How to Measure Your Foot Width

When buying shoes, it’s not only important to know your shoe size but also your foot width.

5-Minute Crafts would like to tell you about how to measure the width of your foot and choose suitable shoes based on your measurements.

1. Prepare for measuring

• Take your measurements at the end of the day, when your feet are slightly swollen and larger than usual.
• Wear the socks you’ll wear with your new shoes when you measure.
• Measure both of your feet and choose shoes while keeping the larger foot in mind.
• If you are doing the measurement by yourself, you will get more accurate results if you sit in a chair when measuring. On the contrary, if you have someone to help you take your foot measurement, standing is a better option.
• You may take measurements in inches or centimeters. To convert inches to centimeters, multiply inches by 2.54.
• Get a sheet of paper, a ruler, and a pencil.

2. Measure your foot width

1. Sit on a chair, place your foot on the sheet of paper, and press it tightly.
2. Trace around your foot with a pencil.
3. Use a ruler, to draw straight lines along the sides of your resulting drawing.
4. Measure the wide part of your tracing with a ruler to determine your foot width.

3. Get familiar with the sizing system

There is no generally accepted sizing system based on the width of the foot. Each brand has its own parameters and designations, which are difficult to bring to a single standard. Therefore, the only way to find out which size is right for you is to check with the data of the shoe manufacturer.

Nowadays, many brands include foot widths in their measurements, but they do it in different ways. It could be done in millimeters or marked with letters or a combination of letters. For example, you can find the designations from A to E, which are common in North America:

• For women’s shoes: A, B, and C, where A is narrow, B is medium, and C is wide.
• For men’s shoes: C, D, and E, where C is narrow, D is medium, and E is wide.

You can also come across the codes from C to H which are common in the UK:

• For women’s shoes: from C to E where C is narrow, D is standard, and E is wide.
• For men’s shoes: from E to H where E is narrow, F is standard, G is wide, and H is extra wide.

And finally, there may be general designations where:

• N is narrow
• M is medium
• R is regular
• W is wide.

What do you pay attention to when choosing shoes?