How to know if my feet are wide – if you’re unsure whether you need shoes for wide feet or not, this blog is made for you.
Having previously shared the secrets of measuring your foot size correctly, now it’s time to discuss wide feet.
Interestingly, 80% of men wear the wrong size shoe, which can lead to several short and long-term issues, including:
Plantar fasciitis
Bunions
Corns/calluses
Fallen arches/flat feet
To avoid or cater to these issues, it’s important to uncover whether you have wide feet or not. Here’s everything you need to know.
Why do my shoes not fit?
One of the most common things people forget about is that a lot of shoes come in different widths – as well as sizes. Whether it’s due to a particular style of shoe or preference from the brand itself, you’ll find some shoes are a lot better for wide feet.
Think of shoe width like suit fits. You can have regular, tailored, skinny, slim and so on. It’s the same principle in the shoe industry. It’s just a matter of finding the right fit.
Not everyone will have identical foot shapes and sizes, in the same way people’s body shapes vary when picking a suit.
Shoes for wider feet will have a bigger sole and the toe box will be deeper than a standard fit.
Understanding different shoe width sizes
For men’s shoes, there’s a simple alphabet sizing system to use for foot width to coincide with your shoe size/length. To give you an idea of this, here’s a simple table:
How to measure my shoe width?
Wondering how to find out if your feet are wide or not? Luckily, measuring is quick and simple.
1. Remove your socks and wrap a tape measure around the widest part of your foot.
2. Place your foot on the ground as if you were standing up.
3. Mark the width of your foot in millimetres on the tape measure.
4. Use the measurement to identify what shoe width you need from our chart.
As a rule of thumb, the bigger your foot is, the wider it’ll be. Shoe width isn’t just the distance between the widest part of your shoe, it’s how deep it is as well.
Shoe size (length) and width often work proportionally in standard sizing, so you’ll usually find bigger shoes will be a bit wider. This is a bit of a problem if you have smaller feet but fall under the wide feet category.
The best shoes for wide feet
Generally speaking, most styles of shoes and trainers come in wider sizes. It’s more a case of finding the companies/brands that specialise in making them. For more details download our FREE wide feet guide here.
For athletic shoes, New Balance, Asics and Nike all cater for wider feet. While bigger high-street shoe shops like Clarks, Scholl’s and Sketchers cover the casual wide width shoe market for men.
At Percy Stride, we’re proud to say that our range of Oxford shoes falls under this pro-wide feet category too. Our shoes are naturally wider-fitting, so they won’t aggravate any existing foot problems or cause any moving forward.
(Above : Percy Stride Chestnut Oxford Shoes £250)
They’re comfortable, stylish and long-lasting. To find out more, get in touch with us today.
As well as choosing the right shoes for wide feet, using specialist insoles are worth considering too. While Timpsons remains a popular choice, we highly recommend CiONE Wellness for their special insole construction services.
They’ll book you in for an assessment and create specialist insoles designed to physically rejuvenate your wellbeing, posture and foot health.
For a more detailed look into wide feet and now to cater for them we have created a FREE guide providing you with information and services designed to help you source the best shoemakers and brands without compromising style.
For a quicker solution, a pair of Widegreen insoles are ideal for wide feet and are priced at just £35 on Superfeet.