Men’s Shoe Size Chart: US, UK, EU and Foot Length in Inches

A men’s shoe size chart puts the US, UK, EU and Russian sizes on one line against foot length: a foot of 10.6 inches (27.0 cm) is a US men’s 10, a UK 9 and an EU 42½. Find your foot length in the inch or centimetre column and read across; below, each system is explained, along with why two pairs of the same number can fit differently.

How to read a men’s shoe size chart

The chart has six columns. US men is the American men’s size, UK the British one, EU the continental European size, Russia the Russian size, and the last two give foot length in centimetres and inches. Rows step by half a Russian size, which is about 3.3 mm, or 0.13 inch, of foot.

The easiest way in is through foot length. Each system prints its own number on the box, but the foot is the same in all of them, and it can be measured at home. A foot of 10.6 inches reads across as US 10, UK 9, EU 42½ and Russian 42.

All values are calculated from the formulas of each system and rounded to the nearest half size. The British and American sizes are counted in barleycorns of a third of an inch, the European size in Paris points of two thirds of a centimetre, the Russian size from foot length. Each maker rounds in its own way and builds its own allowance into the last, so a brand chart can differ from this one by up to half a size.

Men’s shoe size by foot length in inches and cm

Foot length is the distance from the back of the heel to the tip of the longest toe. Measure standing, with your weight on the foot, in the socks you plan to wear with the pair. Feet are slightly larger in the evening, so a measurement late in the day is the safer one.

Reference points from the chart for the most common men’s sizes:

• foot 9.8 in (25.0 cm): US 7½, UK 6½, EU 39½;
• foot 10.2 in (26.0 cm): US 8½, UK 7½, EU 41;
• foot 10.6 in (27.0 cm): US 10, UK 9, EU 42½;
• foot 11.0 in (28.0 cm): US 11, UK 10, EU 44;
• foot 11.4 in (29.0 cm): US 12½, UK 11½, EU 45½;
• foot 11.8 in (30.0 cm): US 13½, UK 12½, EU 47.

For a quick estimate from the foot, a US men’s size is roughly three times the foot length in inches, minus 22. A foot of 10.6 inches gives 3 × 10.6 − 22 = 9.8, which rounds to US 10, the same answer as the chart.

US men’s shoe size to UK conversion

The American men’s scale grew out of the British one. The step is the same barleycorn, a third of an inch or about 8.47 mm of last length, and a half size is a sixth of an inch. The difference is the starting point: a US men’s size is one higher than the UK men’s size. SATRA gives the example of a US men’s 12 being a UK men’s 11.

US to UK on the chart:

• US 8 is UK 7, foot 10.0 in (25.3 cm);
• US 9 is UK 8, foot 10.4 in (26.3 cm);
• US 10 is UK 9, foot 10.6 to 10.7 in (27.0 to 27.3 cm);
• US 11 is UK 10, foot 11.0 in (28.0 cm);
• US 12 is UK 11, foot 11.3 in (28.7 cm).

The barleycorn step is coarser than the European and Russian ones, so two neighbouring rows can share one US number: feet of 27.0 and 27.3 cm are both US 10. In such cases the foot length printed in a model’s own chart decides.

Women’s US sizes run on a separate scale and are larger for the same foot: on this chart a US women’s size is one above the US men’s. A men’s number cannot be carried over to a women’s chart.

Men’s EU to US shoe size conversion

The European size is counted in Paris points of two thirds of a centimetre, about 6.67 mm of last length, a smaller step than the British and American barleycorn.

EU to US for men on the chart:

• EU 41: US 8½, UK 7½, foot 10.2 in (26.0 cm);
• EU 42: US 9½, UK 8½, foot 10.5 in (26.7 cm);
• EU 43: US 10, UK 9, foot 10.7 in (27.3 cm);
• EU 44: US 11, UK 10, foot 11.0 in (28.0 cm);
• EU 45: US 12, UK 11, foot 11.3 in (28.7 cm);
• EU 46: US 12½, UK 11½, foot 11.5 in (29.3 cm).

Because a European size is a smaller step, US numbers do not map one to one: EU 42½ and EU 43 both read as US 10, while EU 43½ is already US 10½. When a label shows only an EU number, check it against your foot length.

