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How to Measure Your Shoe Size at Home

7 min read  ·  Sizing guides

Most adults have not had their feet properly measured since they were teenagers. We just know we're "a 10" and go from there — which works fine until you order from a brand you've never worn before, or shop from a European site where US 10 means nothing. If you've ever had a pair arrive and quietly suspected they were half a size off, there's a reasonable chance your self-reported size is the problem.

Measuring your own feet takes about five minutes, costs nothing and gives you a number you can actually trust. Here's how to do it properly.

What You'll Need

You don't need anything specialised. Grab a piece of A4 or letter paper, a pencil, a ruler or tape measure, and a hard floor (carpet compresses under your foot and throws the measurement off slightly). That's it.

The Tracing Method: Step by Step

This is the same basic technique used in shoe shops before the Brannock device became standard. It's accurate to within a millimetre when done correctly.

  1. Do it at the end of the day. Your feet swell slightly over the course of the day — by as much as half a size in some people. Measuring in the morning can give you a result that's fractionally too small. If your shoes ever feel tight by evening, this is why.
  2. Wear the socks you'd normally wear with the type of shoe you're buying. Thin dress socks and thick athletic socks add different amounts of volume. If you're buying running shoes, put on your running socks first.
  3. Stand on the paper with your full weight on that foot. Sitting or lifting your heel changes the shape of your foot. You want your body weight distributed naturally across the entire sole.
  4. Hold the pencil vertically — not at an angle. Tilting the pencil inward means you're tracing inside the actual footprint. Keep it straight up and trace all the way around, including the sides of your heel and the widest part of your forefoot.
  5. Measure from heel to toe. Use your ruler to find the longest distance from the back of the heel mark to the tip of your longest toe — which is not always the big toe. For many people it's the second toe.
  6. Do both feet. Most people have one foot slightly larger than the other. Fit the larger one. Going by the smaller foot means the shoe will be too tight on the other side.

Reading Your Measurement

Your measurement will be in centimetres (or inches if you prefer, though most size charts use CM). This foot-length figure is the most useful number you can have when buying shoes, because it maps directly to every international sizing system.

Here's a quick reference for common foot lengths and their equivalent sizes:

Korean sizing is simply your foot length in millimetres. A 28cm foot is KR 280. This makes Korean sizing the most logical system of the lot — what you measure is what you see on the label.

Why Your Self-Reported Size Might Be Wrong

There are a few common ways people end up carrying the wrong size in their heads.

You were last measured as a teenager and assumed your feet stopped growing. Adult feet do not grow in length the way children's feet do, but they do spread and flatten slightly with age. The arch lowers, the forefoot widens, and what used to be a comfortable fit in your twenties can feel a bit narrow by your forties.

You buy the same size regardless of brand, because it usually works. This is mostly fine, but some brands are intentionally sized differently. A Nike 10 and a New Balance 10 will feel different not because your foot changed but because the lasts (the foot-shaped forms shoes are built around) are different shapes. New Balance typically fits slightly wider; Nike tends to be narrower in the toe box.

You've been wearing shoes that are slightly too small and assumed that's normal. A properly fitting shoe should have about a thumb's width (roughly 1cm) of space between your longest toe and the end of the shoe. If you've been buying shoes with no breathing room, you've been buying them too small.

How to Use Your Foot Length When Shopping Online

Once you know your foot length in centimetres, you have a brand-neutral starting point. Before buying from any unfamiliar brand, look up their size chart — most brands publish one on their website — and match your CM measurement to their chart rather than assuming your US or EU size transfers directly.

Brands like Adidas and Vans have known sizing quirks (Adidas tends to run small; Vans tends to run large) that mean your standard size won't always land correctly. Going by foot length bypasses those quirks entirely, because CM is CM regardless of what brand is on the tongue.

Enter your foot length in centimetres into the foot length calculator on our converter and get your recommended size across US, UK, EU, CM and Korean sizing instantly.

Use the foot length calculator →

Half Sizes and What to Do When You Land Between Sizes

If your foot length puts you between two sizes — say, 27.5cm, which sits between EU 43 and EU 44 — the general rule is to size up, not down. Shoes can be laced tighter or padded with insoles. A shoe that's too small will just cause problems.

The exception is shoes with a wide toe box, like Vans or many New Balance models, where the extra length in the next size up can make the shoe feel sloppy. In those cases, staying with the smaller size and adding a thin insole often works better.

Measuring Children's Feet

The same tracing method works for kids, but there are a couple of extra considerations. Children's feet grow fast — checking every two to three months is not unreasonable for toddlers. Kids also tend to scrunch their toes when you trace them, so distract them first or have someone else do the tracing while they're standing still.

Leave more growing room for children than you would for adults. A full centimetre of space at the toe (rather than a thumb's width) is appropriate for growing feet. If the shoe fits perfectly with no room at all, it's already too small.

Disclaimer: Shoe sizing varies between brands and individual styles. The conversions above are a guide — always check the specific brand's size chart before purchasing.