-flashy dance, I told the sales guy I bet he could beat it. He did. The machine recommended a width they had in stock. Sales guy himself told me to order in a different one.
There are old patents for electro-mechanical devices. The dream goes back a long time.
Meanwhile, even bespoke makers in London do test fittings. They'll often start with mock pairs made of scrap leather, then investigate the fit destructively. It isn't just how the feet are shaped and how they move, but how the shoe will move with them, how the shoe materials will form over the last, how the shoe materials will stretch and sag over time, how the design of the shoe itself will affect the biomechanics. It's an incredible trade.
Also, ordering custom anything to your body is an ordeal. Most folks wouldn't be okay with waiting weeks for shoes that don't fit them right only to do a back and forth for weeks trying for a perfect fit.
that said, you can absolutely buy custom shoes and trainers if you mind them not being from Big Sneaker. Usually starts at US$400 and takes about six to eight weeks to get.
I live in trainers. I have learned that my size and model is New Balance model 624 in a 4E wide and a size 42 European. I use the European sizing by preference because it gives a finer sizing than the British or American sizing.
It's almost frightening that I can walk into the shoe store and walk out again in less than two minutes with my shoes.
But if I want to buy any other shoes, I have great difficulty. Invariably, the shoes on sale are not wide enough. Sometimes I have bought shoes in a larger size like a 43 or even a 44 to get enough width. But almost invariably again, they are just NQR. And forget about elastic-sided shoes. They are just so tight that I can't even get my foot into the ones with the correct length. I would love a pair of espadrilles. Yeah, right. Dream on.
As I said above, I live in trainers. They're the only ones that 'fit right'.
Menswear brands creep ever closer to parity. Measure waist and leg on a pair of new Levi's sometime!
I like European shoe sizing for putting everyone on scale: men, women, adults, children, everyone. But I understand those sizes refer to last length, rather than foot length.
The higher numbers lend a sense of precision, but the limiting factor is what shoe lasts the manufacture uses, not how they number them. Europeans measure in Paris points, or 2/3 of a centimeter. The US and UK measure in barleycorns, or 1/3 of an inch. 1/3 * 1 in * 2.54 cm per in = 0.847 cm, which is very close. And there are often half sizes.
There is a pretty, clean, uniform system, Mondopoint, which makes a lot more sense. Basically nobody uses it. Ski boots, I'm told.
The wiser online sellers publish fit tables based on heel-toe length, Imperial and metric. When they offer different widths, they publish tables with ball circumferences. Not linear widths, like Brannocks measure.
In college I bought a pair of Doc Martens and just about crippled myself before just giving up and taking a hammer to them. (Yes, literally.) After beating the crap out of the back of them I was finally able to use them without blood being shed. Not something you can do to most shoes though.
I'm a 12.5 in most modern sneakers and a 12 in most modern dress shoes (already annoying that they label differently) but then I'm a 13 in certain New Balance and 11.5 in certain Converse.
And this is just length, not width or anything. It's so bizarre they can't just work out a consistent measurement label for length.
That said, feet do tend to swell as days go on, especially active days. That's why nearly every guide to sizing recommends measuring late in the day.
Fashionable shoes have more pointed toe boxes, but a well fitted Oxford doesn't smash the toes into its point. The toes lie naturally, with empty space ahead. The last designers literally build up the toeboxes.
Stand with your feet flat on the floor, barefoot, then lift one one heel as far as you can while pressing the ball into the floor. How much wider do your toes splay, at their maximum?
I'm all for people using tools to try toe running. Rucking, too. I wouldn't toe run in combat boots, and I wouldn't ruck in "zero-drop shoes". I wouldn't do either in a size too small.
There's been something like a "marathon to the bottom" across things like clothing, shoes, and just about anything else textile-adjacent for almost a century. You can find articles from 50+ years ago lamenting how clothing used to last longer and have more consistent quality, and it's only gotten worse since then.
This style of footwear makes my life a lot simpler.
Somehow, Apple Computer Inc. were somewhat competent to select model numbers, but Apple, Inc. is not. (-:
Running shoes in the past was a similar struggle.
Some people hate looking at toe-shoes (aka VFFs) but they consistently fit like a glove for me. Too bad they don’t support at all!