How to Measure Your Foot Size at Home
Your foot length in centimetres is the only sizing number that means the same thing everywhere. EU, UK, PK and USA sizes all shift depending on who made the shoe. A centimetre does not. Measure once, properly, and you can order from any label with confidence.
What you need
A sheet of paper larger than your foot, a wall, a pencil, and a ruler or measuring tape. Wear the socks you would normally wear with the shoes you are buying — thick socks can add three or four millimetres, which is most of a half size.
The method
STEP 1
Put the paper flat on hard floor with one short edge pressed against the wall. Carpet compresses and will cost you accuracy.
STEP 2
Stand on it with your heel against the wall, and put your full weight on that foot. This matters more than anything else here: your foot spreads under load, and a foot measured while sitting can read half a size shorter than the same foot measured standing.
STEP 3
Mark the paper at the tip of your longest toe. Not necessarily your big toe. Plenty of people have a second toe that is longer, and measuring to the wrong one is a common and expensive error. Hold the pencil upright rather than angled under the toe.
STEP 4
Measure from the wall edge of the paper to your mark, in centimetres. That is your foot length.
STEP 5
Repeat on the other foot. Most people have one foot slightly larger, sometimes by a half size. Buy for the bigger one; you can pad out the smaller side, but you cannot make a shoe longer.
Adding room
Your measured length is not your shoe length. You need space in front of the toes so they are not striking the end when you walk.
- Everyday shoes and sneakers — add about 0.5 cm
- Running shoes — add closer to 1 cm. Feet swell over distance, and a toe hitting the front on a downhill is how runners lose toenails
- Formal shoes — 0.5 cm is enough; dress shoes are meant to fit close
Take the total and convert it with our shoe size conversion chart and calculator, which handles EU, UK, PK, USA and centimetres, and keeps men's and women's scales separate — they differ, and mixing them up is a size and a half of error.
Four mistakes that cost a size
- Measuring sitting down. Costs up to half a size.
- Measuring in the morning. Feet swell through the day. Measure in the evening, when they are at their largest, because that is when a shoe has to fit.
- Measuring one foot only. They are rarely identical.
- Measuring barefoot when you will wear socks. Or the reverse.
Then check the brand
Foot length gets you to the right size in general. The last step is the label: makers disagree with one another, and a Nike EU 42 is marked UK 7.5 where an Adidas EU 42 is UK 8. Before ordering across brands, read which shoe brands run big or small.
If you fall between two sizes, that has its own answer — see what to do when you are between shoe sizes.