Shoe Sizing and the Shoes You Already Own

After standing, working on your feet on a concrete floor all day, how many of us feel like going for a long power walk, or going to the gym? We want nothing more than to go home and take off our shoes!

What does that tell you?

Chances are you are wearing the wrong size shoe. Chances are even better - particularly if you are a woman - that you are wearing the wrong "last" or shape of shoe for your foot. Is it any wonder that our feet hurt? We're addicted to style, to form over function. It should be that form follows function, but that isn't often the case when you look at footwear!

Do an experiment right now. Take off your shoe - either one. Stick your foot out in front of you. Look at the shape of your foot. Hold up the shoe you just took off. Look at the shape of the shoe. Do they match? Then pull the "footbed" out of the shoe. (If it doesn't come out, skip this part of the experiment.) Put it on the floor and step on it, with your heel in the same place it would be if the shoe were on your foot. Do you have about 3/8 of an inch of space in front of your longest toe? If you don’t, the shoe is too short.

Women wear shoes that are too short to prevent the heel from slipping. Heels slip because most shoes are made on a last (foundation) for a man’s foot. Yep. Next time you have a chance to see a man's foot outside of a shoe, notice that the heel is very close to the same width as the front of his foot. Women's feet aren’t usually made like that. Our heels tend to be much narrower than the front part of our foot.

So how can you buy shoes that fit? Find a store that actually measures your foot, electronically if possible. Find a store that carries shoes in multiple widths, in a variety of lasts. Find a store that is staffed by Certified Pedorthists, who actually understand the relationship between shoes and feet. Read our article Shoe Sizing for New Shoes for what is involved in determining whether a shoe is the right length and width for your foot when buying a new pair of shoes.

Once you start wearing shoes that really fit your foot, you'll never go back. Do yourself a big favor and take the information from these 2 articles to determine if you are in the right size and shape shoe.