I know that in the past my shoes were nasty.
I wasn’t kidding when I said they hurt, well, like a witch.
But you’ll find that nowadays, I’ve mended all my ways,
Repented, seen the light, and made a switch.

It’s time for part two of our series, and this post will address measuring and fitting. Some may find this an odd place to start — surely arch supports are more important, right? Sure, proper support of the underside of the foot is important, but the dirty secret that shoe people are loath to divulge is that putting an orthotic in a $30 shoe that fits correctly will result in a happier customer than a $300 high-end shoe that doesn’t fit. So before we can fit the nooks and crannies of the bottom of one’s feet, we have to address the other five surfaces.

Let’s start with the Brannock.

It’s a marvel of simplicity and engineering. With one device, one can measure the foot length, the arch length, and the width of both feet.  If a shoe store doesn’t have one on the sales floor, either recognize that you will have to do all the work of fitting yourself or walk out completely. Using it is simple: place the heel in the corresponding cup and have the measure stand. Slide the arch cup until it is secure around the hallux, or big toe joint. Slide the width bar until it is touching the outside of the foot. Here’s an example:

Aside from the fact that I need a pedicure, you can see that my right foot ends right at the nine line. The arch length is also measuring a nine, and for the width, look at where the nine on the slider meets the base — a touch outside a B.

Now, you always always always check both feet.

And look! While these feet are close, the left is slightly smaller. You always size the shoe to the bigger foot, as it is far easier to take up extra space in a shoe than make more. Here, I’d bring out US 9.

An important thing to note here: the difference between American men’s and American women’s shoes is about one size. See?

The average men’s width is a D, while the average women’s is a B. So ladies, if the style you’re looking for is unisex, the easiest way to get a wider shoe is to go to the men’s section.

A quick note here on European sizes: as a general rule of thumb, a woman gets her Euro size by adding 31, and a man by 34. However, American sizes have a gap of 1/3″, while Euro sizes go up by 2/3 cm, so one will likely need to experiment to find the right size.

Okay, those are nice, normal feet. What about problem feet? Lucky for you, I married a pair. Behold, starting with the left foot:

The toe length is a 10! The arch is a 12! The poor width slider is out almost as far as it can go, but it says 6E for a 10 and 4E for a 12 to accommodate the pinky hammer toe. And what about the right foot?

Over here we have an 11 toe, a 14 arch, and another super wide foot with another hammer pinky toe sticking out the side. What to do?

The best procedure is to fit the longer of the arch or toe, then the width, and then adjust as needed. We’re limited here by the fact that 6E is the widest commercially available shoe, and New Balance is one of the very few manufacturers who even makes that size. The resulting compromise between what would be perfect and what doesn’t involve finding a bespoke cobbler is a 13 6E. That gets the arch a little in front of where it needs to be on the left and a little behind to where it needs to be on the right, with the smallest amount of unused toe room in the front.

Okay, so that’s measuring. Now, I hate to have to say this, but whatever numbers you came up with in measuring your feet, they are nothing but a guide.  Shoe size is a number on a box, nothing more. Buy what fits!

But what does a good fit look like?  Let’s start in two dimensions and with a sandal so we can see the whole foot:

This is what the perfect fit looks like. The foot is completely circled within the perimeter. The ball of foot, that hallux joint, is at the widest part of the shoe. The toes are able to lay flat with no scrunching or pinching. (Pictured: a 10-year-old Finn Comfort Sansibar.)

Now let’s see some common problems, starting with shoes that are too short:

The hallux is in the right spot, but as you can see, the heel is over the edge in the back. I should have bought these half a size or so up. If these weren’t sandals, I’d likely have blisters. (Pictured: Abeo Barbara)

Next up, shoes that are too long.

This is with my heel in the heel cup. As you can see, my hallux is actually behind the strap that’s supposed to help hold it in place, and the toe thong is in front of the gap between my first and second toe. If I move my foot to fit the arch …

… I now have a gap in the back. What can I say? They were free. (Pictured: Mephisto Helen)

So that’s fitting front and back; what about side to side. Now, no one in my house has a problem with shoes that are too wide, so I can’t really give you any pictures. That being said, a lot of people assume that sliding on the heel is proof of too wide of a shoe. I won’t say that can never happen, (I’ve seen a lot of weird feet over the years) but most heel slipping can be resolved by changing the way you lace your shoes. I’ll let this video explain the procedure. The other aspect with regard to heel slippage is that shoes should hold on to your foot like a handshake: firm but not crushing in the middle, with the toes able to wiggle. When that’s the fit, the heel doesn’t have to work at all to keep the shoe on. You can do the hokey pokey without losing your shoe, even if there’s a little movement.

Too narrow, on the other hand … that’s a very common problem.  The easiest check is to put the opposite foot shoe against your foot, like so:

If your toes or the side of your foot hangs over the edge (like these do), it’s too narrow. (Pictured: a discontinued Umberto Raffini Signature I was given for free and use for job interviews.)

Now ladies, let’s talk high heels. You’re going to wear them whatever I say, so let’s focus on getting the right size. As you can see from the previous pictures, getting the ball of the foot in the right spot is very important in proper fitting. The shoe needs to hold your foot in that spot, and the best way to do that is with something, whether a mary jane or t-strap, that goes over the metatarsal bones. A properly fitting heel:

(Pictured: discontinued Umberto Raffini)

Many heels will put the widest part of the shoe too far back for me, perhaps assuming that their buyers will have short arches and long toes. This is an example of such a bad fit:

Notice that my foot slides so far forward that you can see daylight through my arch. (Pictured: Katy Perry Rita)

So now that you know what a good fit looks like, next time I’ll move on to specific shoes and types for specific foot problems.

You can find part 1 of this series here.