MEN'S SNEAKER SIZES: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE
UK, EU AND US SIZING EXPLAINED, AND HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT FIT IN A HANDMADE ENGLISH SNEAKER
MEN'S SNEAKER SIZING IS NOT STANDARDISED INTERNATIONALLY. THE SAME FOOT WILL CARRY A DIFFERENT SIZE NUMBER IN THE UK, EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES, AND WITHIN EACH SYSTEM, SIGNIFICANT VARIATION EXISTS BETWEEN BRANDS AND MAKERS DEPENDING ON THE LAST USED. UNDERSTANDING HOW SIZING WORKS IS ESSENTIAL TO FINDING A SNEAKER THAT FITS CORRECTLY RATHER THAN MERELY FITS.
UK SIZING
UK SIZES ARE BASED ON THE BARLEYCORN MEASUREMENT, ONE THIRD OF AN INCH, APPROXIMATELY 8.5MM, WITH SIZE 0 CORRESPONDING TO A LAST LENGTH OF 4 INCHES. EACH SIZE INCREMENT ADDS ONE BARLEYCORN, AND HALF SIZES ADD HALF A BARLEYCORN. UK SIZING IS THE NATIVE SCALE OF ENGLISH SHOEMAKING AND THE SYSTEM USED BY 1812.
EU SIZING
EUROPEAN SIZES ARE BASED ON THE PARIS POINT, TWO THIRDS OF A CENTIMETRE, APPROXIMATELY 6.67MM, WITH THE SIZE NUMBER REPRESENTING THE INNER LENGTH OF THE LAST IN PARIS POINTS. BECAUSE THE EU INCREMENT IS SMALLER THAN THE UK INCREMENT, WHOLE EU SIZES FALL BETWEEN WHOLE UK SIZES AND EXACT CONVERSION IS APPROXIMATE. AS A GUIDE: UK 7 IS APPROXIMATELY EU 41. UK 8 IS APPROXIMATELY EU 42. UK 9 IS APPROXIMATELY EU 43. UK 10 IS APPROXIMATELY EU 44. UK 11 IS APPROXIMATELY EU 45.
US SIZING
US MEN'S SIZING RUNS APPROXIMATELY HALF A SIZE TO A FULL SIZE LARGER THAN UK FOR THE SAME FOOT LENGTH. A UK 7 IS APPROXIMATELY A US 7.5 TO 8. THE CONVERSION IS NOT PRECISE, BECAUSE THE SYSTEMS WERE DEVELOPED INDEPENDENTLY. WHEN BUYING FROM AN ENGLISH MAKER, WORK IN UK SIZING AND REFER TO THE MAKER'S OWN CONVERSION GUIDANCE.
WHY THE LAST MATTERS MORE THAN THE SIZE
SIZE NUMBERS DESCRIBE THE LENGTH OF THE LAST, NOT THE FIT OF THE SNEAKER. TWO SNEAKERS MARKED UK 9 ON DIFFERENT LASTS WILL FIT DIFFERENTLY. THE WIDTH, THE BALL CIRCUMFERENCE, THE INSTEP HEIGHT, THE TOE SPRING, NONE OF THESE ARE ENCODED IN THE SIZE NUMBER. THEY ARE DETERMINED BY THE LAST DESIGN.
THIS IS WHY KNOWING YOUR SIZE IN ONE BRAND DOES NOT RELIABLY PREDICT YOUR SIZE IN ANOTHER. THE SIZE NUMBER IS A STARTING POINT, NOT A GUARANTEE. WHEN BUYING A HANDMADE SNEAKER FROM A MAKER WITH A PROPRIETARY LAST, THE CORRECT APPROACH IS TO READ THE MAKER'S SIZING GUIDANCE SPECIFICALLY AND, WHERE POSSIBLE, TRY THE SNEAKER BEFORE PURCHASING.
1812 PROVIDES SPECIFIC SIZING GUIDANCE FOR EACH SILHOUETTE. IF IN DOUBT, CONTACT US DIRECTLY. THE FIT IS TOO IMPORTANT TO GUESS.
