Shoe size

A shoe size is an indication of the fitting size of a shoe for a person.
There are a number of different shoe-size systems used worldwide. While all shoe sizes use a number to indicate the length of the shoe, they differ in exactly what they measure, what unit of measurement they use, and where the size 0 is positioned. Some systems also indicate the shoe width, sometimes also as a number, but in many cases by one or more letters. Some regions use different shoe-size systems for different types of shoes. This article sets out several complexities in the definition of shoe sizes. In practice, shoes should be tried on for size and fit before they are purchased.

Deriving the shoe size

Foot versus shoe and last

The length of a person's foot is commonly defined as the distance between two parallel lines that are perpendicular to the foot and in contact with the most prominent toe and the most prominent part of the heel. Foot length is measured with the subject standing barefoot and the weight of the body equally distributed between both feet.
The sizes of the left and right feet are often slightly different. In this case, both feet are measured, and purchasers of mass-produced shoes are advised to purchase a shoe size based on the larger foot, as most retailers do not sell pairs of shoes in non-matching sizes.
Each size of shoe is considered suitable for a small interval of foot lengths, typically limited by half-point of the shoe size system.
A shoe-size system can refer to three characteristic lengths:

The median length of feet for which a shoe is suitable. For customers, this measure has the advantage of being directly related to their body measures. It applies equally to any type, form, or material of shoe. However, this measure is less popular with manufacturers, because it requires them to test carefully for each new shoe model, for which range of foot sizes it is recommendable. It puts on the manufacturer the burden of ensuring that the shoe will fit a foot of a given length.
The length of the inner cavity of the shoe. This measure has the advantage that it can be measured easily on the finished product. However, it will vary with manufacturing tolerances and only gives the customer very crude information about the range of foot sizes for which the shoe is suitable.
The length of the "last", the foot-shaped template over which the shoe is manufactured. This measure is the easiest one for the manufacturer to use, because it identifies only the tool used to produce the shoe. It makes no promise about manufacturing tolerances or for what size of foot the shoe is actually suitable. It leaves all responsibility and risk of choosing the correct size with the customer. Further, the last can be measured in several different ways resulting in different measurements.

All these measures differ substantially from one another for the same shoe. For example, the inner cavity of a shoe must typically be 15 mm longer than the foot, and the shoe last would be 2 size points larger than the foot, but this varies between different types of shoes and the shoe size system used. The typical range lies between for the UK/US size system and for the European size system, but may extend to and.

Length

Sizing systems also differ in the units of measurement they use. This also results in different increments between shoe sizes, because usually only "full" or "half" sizes are made.
The following length units are commonly used today to define shoe-size systems:

The Paris point equates to. Whole sizes are incremented by 1 Paris point; this corresponds to between half sizes. This unit is commonly used in Continental Europe.
The barleycorn is an old English unit that equates to. This is the basis for current UK and North American shoe sizes, with the largest shoe size taken as twelve inches i.e. 30.5 cm, and then counting backwards in barleycorn units, so a size 11 is 11.67 inches or 29.6 cm.
Metric measurements in millimetres with intervals of 5 mm and 7.5 mm are used in the international Mondopoint system.
Zero point

The sizing systems also place size 0 at different locations:

Size 0 as a foot's length of 0. The shoe size is directly proportional to the length of the foot in the chosen unit of measurement. Sizes of children's, men's, and women's shoes, as well as sizes of different types of shoes, can be compared directly. This is used with the Mondopoint and the Asian system.
Size 0 as the length of the shoe's inner cavity of 0. The shoe size is then directly proportional to the inner length of the shoe. This is used with systems that also take the measurement from the shoe. While sizes of children's, men's and women's shoes can be compared directly, this is not necessarily true for different types of shoes that require a different amount of "wiggle room" in the toe box. This is used with the Continental European system.
Size 0 can just be simply a shoe of a given length. Typically this will be the shortest length deemed practical; but this can be different for children's, teenagers', men's, and women's shoes - making it impossible to compare sizes. For example, a women's shoe at size 8 is a different length from a men's shoe at size 8 in the US system, but not the British.
Width

Some systems also include the width of a foot, but do so in a variety of ways:

Measured foot width in millimetres - this is done with the Mondopoint system.
Measured width as a letter, which is taken from a table or just assigned on an ad-hoc basis. Examples are :
* A, B, C, D, E, EE, EEE, EEEE, F, G.
* 4A, 3A, 2A, A, B, C, D, E, 2E, 3E, 4E, 5E, 6E
* C, D, E, F, G, H.
* N, M or R, W.

