Shoe Size Converter

How the Shoe Size Converter works

Shoe size converter: one foot length, many scales

Shoe sizes are three separate scales that happen to overlap. The UK and US systems both count in thirds of an inch, called barleycorns, from different starting points; the European system counts in two-thirds of a centimetre, the Paris point, from zero. None of them measures the foot directly, and every manufacturer decides for itself how much room to leave inside a given size, so a chart can only give the conventional correspondence.

Men's and women's US sizes are not the same scale. A US men's 8 and a US women's 8 are different shoes; the women's scale runs about a size and a half larger for the same foot, so a men's 8 is a women's 9.5. UK sizes do not split this way, which is why a UK 6 is a US men's 7 and a US women's 8. The chart handles this by keeping the ranges separate: pick the one on the box, not the one for the wearer.

European sizes. EU sizes are unisex and run from about 35 to 50 for adults. Because a Paris point is two-thirds of a centimetre and a barleycorn is a third of an inch, the two scales drift against each other, and a half step in US or UK is sometimes a whole EU size and sometimes a half. That drift is why different charts disagree by half a size around US men's 10 and 11, and why the chart here shows 44.5 where a shop may print 44 or 45. Italian and French sizes are the EU scale.

Foot length is the only real number. Stand on a sheet of paper with your heel against a wall, mark the tip of the longest toe, and measure in centimetres. Do it in the afternoon, when feet are largest, and measure both; use the longer. The centimetre column in the chart is the foot the size is nominally made for, typically about a centimetre less than the shoe's internal length. Japanese sizes are simply this foot length in centimetres, and most sports brands print it on the box, which makes it the most reliable way to convert between brands.

Children's sizes. US children's sizes run from 0C to 13C, then restart at 1Y for youth, so a plain "4" is either a toddler 4C or a youth 4Y and the two are five centimetres apart. Type 4C or 4Y to pick one; a bare 4 shows both. UK children's sizes run continuously from 0 to 13 and then into the adult scale at 1, and EU children's sizes are simply the low end of the same scale as adults.

Why the caveat matters. Two shoes in the same nominal size from two brands can differ by a full size in internal length, and by more in width. Running shoes are usually cut a half size long, boots and dress shoes are cut narrow, and some brands size their women's range to a different foot than their men's. Sizes for the same brand in different countries are also not always converted consistently. The chart tells you which box to look for; only the brand's own foot length figure or trying the shoe on tells you whether it fits.

US shoe size conversion

Men's and women's sizes from US.

Men's and women's US shoe sizes against UK, EU and foot length

Shoe size conversion worked examples

The formula: for men's shoes UK size = US size − 1, and the EU size and foot length come from the conversion chart; match your measured foot length in centimetres to the nearest row.

First example. A men's US 9 is a UK 8 and an EU 43, for a foot about 26.6 cm long.

Second example. A foot measuring 27.4 cm matches men's US 10, UK 9, EU 44.5.

How many centimetres is one full size? About 0.85 cm of foot length, so half sizes are roughly 4 mm apart.

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