Russian men’s shoe sizes

Russian sizes are set by the standard GOST 11373-88, under which a shoe size is the length of the foot in millimetres. The men’s group runs from 245 to 305 mm in 5 mm steps, which is 9.6 to 12.0 inches, with 270 mm as the base size.

The familiar numbers 40, 42 and 44 belong to the older system that the standard links to foot length. In this chart the Russian number is the foot length in centimetres plus one, multiplied by 1.5: for a 27 cm foot, (27 + 1) × 1.5 = 42. On the chart a European size is half a size above the Russian one, and on some lengths a whole size.

Men’s shoe width: D, E, EE and wide fittings

Size describes length; width, or fitting, describes the girth of the foot across the ball. Two men with the same foot length can have very different girths, and a size chart does not show this.

An analysis of 1.2 million foot scans from North America, Europe and Asia found that among men with a 270 mm foot, the widths of 90% of feet spread over 15.8 mm. A single last width fitted at most 40.1% of them; fitting 90% would take at least three widths for every length. In North America, men’s feet were on average wider than women’s at lengths from 245 to 280 mm.

An American men’s shoe with no letter is a D, the standard width. E is wide and EE extra wide, with a typical step of 3/16 inch, about 4.8 mm, between letters. The British scale runs from C to H, and each maker decides which letter is its standard. Mondopoint uses no letters: 280/110 means a foot 280 mm long and 110 mm wide.

The Russian last standard, GOST 3927-88, numbers men’s widths from 1 to 12 and requires every last size to be made in three widths: narrow, medium and wide.

Why dress shoes and sneakers fit differently in the same size

Many men find that sneakers fit well while oxfords of the same number feel tight or loose. The reason is the last. Under GOST 3927-88 the length of a last is the foot length, less a heel offset, plus a functional allowance and a decorative one.

The functional allowance is room for the toes in walking: 10 mm for men’s lasts, 5 mm for summer and unlined shoes and moccasins. A soft moccasin and a closed dress shoe of one size can therefore differ by half in toe room.

The decorative allowance depends on the toe shape: close to nothing on a short round toe, and often longer than the functional one on the elongated toe of a dress shoe, where it serves the silhouette.

A stiff toe puff and heel counter take away inside length. In a sneaker the soft toe gives way and the padding at the heel compresses, while an oxford keeps its shape. Fastening matters too: laces from toe to top hold a sneaker on the instep, while loafers and chelsea boots stay on by the heel alone, and a loose heel lets the foot slide forward into the allowance.

So moving from sneakers to dress shoes is done through foot length: measure the foot and check the chart for the specific model.

Big and small men’s shoe sizes

Sizes at both ends of the scale are the hardest to find. The men’s group of the Russian standard stops at a 305 mm foot, a Russian 47 or US 14, and most models are made in a narrower range still.

On the chart, US 13 is a foot of 11.7 inches (29.7 cm) and EU 46½. US 14 is 11.9 inches, US 15 is 12.3 inches, US 16 is 12.6 to 12.7 inches, and US 18 is 13.3 inches, a foot of 33.7 cm and EU 52½.

Small men’s sizes are around US 6 to US 8, feet of 9.3 to 10.0 inches, where a women’s model of the same length tends to be narrow: in the scan data, men’s feet in North America were wider on average.

The workshop makes men’s and women’s shoes for Russian sizes 33 to 52, feet from 21.0 to 33.7 cm, or 8.3 to 13.3 inches. If the feet differ in length, each shoe is made on its own last, with no upper limit on the difference.

Bespoke men’s shoes made to your foot: price and timing

Sergey Grechushkin, a bespoke shoemaker since 1982, makes men’s shoes on lasts built to the foot: dress shoes, boots, chelsea boots, loafers and tall boots. No size number is used: both feet are measured for length and for girth across the ball, over the instep and around the heel.

• A men’s pair on an individual last costs from 100,000 roubles.
• The lasts take about six weeks, followed by one to three fittings in a trial pair.
• The first pair takes about ten weeks; a repeat pair on the saved lasts, from four weeks.
• The consultation is free.

The final price is given once the measurements are taken and the model and leather chosen. The measuring visit is in Moscow, near Taganskaya metro, by appointment between 10:00 and 20:00. Once the lasts exist, further pairs are ordered without travelling, and the workshop is visited only to try on the trial pair.