How to Measure Your Foot for Shoe Size
A shoe size is only as good as the measurement behind it. This takes about two minutes and needs only a piece of paper, a pencil, and a ruler or tape measure.
- Tape paper to a hard floor. Carpet compresses under your heel and skews the measurement, so use a hard, flat surface, and tape the paper down so it can't slide while you stand on it.
- Wear what you'll wear in the shoe. If you plan to wear the shoes with thick socks, measure with those socks on — sock thickness can shift a measurement by a few millimetres, enough to change your size.
- Stand naturally, weight balanced. Stand on the paper with your full weight evenly balanced on the foot being measured, the way you'd stand normally — not on your toes. Feet flatten and spread slightly under load-bearing weight, so measuring while standing gives a truer size than measuring a foot held in the air.
- Mark heel and longest toe. Have someone else mark the very back of your heel and the tip of your longest toe on the paper — it isn't always the big toe. A pen held straight down keeps the marks accurate.
- Measure the distance between the marks. Use a ruler or tape measure to record the straight-line distance between the two marks. That's your foot length.
- Repeat for both feet, use the longer one. Most people have one foot slightly longer than the other — sizing to the longer foot avoids a cramped fit.
Bonus tip: measure later in the day. Feet swell slightly over the course of a day, especially after standing or exercise. Measuring in the afternoon or evening gives a more realistic everyday size than a first-thing-in-the-morning measurement.
Measuring foot width
Length is only half the picture. To measure width, run the tape around the widest part of your forefoot, across the ball of the foot. Some brands publish real width fittings against that measurement — New Balance publishes a full numeric width chart, and ASICS, Skechers, Vans, Converse, Sperry, Danner and Clarks all offer named width options.
Now find your size
Enter your measurement in the calculator to see your size across 35 brands at once, or read it directly from a brand's own chart.