The width for which these sizes are suitable can vary significantly between manufacturers. The A–E width indicators used by most American, Canadian, and some British shoe manufacturers are typically based on the width of the foot, and common step sizes are inch.

Common sizing systems

United Kingdom

Shoe size in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Pakistan and South Africa is based on the length of the last used to make the shoes, measured in barleycorns starting from the smallest size deemed practical, which is called size zero. It is not formally standardised. Note that the last is typically longer than the foot heel to toe length by about.
A child's size zero is equivalent to 4 inches, and the sizes go up to size . Thus, the calculation for a children's shoe size in the UK is:
equivalent to
An adult size one is then the next size up and each size up continues the progression in barleycorns. The calculation for an adult shoe size in the UK is thus:
equivalent to
Although this sizing standard is nominally for both men and women, some manufacturers use different numbering for women's UK sizing.
In Australia and New Zealand, the UK system is followed for men and children's footwear. Women's footwear follows the US sizings.
In Mexico, shoes are sized either according to the foot length they are intended to fit, in cm, or alternatively to another variation of the barleycorn system, with sizes calculated approximately as:

United States

In the United States and Canada, there are different systems that are used concurrently. The size indications are usually similar but not exactly equivalent especially with athletic shoes at extreme sizes. The most common is the customary, described in more detail below, which for men's shoes is one size shorter than the UK equivalent, making a men's 13 in the US the same size as a men's 12 in the UK.

Customary

The traditional system is similar to English sizes but start counting at one rather than zero, so equivalent sizes are one greater.
The calculation for a male shoe size in the United States is:
In the "standard" or "FIA" scale, women's sizes are men's sizes plus 1.
There is also the "common" scale, where women's sizes are equal to men's sizes plus 1.5.

Children's

Children's sizes are equal to men's sizes plus. Children's sizes do not differ by gender even though adults’ do.
Children's shoe stores in the United States use a sizing scheme which ends at 13, after which the adult range starts at 1.
Alternatively, a scale running from K4 to K13 and then 1 to 7 is in use. K4 to K9 are toddler sizes, K10 to 3 are pre-school and 1 to 7 are grade school sizes.

Brannock Device

A slightly different sizing method is based on the Brannock Device, a measuring instrument invented by Charles F. Brannock in 1925 and now found in many shoe stores. The formula used by the Brannock device assumes a foot length less than the length of the last; thus, men's size 1 is equivalent to a foot's length of. Women's sizes are one size up.
The device also measures the length of the arch, or the distance between the heel and the ball of the foot. For this measurement, the device has a shorter scale at the instep of the foot with an indicator that slides into position. If this scale indicates a larger size, it is taken in place of the foot's length to ensure proper fitting.
For children's sizes, additional wiggle room is added to allow for growth.
The device also measures the width of the foot and assigns it designations of AAA, AA, A, B, C, D, E, EE, or EEE. The widths are 3/16 inches apart and differ by shoe length.
Some shoe stores and medical professionals use optical 3D surface scanners to precisely measure the length and width of both feet and recommend the appropriate shoe model and size.

Europe

In the Continental European system, the shoe size is the length of the last, expressed in Paris points, for both sexes and for adults and children alike. Because a Paris point is of a centimetre, the formula is as follows:
The last is typically 2 to 2.5 Paris points or longer than the foot, so to determine the size based on actual foot length from heel to toe, one must add 2 points:
The European system is used in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and most other continental European countries. It is also used in Middle Eastern countries, Brazil—which uses the same method but subtracts 2 from the final result, in effect measuring foot size instead of last size—and, commonly, Hong Kong. The system is sometimes described as Stich size, or Stichmass size.

