Bespoke Shoes Made to Your Foot Size: Any Size, Two Different Feet

Bespoke shoes made to your foot size are built on a last shaped to the measurements of each foot, so the size number and the shop range stop mattering. Sergey Grechushkin’s bespoke shoe workshop near Taganskaya metro in Moscow makes men’s and women’s shoes for feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm in any width, and for feet of different sizes on two lasts. Find the size of each foot in the chart and give both when you book.

Which sizes are made: feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm, any width

The workshop makes men’s and women’s shoes for feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm, or 8.3 to 13.3 in. In the chart that is UK 2 to UK 17, EU 33½ to 52½, and Russian sizes 33 to 52. Both ends of the range are open to women and men alike: a small men’s pair or a large women’s pair is built the same way as the most common size.

The size number in the chart is only a starting point for the conversation. The last is built to foot length in millimetres, so a 24.5 cm foot, which in a shop falls between two half sizes, gets its own length with no rounding. A half size in UK and US sizes is about 4.2 mm, in EU sizes about 3.3 mm; a last made to measure has no step at all.

Children’s shoes are made as well, mostly for teenagers, by the same rules as for adults.

Hard-to-find shoe sizes made to order

A custom size is most often needed when the foot falls outside the shop range. Women’s ready-made shoes usually run from about 22.3 to 26.3 cm of foot, US women’s 5½ to 10; men’s from about 25.0 to 29.7 cm, US men’s 7½ to 13. A woman with a 21.0 cm foot, a US women’s 4, ends up choosing among teenage styles; a man with a 32 cm foot among a handful of sports and work styles.

A small foot gets an adult last: the instep, ball and heel of a grown-up, only shorter. A teenage pair of the same number is usually lower over the instep and simpler in line. A large foot needs a last that keeps its proportions and does not turn a classic shoe into a boat. Large sizes here mean feet of about 29.0 to 32.3 cm for men, US men’s 12½ to 16, and 26.3 to 29.0 cm for women, US women’s 10 to 13½.

A size can be hard to find inside the shop range as well. The length is a UK 8 but the girth across the ball is that of a UK 9½; the heel is narrow and the forefoot wide; the instep is high at an average length. By the chart such a person has an ordinary size, yet no ready-made pair fits the whole foot.

Different size feet: shoes on two lasts

A small difference between left and right feet is almost universal. The Pedorthic Association of Canada notes that most people’s feet measure as two different sizes. A 2018 WGBH article puts the share of people whose feet differ by a full size or more at about 10%.

While the difference is within a half size, a ready-made pair is usually bought for the larger foot and checked on the smaller one. At about one size, pedorthists modify the second shoe, for example with a tongue pad. For more than two sizes, modifying is rarely practical, and people turn to buying two pairs, odd-shoe exchanges, which in the United States date back to 1943, or custom-made shoes.

In bespoke the difference is handled with two lasts, one for each foot. The left foot may be 24.3 cm, a UK 5½, and the right 25.0 cm, a UK 6½, and each shoe fits its own foot. There is no upper limit on the difference: the lasts are independent, and two or three sizes apart is built the same way as half a size. From the outside the pair looks matched: the toe, the lacing line and the heel height are the same.

Both lasts are kept at the workshop, and every later style is made straight away for the left and right foot.

Width: each foot’s girths measured separately

Width, or fitting, is the girth of the foot across the ball and over the instep for the same length. In a ready-made pair the width is set by the maker’s last: usually one, sometimes two or three to choose from. Wider choice of widths only became generally available in the 1920s.

People with the same foot length vary widely in width. An analysis of 1.2 million 3D foot scans found that among men with a 27 cm foot one width fits at most about 40%, and fitting 90% would take at least three widths per size. Instep height in the same group spreads over about 16 mm.

A last made to measure removes the question: the girths are transferred to it directly. For a first conversation it is enough to describe the width in words, narrow, average, wide or very wide; the exact girths are taken at the measuring visit.

Swelling and orthotic insoles

By evening many people’s feet gain volume, especially after a day on their feet and in hot weather. If your feet swell noticeably, mention it at the measuring visit: the measurements allow for the evening state, and adjustment can be built into the design, such as full-length lacing or several straps. Persistent swelling, pain or numbness in one foot is a reason to see a doctor first.

In a ready-made pair an orthotic insole replaces the standard one: the heel rises, the toes press against the top of the toe box and the counter stops holding the heel. For bespoke, bring the insole to the measuring visit and its volume is built into the last, with a removable inner insole for later changes.

Treatment and insoles are prescribed by a doctor; the shoemaker builds the pair to the doctor’s recommendations.

How feet are measured for bespoke shoes

Measurements are taken at the workshop on the first visit, and the consultation and first look at the foot are free. Both feet are measured separately: length, girths across the ball, over the instep and around the heel, and the outline of the sole. The shoemaker watches how the foot behaves under load and notes bunions, calluses and high points.

Useful things to bring:

• old shoes, including ones that were comfortable: the wear shows where the foot rolls;
• orthotic insoles, if you wear them;
• a doctor’s recommendations, if you have them;
• socks of the thickness you plan to wear with the new pair.

Ready-made vs bespoke shoes for your foot size

The biggest gap is in width and in different-size feet, which a shop can only solve with a longer or wider pair and a pad or thick sock to take up the space.

Bespoke shoe lead time and fittings

The order runs the same way for any size and any difference between feet:

• measuring at the workshop at Shelaputinsky per. 6s3, near Taganskaya metro;
• the last, about 6 weeks; for different feet, two are built at once;
• one to three fittings in a trial pair to refine the fit;
• the first pair is ready about 10 weeks after measuring.

The lasts stay at the workshop. Later pairs can be ordered without coming in, except for a fitting of the trial pair for a new style. A repeat pair on a saved last takes from 4 weeks. Visits are by appointment only, 10:00 to 20:00, and there are no home visits.

How much do bespoke shoes cost

Prices at Sergey Grechushkin’s workshop in Moscow, near Taganskaya metro:

• a men’s or women’s pair on a bespoke last, from 100,000 roubles;
• boots, over-the-knee boots and winter boots, from 100,000 roubles;
• a pair for bunions, flat feet or orthotic insoles, from 100,000 roubles;
• a repeat pair on a saved last, from 100,000 roubles, from 4 weeks;
• consultation and first look at the foot, free.

Size, a difference between feet and width do not change the price on their own: the last is built to measurements in every case. The final price is set after measuring and the choice of style and leather.

How to send your foot sizes

Find the row for each foot by its length in the chart at the top of the page and note both sizes, for example “left UK 5½, right UK 6½” or simply the two lengths in centimetres or inches. Send them in any of three ways:

• WhatsApp: write the sizes of both feet in a message;
• Telegram: the same in a chat;
• phone +7 985 836-00-52: give the sizes on the call.

The sizes from the chart help to understand the task and book the measuring visit. The measurements for the last are taken at the workshop anyway, so millimetre accuracy is not needed at this step. If you do not know your size at all, measure your foot and use the shoe size chart in cm and inches.