How to measure your foot length and width

Foot length is the distance from the back of the heel to the tip of the longest toe, standing. Shoe charts are built on it, and it converts to every size system. Foot width is measured across the widest part of the foot, the ball, where the joints of the big toe and the little toe stick out.

How to measure your foot length

1. Wear the socks you will wear with the shoes, or go barefoot for sandals.
2. Tape a sheet of paper to a hard floor, one edge touching a wall.
3. Stand on it, heel against the wall, weight on the foot. Standing matters: a foot spreads under your weight.
4. Mark the tip of your longest toe, with the pen held straight up. The longest toe is not always the big toe.
5. Measure from the wall to the mark, in millimeters if you can.
6. Repeat with the other foot and use the longer one. Your two feet can differ.

These are the steps of Ruban Size's shoe templates: "Stand on a sheet of paper, heel against a wall. Mark the tip of your longest toe. Measure from the wall to the mark. Use your longer foot."

How to measure your foot width

1. Stay standing on the paper, weight on the foot.
2. Mark both sides of the widest part, at the ball of the foot, the pen straight up.
3. Measure straight across between the two marks.
4. Do both feet and keep the wider one.

A few millimeters matter here. On the Brannock scale, one width letter is 3/16 in, about 4.8 mm.

Common mistakes

• Sitting down. The foot is shorter and narrower without your weight on it.
• A slanted pen, which marks outside the foot and adds length.
• Tracing the outline and measuring the drawing: the pen line adds its own width on each side.
• Measuring one foot only.
• Comparing foot length with insole length. An insole is longer than the foot it fits, by design.
• Taking a size from another brand as a measurement. Brands build on their own lasts, and the same size can be half a size apart from one to the next.

From foot length to shoe sizes

Shoe sizes are steps of length. UK and US sizes move by a barleycorn, a third of an inch (8.5 mm) per size; EU sizes by two thirds of a centimeter (6.7 mm). The table uses the formulas of Ruban Size's engine, rounded to half sizes. It is approximate: a brand's own chart wins.

Or type your own length:

The converter also has its own page, the shoe size converter, and the full table, kids included, is in the shoe size conversion chart.

How much room a shoe leaves

A shoe is longer inside than the foot it fits. Ruban Size's engine counts 10 to 20 mm between the foot and the shoe's inner length, from snug to loose, in line with the last allowance of ISO/TS 19407 (13 to 25 mm) and the two barleycorns (16.9 mm) of the Brannock device. That is why a chart of insole lengths can't be read like a chart of foot lengths. For children, the Kids' shoes template adds a note of its own: "Children's feet grow fast: leave about 1 cm of room at the toe."

What it means for a Shopify store

Publish the foot length, not only the sizes, and say whether it is the foot or the insole. If a model runs wide or narrow, say it in the fit note. If you sell widths, add a width row, so shoppers can check before they choose.

How Ruban Size handles feet

The three shoe templates, Shoes, Women's shoes and Kids' shoes, list the foot length of each size next to its US, UK and EU sizes. Their How to measure block sits beside a foot figure, and the last step is linked to the foot length: pointing at it or tapping it lights up the length line on the figure and the foot length column of the table.

Find my size for shoes asks for the foot length, reads half sizes however the chart writes them (7.5, 7½ or 7 1/2), and gives the usual equivalents under the answer. A 26 cm foot gets "Usual equivalents (approximate): EU 41 · UK 7.5 · US M 8.5 · US W 9.5 · JP 26". When the chart lists insole lengths, it adds 10, 15 or 20 mm of toe room for "Fit I like: Snug, Regular, Loose" before comparing.

Width works when the chart has a foot width row. A foot within half a centimeter of the chart's width for the chosen size is regular; narrower is narrow, wider is wide. A wide foot reads "Your foot width: wide." and "Wide feet: if this model comes in widths, choose wide; if not, half a size up may feel better." The half centimeter is about one Brannock width letter. The Women's shoes template carries the same advice in its fit note: "Wide feet: take half a size up."

Questions

How much room should there be at the toe of a shoe?

Ruban Size's engine counts 10 to 20 mm between the foot and the inside of the shoe, from snug to loose, and ISO/TS 19407 gives a last allowance of 13 to 25 mm. For children, the Kids' shoes template suggests about 1 cm of room at the toe.

How do I know if my feet are wide?

Measure the width at the ball of the foot and compare it with the brand's width for your length. One Brannock width letter is 3/16 in (4.8 mm); Find my size calls a foot wide when it is more than half a centimeter wider than the chart's width for the size.

Which foot should I measure?

Both, standing. Use the longer foot for the size and the wider foot for the width.

Is my shoe size the same in every brand?

No. Brands build their shoes on their own lasts, so the same foot length can land half a size apart from one brand to another. Measure your foot, then read each brand's chart.