Mondopoint

The Mondopoint shoe length system is widely used in sports industry to size athletic shoes, ski/skate boots, and Pointe ballet shoes; it was also adopted as the primary shoe sizing system in USSR/Russia, GDR, China, Japan/Taiwan/South Korea, and as an optional system in United Kingdom, India, Mexico, and European countries. Mondopoint system is also used by NATO and other military services.
The Mondopoint system was introduced in the 1970s by International Standards ISO 2816:1973 "Fundamental characteristics of a system of shoe sizing to be known as Mondopoint" and ISO 3355:1975 "Shoe sizes - System of length grading ". ISO 9407:2019, "Shoe sizes—Mondopoint system of sizing and marking", is the current version of the standard.
The Mondopoint system is based on average foot length and foot width for which the shoe is suitable, measured in millimetres. The length of the foot is measured as horizontal distance between the perpendiculars in contact with the end of the most prominent toe and the most prominent part of the heel. The width of the foot is measured as horizontal distance between vertical lines in contact with the first and fifth metatarsophalangeal joints. The perimeter of the foot is the length of foot circumference, measured with a flexible tape at the same points as foot width. The origin of the grade is zero.
The labeling typically includes foot length, followed by an optional foot width - a shoe size of 280/110 indicates a foot length of and width of. Other customary markings, such as EU, UK and US sizes, may also be used.
Because Mondopoint takes the foot width into account, it allows for better fitting than most other systems. A given shoe size shall fit every foot with indicated average measurements, and those differing by no more than a half-step of the corresponding interval grid. Standard foot lengths are defined with interval steps of 5 mm for casual footwear and steps of 7.5 mm for specialty footwear. The standard is maintained by ISO Technical Committee 137 "Footwear sizing designations and marking systems."

Japan, Taiwan and South Korea

In Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, the Mondopoint system is used as defined by national standard JIS S 5037:1998 and its counterparts CNS 4800-S1093:2000 and KS M 6681:2007.
Foot length and girth are taken into account. The foot length is indicated in centimetres; an increment of 5 mm is used.
The length is followed by designators for girth, which are specified in an indexed table as foot circumference in millimetres for each given foot length; foot width is also included as supplemental information. There are different tables for men's, women's, and children's shoes. Not all designators are used for all genders and in all countries. For example, the largest girth for women in Taiwan is EEEE, whereas in Japan, it is F.
The foot length and width can also be indicated in millimetres, separated by a slash or a hyphen.

Soviet Union (Russia/CIS)

Historically the Soviet Union used the European system, but the Mondopoint metric system was introduced in the 1980s by GOST 24382-80 "Sizes of Sport Shoes" and GOST 11373-88 "Shoe Sizes", and lately by GOST R 58149-2018. Foot lengths are aligned to 5 mm and 7.5 mm intervals.
Standard metric foot sizes can be converted to the nearest Paris point sizes using approximate conversion tables; shoes can be marked with both foot length in mm, as for Pointe ballet shoe sizes, and/or last length in European Paris point sizes. Optional foot width designations includes narrow, normal, and wide grades.
Infant sizes start at 16 and pre-school kids at 23 ; schoolchildren sizes span 32 to 40 for girls and 32 to 44 for boys. Adult sizes span 33 to 44 for women and 38 to 48 for men.

Mondopoint/Foot Length	95	100	105	110	115	120	125	130	135	140	145	150	155	160	165	170		175	180	185		190	195	200
Mondopoint/Foot Length																	172.5		180		187.5		195
Stich size	16	16½	17	18	19	19½	20	21	22	22½	23	24	25	25½	26	27	27½	28	28½	29	29½	30	31	31½

ISO 19407 and shoe size conversion

ISO/TS 19407:2015 Footwear - Sizing - Conversion of sizing systems is a technical specification from International Standards Organisation. It contains three conversion tables which feature major shoe sizing systems. Each table is based on actual foot length measurement in millimetres; typical last length ranges are also included.
The standard includes conversion tables for Mondopoint using length steps of 5 mm and 7.5 mm, European Paris point system, and UK 1/3 inch system. The standard has also been adopted as Russian GOST R 57425-2017.
The standard is maintained by ISO/TC 137, which also developed ISO/TS 19408:2015 Footwear - Sizing - Vocabulary and terminology; currently in development are companion standards ISO/TS 19409 "Footwear - Sizing - Measurement of last dimensions" and ISO/TS 19410 "Footwear - Sizing - Inshoe measurement".

Difficulties

Differences between various shoe size tables, makers' tables or other tables found on the Web are usually due to the following factors:

The systems are not fully standardised. Differences between shoes from different makers, which are due to different methods of measuring the shoes, different manufacturing processes, or different allowances are sometimes related to different countries. A "German" size may then differ from a "French" size, although both countries use the Continental European system.
Different widths may have the result that for wide feet, a shoe multiple sizes larger typical widths are attributed to different sizing systems or countries.
Some tables for children take future growth into account. The shoe size is then larger than what would correspond to the actual length of the foot.
An indication in centimetres or inches can mean the length of the foot or the length of the shoe's inner cavity. This relation is not constant but varies due to different amounts of wiggle room required for different sizes of shoes.
There are several US systems, which differ substantially for sizes far above or below medium sizes.

