# Shoe Sizes in UK **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2000, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400 "2000-10-26T12:14:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/1 "2000-10-26T12:14:38Z")
I notice on the inside of the tongues of my running shoes the size of the shoe in USA, UK, and Europe. Of course Europe uses mm., but both we and the UK use inches; however, UK sizes are always one inch smaller. Why? ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/2 "2000-10-26T12:32:03Z")
IIRC, the US convert from Childrens sizes to Adult sizes a size earlier than UK charts. The UK childs sizes go up to 15, while the us sizes stop at the equivalent of 14. ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/3 "2000-10-26T12:32:35Z")
I wasn’t aware that UK shoe sizes were based on inches. I believe the Americans use inches and we use some weird, _sui generis_, arbitrary system, devised buy some deranged medieval cobbler. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/4 "2000-10-26T12:37:08Z")
The european sizes are not cm (I assume you ment cm rather than mm) either. I just measured my feet and they are NOT 43 cm long - that would be about 17 inches!!! ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/5 "2000-10-26T15:39:36Z")
I’m a size 6 1/2 American and size 4 UK, so if both systems really are based on inches (doubtful) the difference is much greater than one inch. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/6 "2000-10-26T15:50:20Z")
From a little travel program in my Visor: US:\_\_4\_\_\_4.5\_\_\_5\_\_\_5.5\_\_\_6.5\_\_\_7.5\_\_\_8\_\_\_9\_\_\_9.5\_\_\_10 UK:\_\_3.5\_4.5\_\_\_5\_\_\_5.5\_\_\_6\_\_\_\_\_7\_\_\_\_\_8\_\_\_9\_\_\_9.5\_\_\_10 EU:\_\_36\_\_37\_\_\_\_38\_\_39\_\_\_\_40\_\_\_\_41\_\_\_\_42\_\_43\_\_44\_\_\_\_45 It makes absolutely NO SENSE whatsoever. Well, as always, the European ones seem to make sense 😉 ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/7 "2000-10-26T17:07:02Z")
Well, my size 11 (USA) is a size 10 in the UK. Go figure. Does anyone have an explanation? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/8 "2000-10-26T17:16:03Z")
Twistoff, I didn’t mean to ignore your answer, which makes sense and would solve the inch difference, but Coldfire put cold water on that. Well, he got off something in his visor, and hat makers are not shoe makers. What do they know? I guess I’ll have to accept your answer until something better comes along. Still, the cm in Europe doesn’t correspond to inches. Another problem. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/9 "2000-10-26T17:34:04Z")
The US sizing system is only very loosely based on inches. Payless ShoeSource has a [chart](http://www.payless.com/corporate/customer_service/custsvc_faq_knowyoursize.html) with which you can determine your own shoe size, based on foot length. Looking at it, one sees that an increase in foot length of one inch corresponds to a three-size change - this is true for both men’s and women’s sizes[sup]\*[/sup]. Each [sup]1[/sup]/[sub]2[/sub] size, the smallest increment generally used, corresponds to [sup]1[/sup]/[sub]6[/sub] inch length change. They round those numbers to the nearest sixteenth of an inch, so none of the differences actually show up to be a sixth, but if you study the whole pattern you can see what I mean. The numbers themselves are arbitrary. Extrapolating, a women’s size 0 would be a 7-inch foot, and anything shorter than that would be a negative size. [sup]\*[/sup]Actually, the men’s sizes on their chart seem to start deviating from this in the very small sizes. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2000, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoe-sizes-in-uk/38400/10 "2000-10-26T17:43:34Z")
From my little **Collin’s Gem Ready Reference** guide: _Men’s shoes_ ```auto UK USA Europe 6.5 7 39 7 7.5 40 7.5 8 41 8 8.5 42 8.5 9 43 9 9.5 43 9.5 10 44 10 10.5 44 10.5 11 45 ``` _Women’s shoes_ ```auto UK USA Europe 3.5 5 36 4.5 6 37 5.5 7 38 6.5 8 39 7.5 9 40 ``` I also have figures for children’s shoes, and male, female and children’s clothes, but I’m not posting them all unless you really want them.