What the Numbers Inside Your Shoe Mean

A plain number like 270 or 285

The most confusing mark is a bare three-digit number with no letters: 250, 270, 285. It is a foot length in millimetres. Eastern Europe stamps it under GOST 11373-88, where the size is the foot the shoe is built for, and the same figure is the Mondopoint length. A 270 is made for a 270 mm foot, which in our catalog is a men's EU 42 and US 9. The shoe is longer inside, because it carries the toe room the number leaves out, so a 270 is your foot, not the space in the shoe. Where the number sits beside an EU or US size, it is the metric cross-check the maker printed for the same shoe.

MP or Mondo before the number

When the number carries a prefix, MP263 or Mondo263, it is a Mondopoint marking under ISO 9407. The rule is exact: MP in capitals, or the word Mondo, then the foot length in millimetres, and if a second number follows after a slash or in brackets, MP263/94, that is the foot width. So MP263 is a 263 mm foot and MP263/94 adds a 94 mm width. Ski boots use it most, since a hard shell has to match the foot with no spare room, but sports brands print it too. The number is the foot, the same as a bare metric stamp, and the Mondopoint guide covers the system.

Two numbers with a slash, like 260/94

Two numbers split by a slash are a length and a width, both in millimetres, and which standard depends on where the shoe was made. China's world number, required on mainland boxes, writes the foot length over the foot width, so 260/94 is a 260 mm foot at 94 mm across. Mondopoint writes the same pair the same way. A Chinese shoe may also carry an old domestic number with no centimetres, a small figure like 40; the new metric size is that number plus ten, halved, so 40 becomes 25 cm, a 250 mm foot, a men's EU 39 in our catalog.

A centimetre number on a Japanese or Korean shoe

A number like 25.5 or 26.0 on an Asian shoe is a foot length, and the two countries write it in different units. Japan uses centimetres, and the label is the foot the shoe is cut for, with about a centimetre of toe room, the sutesun, built into the shoe rather than the number, so a Japanese 25.5 measures near 26.5 inside. Korea uses millimetres in 5 mm steps, 250, 255, 260, the Mondopoint idea on the shelf. Both name the foot, so a Japanese 25 is not a European 25: the first is a foot in centimetres, the second a last number, as the systems guide explains.

A letter after the size, like D, EE or F

A letter is a width, and the alphabet depends on the country. American shoes grade width from narrow to wide as B, D, E, EE (2E), EEE (3E) and 4E, each step a little more girth around the ball of the foot, so a 9 EEE is a US 9 in a wide fitting. Japan uses the same idea with its own letters up to G. Germany stamps a single letter near the size, F, G, H or J, from slim to wide, on brands such as Ara, Gabor, Lloyd and Waldlaeufer, and an unmarked shoe is the maker's standard width. A letter never changes the length; it changes the room across the foot, which the width guide covers in full.

A fraction, like 42 2/3 or 8 1/2

Fractions are two different habits. A European size with a third, 42 2/3, is the Paris point showing through: one EU size is two thirds of a centimetre, so the scale lands on thirds, and 42 2/3 sits one Paris point above 42. A half on a US or UK number, 8 1/2, is a half step, the finer gradation those scales use between whole sizes. Neither is a misprint; each is the scale showing its true step.

Two systems together, like UK 8 and EUR 42

Many shoes print two or three national sizes at once, UK 8 / EUR 42 / US 9, so a buyer in any market can read one. They are the same shoe described by different scales, and they do not agree size for size, because each counts a different thing, the last for EU and US and a letter run for UK. When they disagree by half a size, which they often do, trust the one for your market and the brand's own chart over the printed conversion.

Numbers that are not sizes at all

Not every mark inside a shoe is a size. Brands print a last number, the code for the mould the shoe was built on, often three or four digits like 202 or 4395, which sets the shape and fit but is not your size. Beside it can sit a model or article number, an order or batch code for the factory, and a material or colour reference. None of these convert to a size, and they change between a maker's own ranges. If a number has no unit, no width letter, and does not match the foot in millimetres or a national scale, it is the maker's own reference rather than a size to read.

A quick decode table

What you see inside the shoe, and the measurement behind it:

Turning an inside number into your size

The metric marks are the easy ones, because they name your foot. Measure your bare foot in millimetres, and a GOST, Mondopoint, Chinese or Korean number that matches is your size in that system. In our catalog a 250 mm foot is a men's EU 39 and US 7, and a 270 mm foot an EU 42 and US 9. For the letter and fraction marks, read them off the size you already know: the letter is your width, the fraction your half or third step. To reach another country's number, use the centimetre charts.

Frequently asked questions

What does 270 mean inside a shoe?

A foot length of 270 mm, the GOST and Mondopoint size, which is a men's EU 42 and US 9 in our catalog. It names the foot, so the shoe is a little longer inside.

What is MP263 on a shoe?

A Mondopoint marking under ISO 9407: a 263 mm foot length. If a second number follows, as MP263/94, it is the 94 mm foot width.

What is 260/94 on a Chinese shoe?

The foot length over the foot width in millimetres, China's required world number, so a 260 mm foot at 94 mm across.

What does a letter like EEE mean?

A width, not a length. EEE (3E) is an extra-wide US fitting, more girth around the ball of the foot than a standard D.

Is a Japanese 25 the same as a European 25?

No. A Japanese 25 is a 25 cm foot, with the toe room built into the shoe. A European 25 is a last number, so the two are different shoes.

Which number should I trust?

The metric one, since it is your foot, or the size for your own market checked against the brand's chart. A printed cross-conversion can be half a size out.