Further, some tables available on the Web simply contain errors. For example, the wiggle room or different zero point is not taken into account, or tables based on different US systems are simply combined although they are incompatible.
Moreover, though the ISO had released a technical specification for converting shoe sizes across various local sizing systems, the organization noted that the problem of converting shoe sizes accurately has yet to be fully resolved. At best, its own published standards for shoe sizes conversions only serve as "a good compromise solution" for shoe-buyers.
Please note that the following tables indicate theoretical sizes calculated from the standards and information given above.

Shoe sizing

The adult shoe sizes are calculated from typical last length, which is converted from foot length in mm by adding an allowance of two shoe sizes:
where is foot length in mm.
Direct conversion between adult UK, European and Mondopoint shoe size systems is derived as follows:
Exact foot lengths may contain repeating decimals because the formulas include division by 3; in practice, approximate interval steps of 6.67 mm and 8.47 mm are used, then resulting lengths are rounded up to 0.1 mm, and shoe sizes are rounded to either 0.5 size points or closest matching Mondopoint size.
Children sizes are approximations converted from foot length by adding an 8% allowance at the toes and matching the result to the closest practically available last size.

Size conversion

The standard also includes quick conversion tables for adult shoe sizes; they provide matching sizes for shoes marked in Mondopoint, UK and US systems. Converted values are rounded to a larger shoe size to increase comfort.

Mondo	EUR	UK	US men	US women
215	34	2.5	3.5	4.5
220	35	3	4	5
225	35.5	3.5	4.5	5.5
230	36.5	4	5	6
235	37	4.5	5.5	6.5
240	38	5.5	6.5	7.5
245	38.5	6	7	8
250	39.5	6.5	7.5	8.5
255	40	7	8	9
260	41	7.5	8.5	9.5
265	41.5	8.5	9.5	10.5
270	42.5	9	10	11
275	43	9.5	10.5	11.5
280	44	10	11	12
285	44.5	10.5	11.5	12.5
290	45.5	11	12	13
295	46	12	13	14
300	47	12.5	13.5	14.5
305	47.5	13	14	15
310	48.5	13.5	14.5	15.5
315	49	14	15	16
320	50	15	16	17

EUR	Mondo	UK	US men	US women
34	215	2	3	4
34.5	215	2.5	3.5	4.5
35	220	3	4	5
35.5	225	3.5	4.5	5.5
36	225	4	5	6
36.5	230	4	5	6
37	235	4.5	5.5	6.5
37.5	235	5	6	7
38	240	5.5	6.5	7.5
38.5	245	5.5	6.5	7.5
39	245	6	7	8
39.5	250	6.5	7.5	8.5
40	255	7	8	9
40.5	255	7.5	8.5	9.5
41	260	7.5	8.5	9.5
41.5	265	8	9	10
42	265	8.5	9.5	10.5
42.5	270	9	10	11
43	275	9.5	10.5	11.5
43.5	275	9.5	10.5	11.5
44	280	10	11	12
44.5	285	10.5	11.5	12.5
45	285	11	12	13
45.5	290	11.5	12.5	13.5
46	295	11.5	12.5	13.5
46.5	295	12	13	14
47	300	12.5	13.5	14.5
47.5	305	13	14	15
48	305	13	14	15
48.5	310	13.5	14.5	15.5
49	315	14	15	16
49.5	315	14.5	15.5	16.5
50	320	15	16	17

UK	Mondo	EUR	US men	US women
2	210	34	3	4
2.5	215	34.5	3.5	4.5
3	220	35	4	5
3.5	225	35.5	4.5	5.5
4	230	36.5	5	6
4.5	235	37	5.5	6.5
5	235	37.5	6	7
5.5	240	38	6.5	7.5
6	245	39	7	8
6.5	250	39.5	7.5	8.5
7	255	40	8	9
7.5	260	40.5	8.5	9.5
8	260	41.5	9	10
8.5	265	42	9.5	10.5
9	270	42.5	10	11
9.5	275	43.5	10.5	11.5
10	280	44	11	12
10.5	285	44.5	11.5	12.5
11	290	45.5	12	13
11.5	290	46	12.5	13.5
12	295	46.5	13	14
12.5	300	47	13.5	14.5
13	305	47.5	14	15
13.5	310	48.5	14.5	15.5
14	315	49	15	16
14.5	320	49.5	15.5	16.5
15	320	50	16	17

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