Shoe Size Conversion

What a shoe number actually counts

Every sizing system points at one of two objects: your foot, or the last the shoe is moulded around. Systems built on the foot print the length you would measure at home and leave the toe room as space you cannot see. Systems built on the last print a number for the form, so the room is already inside the figure. Converting between the two is a translation, not arithmetic, which is the real reason charts from different sellers disagree by a size.

Men's sizes at a glance

The men's scale is the most looked-up. US is a clean UK plus one, and the EU number pulls away as sizes climb. The full women's and kids' charts, with their own offsets, are on the category pages above.

Europe and the Paris point

The European number counts the last in Paris points of two thirds of a centimetre, about 6.67 mm, a unit France fixed around 1800. Because the last is cut up to 1.5 cm longer than the foot and each maker adds a different amount, EU sizes read a little differently between brands. Italy and France print the same number on the box yet cut the last narrower in France, so buyers often size up in a French label to get the width back.

The rest of the world counts the foot

Outside Europe most systems name the foot directly. Japan and Korea label in centimetres and millimetres, and a Japanese box adds about a centimetre of toe room inside the shoe rather than into the number. China runs three scales at once, including a millimetre "world" number. The post-Soviet GOST size is the foot length in millimetres and is still stamped, as a number like 270, inside shoes sold across Eastern Europe. When a label is unfamiliar, the centimetre column is the common ground. The full story is in what is Mondopoint.

Width is the difference brands hide

Length is only half of fit. Width is a girth measurement around the ball of the foot, and it varies more between brands than length does. American lines use letters like D and 2E, German comfort brands run E to K, and the Japanese JIS scale steps girth by 6 mm from D to 4E. A wide fitting is a bigger girth, not a longer shoe, so sizing up for width leaves the shoe too long. See shoe width explained.

Frequently asked questions

What is the safest way to convert a shoe size?

Measure your bare foot in centimetres and read across from the CM column. Every system converts cleanly from foot length, while converting between two national numbers carries each one's rounding and last allowance.

Why do conversion charts disagree with each other?

Because some number the foot and some number the last, and the last runs up to 1.5 cm longer with a different allowance per brand. A few millimetres of disagreement between charts is the built-in gap between those two objects.

Is EU shoe sizing the same for men and women?

The European numbers look shared, but each audience maps them to different US and UK sizes through its own last, so an EU 40 is not one fixed US size. Use the men's or women's chart for the right side.

Tools: printable shoe size wall chart and foot measuring sheet.