Shoe Size Chart in cm and Inches: Foot Length to Shoe Size

A shoe size chart in cm and inches turns your foot length into a size: a 24.0 cm (9.4 in) foot is a US women’s 7½, a US men’s 6½, a UK 5½ and an EU 38, and a 27.0 cm (10.6 in) foot is a US men’s 10, a UK 9 and an EU 42½. Find your foot length, measured standing and in the evening, in the first column and read the size in the system you need.

How to use a shoe size chart in cm and inches

The first column of the chart is foot length in centimetres, in steps of a third of a centimetre, and the second is the same length in inches. The next columns give US men’s, US women’s, UK, EU and Russian sizes, plus Mondopoint in millimetres. Every row is calculated from the foot by the formula of each system, so one row describes one foot in all systems at once.

If your foot falls between two rows, take the next larger row. A 25.2 cm foot belongs to the 25.3 cm row: US men’s 8, US women’s 9, UK 7, EU 40. Rounding down is the risky choice, because the missing millimetres come out of the room in front of the toes and the pair becomes tight by evening.

The chart covers adult feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm, or 8.3 to 13.3 in. Brand charts can differ from it by up to half a size, so check the foot length the brand gives for its size; if it lists insole length instead, subtract the allowance first, as explained below.

How to measure foot length in cm or inches

The chart needs foot length: from the back of the heel to the tip of the longest toe. Measure standing, with your weight on both feet, in the evening and in the socks you will wear with the shoes. A morning measurement taken sitting down comes out shorter than the foot you walk on.

Stand on paper with your heel against a wall; a helper marks the tip of the longest toe with an upright pencil. The distance from the wall to the mark is your foot length. Measure both feet and use the larger.

To convert inches, multiply by 2.54: since 1959 one inch has been exactly 25.4 mm.

Foot length vs insole length

Foot length describes the foot; insole length describes the shoe. The insole follows the bottom of the last the upper is lasted over, and the last is always longer than the foot. The Russian last standard, GOST 3927-88, builds the last length from foot length plus a minimum functional allowance plus a decorative allowance for the toe shape.

The functional allowance is 10 mm for most last groups and 5 mm for summer, unlined shoes and moccasins. It is the room the toes need when the foot lengthens and slides forward in a step.

The decorative allowance depends on the toe: almost nothing for a short round toe, more than the functional allowance for a long pointed one. So insoles of the same size can differ by a centimetre.

In fit research the inside length of a shoe is measured with a gauge pushed into the toe box. A 2012 study took an inside length 10 to 15 mm longer than the foot as the guide for correct length. The table turns that guide into centimetres and inches for closed shoes.

If a shop gives the insole length for each size, subtract 1.0 to 1.5 cm from it before comparing with your foot; in open summer shoes the allowance is about 0.5 cm. Never add room to your own foot length: it is already in the last, and doubling it makes the pair about one and a half sizes too big.

Getting length right is far from universal. In the 2012 study 66% of participants without diabetes and 82% with diabetes wore shoes outside the 10 to 15 mm guide, too short and too long alike, and a 2018 review found that 63% to 72% of people wear shoes that do not match their feet in length or width.

How many cm or inches is one shoe size

UK and US sizes grow by a barleycorn, a third of an inch, or 8.47 mm, per full size, so a half size is about 4.2 mm. EU sizes use the Paris point of two thirds of a centimetre: 6.67 mm per full size and about 3.3 mm per half size. Russian sizes use the same step from a different starting point.

The inch column is rounded to a tenth, so read it with care. A 10.0 in foot is 25.4 cm, while the row marked 10.0 in is 25.3 cm, which is 9.96 in. The 10 in foot therefore takes the next row, 25.7 cm or 10.1 in: US men’s 8½, US women’s 9½, UK 7½, EU 40½. When in doubt, work in centimetres.

Men’s and women’s shoe sizes in cm and inches

UK, EU and Russian sizes follow foot length in the same way for men and women. A 25.0 cm (9.8 in) foot is a UK 6½ and an EU 39½ for anyone. The American numbers differ: a US men’s size is the UK size plus one and a US women’s size is the UK size plus two, so the women’s number is one higher for the same foot.

From the chart: a 24.0 cm foot is a UK 5½, a US men’s 6½ and a US women’s 7½. A 27.0 cm foot is a UK 9, a US men’s 10 and a US women’s 11. If an American shoe does not say whether it is a men’s or women’s size, the error is a full size.

The chart also shows where a size leaves the usual shop range. For women that range is roughly 22.3 to 26.3 cm (8.8 to 10.4 in), for men 25.0 to 29.7 cm (9.8 to 11.7 in). Outside these limits the choice of ready-made shoes shrinks quickly.

Russian and Mondopoint sizes in cm

The Russian sizing standard, GOST 11373-88, defines shoe size by foot length in millimetres, with 5 mm between sizes. Metric numbers printed this way look like 240, 245, 250. Shops more often print the older Russian number such as 37 or 42, calculated as 1.5 × (foot length in cm + 1).

Mondopoint, the international system, is the simplest of all: the size is the foot length in millimetres, in 5 mm steps, with no conversion. A 25.5 cm foot is simply 255, which the chart gives as US men’s 8, UK 7 and EU 40½. Japan often writes the same size in centimetres, as 25.5.

Reference points for checking a seller’s chart: a 23.0 cm foot is a Russian 36 and an EU 36½, a 28.0 cm foot a Russian 43½ and an EU 44. A full size off for the same centimetres means another grid.

Feet of different lengths

Left and right feet almost always differ, often by a few millimetres. While the difference is under 3 mm, both feet fall in the same row or neighbouring rows, and the pair is chosen for the larger foot.

Once the difference reaches a half size, about 3.3 mm of length, a ready-made pair fits only one foot: the smaller foot slides forward, or the larger one hits the toe.

At the workshop such a pair is made on two lasts, one for each foot. There is no upper limit on the difference: each shoe is built to its own length, girths and instep, and the pair is matched on the outside so it looks the same.

Common mistakes converting cm or inches to shoe size

• Using insole length instead of foot length, or adding room to the foot. Either way the size comes out one or two too big.
• Measuring sitting down or in the morning. Under load and by evening the foot is longer, so a morning measurement gives a pair that is tight by the end of the day.
• Measuring one foot. The difference between feet can be half a size, and a pair for the smaller foot presses on the larger.
• Ignoring whose chart it is. In US sizes the men’s and women’s scales get mixed up; in Russian sizes the old number and the metric one.
• Carrying a size over from trainers to dress shoes. A soft toe forgives extra millimetres; a firm toe puff and heel counter do not.

Shoes made to your foot length: sizes, timing and price

The workshop makes men’s and women’s shoes for feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm, Russian sizes 33 to 52. Children’s shoes are made too, mostly for teenagers. No size number is used: both feet are measured by hand, and a last is built for each foot.

The first visit is a free measuring consultation at the workshop in Moscow, near Taganskaya metro. The first pair takes about ten weeks, including one to three fittings; a repeat pair from four weeks.

A pair on a bespoke last costs from 100,000 roubles. Visits are by appointment only, 10:00 to 20:00.