Shoe size conversion chart from foot length

Measure your foot from the heel to the tip of the longest toe, then read across. The sizes come from the conversion code inside Ruban Size, which turns a foot length into the five usual scales and rounds each to the nearest half size.

They are approximate by nature. Shoe sizes describe the shoe, not the foot, and every brand builds its shoes on its own lasts. Use the chart to get close, then check the brand's chart.

Shoe size chart by foot length

How to read it

1. Stand on a sheet of paper, heel against a wall, and mark the tip of your longest toe. Measure from the wall to the mark. Do both feet and use the longer one. The full method, width included, is in how to measure your foot length and width.
2. Find your length in the first or second column. Between two rows, read the longer one: in Find my size, a shoe that is too short costs more than one a little long.
3. Read the scale you need. US men's and US women's are separate scales for the same foot.

Some half sizes seem to be missing. Half a centimeter of foot is about 0.6 of a UK or US size, so between 23.0 and 23.5 cm the UK size goes from 4 straight to 5. Nothing is skipped in the shoes themselves; the chart just steps by foot length.

Where the scales come from

UK and US sizes count barleycorns: a third of an inch (8.47 mm) per size, so a half size is 4.2 mm. The scales measure the last, the form the shoe is built on, and a last is longer than the foot. On the last, a UK adult size is 3 × length in inches − 25.

Ruban Size starts from the foot instead and adds the usual gap of two barleycorns (16.9 mm), the allowance of the Brannock device. That gives the formulas behind the chart:

• UK = 3 × foot length in inches − 23
• US men's = UK + 1
• US women's = UK + 2
• EU = 1.5 × foot length in cm + 2, so one EU size is two thirds of a centimeter (6.7 mm)
• JP = the foot length in centimeters

Each result is rounded to the nearest half size. The shoe size converter runs the same code on any length:

Why the chart is approximate

Lasts differ. ISO/TS 19407, the standard on shoe sizing, puts the allowance between foot and last at 13 to 25 mm. That 12 mm spread is about 1.4 UK sizes, so the same foot can honestly wear sizes more than a size apart in two brands.

Brands set the offsets their own way. The formulas put US women's one size above US men's. Some brand charts put them one and a half apart (US men's 7 next to US women's 8.5), and give a 25 cm foot an EU 40 and a UK 6, where the formulas say EU 39.5 and UK 6.5. Neither is wrong; they are two charts. Ruban Size's Shoes template follows the formulas, row by row.

Length is not width. A foot can be the right length and still too wide for a model. One width letter on the Brannock scale is 3/16 in (4.8 mm).

Models run small or large. A sneaker and a dress shoe from the same brand can fit differently, which is what a fit note is for.

How a store should present shoe sizes

1. Each scale on its own row or column, US men's, US women's, UK, EU, marked as size systems, with a switch above the table. Shoppers read one scale at a time.
2. The first scale shown follows the country: US in the United States, UK in the United Kingdom and Ireland, EU elsewhere. Remember the shopper's choice.
3. A foot length line, with a cm/in switch. Say whether it is the foot or the insole: the two differ by the toe room.
4. Half sizes written one way across the chart and the product's variants.
5. A width line if you sell widths, and a fit note ("runs large", "true to size") if a model needs one.

How Ruban Size does it

The Shoes template lists US men's 7.5 to 12.5 with US women's, UK and EU, and the foot length in centimeters; each row gives the conversions of its foot length (US men's 7.5, US women's 8.5, UK 6.5 and EU 39.5 at 25 cm). The Women's shoes template runs US 5 to 10 with UK and EU (US 8.5, UK 6.5 and EU 40 at 25 cm). Each scale is a size system: shoppers switch, the country picks the first one, and the cm/in switch converts the foot length.

Find my size for shoes asks for the foot length, and the foot width when the chart has a width line.

• Half sizes work as written: 7.5, 7½ and 7 1/2 all match the same row and the same variant.
• If the chart lists insole lengths, the toe room is kept: the engine adds 1.5 cm for a regular fit (1 cm snug, 2 cm loose).
• With a width line, shoppers read whether their foot is narrow, regular or wide for the size; within half a centimeter of the chart's width counts as regular.
• The answer ends with the other scales, under "Usual equivalents (approximate)". For a 26.5 cm foot: EU 42 · UK 8.5 · US M 9.5 · US W 10.5 · JP 26.5.

The fit scale shows on the guide too. The Shoes template is set one step toward large, which shoppers read as "Runs slightly large", and Find my size moves its answer to match.

Questions

How do I find my shoe size from my foot length?

Measure from the heel to the longest toe, standing, and read the nearest row of the chart; between two rows, take the longer. A 26.5 cm foot is about EU 42, UK 8.5 and US men's 9.5.

What is the difference between US men's and women's shoe sizes?

For the same foot, the US women's number is higher. It is one size higher in the formulas Ruban Size uses, and in its Shoes template, and one and a half in some brand charts.

How much is a half shoe size?

In UK and US sizes, half a barleycorn: a sixth of an inch, or 4.2 mm of length. A full EU size is 6.7 mm.

What is a Japanese shoe size?

The foot length in centimeters, in half centimeter steps. A 26.5 cm foot is a JP 26.5.