Big Shoes, Big Fitting Problems!

BIG FEET, BIG QUESTIONS!

The

BigShoes.ie

Guide to Getting Your Size Right

If you’ve got big feet, you’ll already know one very important thing:

A SIZE 14 ISN’T ALWAYS A SIZE 14.

Annoying? Yes. Confusing? Absolutely.

Different brands, different styles and even different models from the same brand can fit differently. One UK 14 might feel perfect, another might feel snug across the toes, while another could have you wondering if somebody accidentally put a UK 15 in the box.

At BigShoes.ie, we specialise in bigger footwear, so sizing isn’t an afterthought for us - it’s a massive part of what we do.

Here’s our guide to navigating the wonderful world of big feet.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: MEASURE YOUR FEET!

You’d be amazed how many of us have been buying the same shoe size for years without actually measuring our feet.

And your feet can change over time.

The best starting point is to know the actual length AND width of your feet.

You’ll need:

A sheet of paper
A pen or pencil
A ruler or measuring tape
The socks you’d normally wear with the shoes

Put the paper on a hard floor.

Stand on it with your full weight on your foot and mark the back of your heel and the end of your longest toe.

Then measure the distance between the two points in centimetres or millimetres.

Do this for BOTH FEET.

Why?

Because it is perfectly normal for one foot to be slightly bigger than the other.

Always work from the larger foot when choosing your shoes.

For an even better measurement, measure your feet later in the day when you’ve been walking around and your feet have naturally expanded a little.

DON’T FORGET WIDTH!

This is a big one.

Length is only half the story.

You can have two people who both technically measure as a UK 14 but need completely different shoes.

One might have:

UK 14 - standard width

while another might really need:

UK 14 - wide or extra-wide

If the length feels right but the shoe is squeezing the sides of your foot or crushing your toes together, you don’t necessarily need a UK 15.

You may simply need a wider UK 14.

That’s an important distinction.

Going up a full size purely to get extra width can leave you with too much length, heel movement and an overall poor fit.

THE TOE BOX - YOUR TOES NEED A HOME TOO!

You’ll see us talking about the toe box quite a lot.

The toe box is simply the front section of the shoe where your toes sit.

And toe-box shape can make an enormous difference to how a shoe feels.

A generous toe box gives your toes more room to spread naturally.

This can be particularly useful if you have:

Wide feet
Broad forefeet
Large toes
A high-volume foot
Or simply hate that squeezed-in feeling

Two shoes can be exactly the same labelled size and width but feel completely different because one has a more tapered toe box.

So when we describe a shoe as having a “roomy toe box”, that’s useful information!

WHAT DOES “TRUE TO SIZE” ACTUALLY MEAN?

You’ll often see the phrase:

It simply means that, in general, the shoe fits as you’d expect for the size printed on the box.

So if you normally wear a UK 14 and a shoe is described as true to size, we’d generally suggest starting with the UK 14.

But you’ll also hear:

This means the model feels smaller or tighter than you’d normally expect.

Depending on the shoe and your foot shape, you may need to consider sizing up.

The opposite!

The shoe has a more generous fit than expected and some customers may prefer a smaller size.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the shoe is technically a size bigger.

It may simply have more internal volume, a wider forefoot or a roomier toe box.

WHY CAN TWO SHOES IN THE SAME SIZE FIT DIFFERENTLY?

Welcome to the mysterious world of the shoe last.

A “last” is the three-dimensional form around which a shoe is designed and constructed.

The shape of that last influences:

Width
Toe-box shape
Heel fit
Instep volume
Overall internal volume
How the shoe feels on your foot

That’s why you might absolutely love the fit of one model from a brand but find another model from the same company feels completely different.

The number on the box is only part of the story.

BIGSHOES.IE MEN’S SIZE CONVERSION GUIDE

The following should be used as a general conversion guide rather than an absolute guarantee, because conversions can vary slightly between manufacturers.

 Important!

EU/UK/US conversions are not perfectly universal.

Some brands may label the equivalent UK size differently.

That’s why we’d always recommend checking the individual product information rather than buying purely from an EU-to-UK conversion.

WIDE, 2E, 4E… WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Width sizing is another area that can become confusing very quickly.

You may see descriptions such as:

Standard
Wide
Extra Wide
E
2E / EE
4E / EEEE

But there is a catch:

Width terminology isn’t completely standardised between footwear manufacturers.

A “Wide” in one brand won’t necessarily feel identical to a “Wide” in another.

This is another reason why our knowledge of the actual shoes we sell matters.

We can tell you whether a particular model feels genuinely wide, merely generous, narrow through the midfoot or particularly spacious around the toes.

HOW MUCH ROOM SHOULD I HAVE AT THE FRONT?

Your longest toe generally shouldn’t be touching the end of the shoe.

You want some breathing room.

As a broad rule, around 10-12mm of space ahead of your longest toe is a useful target for many everyday shoes.

But again, the correct amount can depend on what you’re buying.

A casual shoe, hiking shoe, rugby boot and running shoe aren’t necessarily going to be fitted in exactly the same way.

The important thing is that your toes aren’t being crushed against the front of the shoe while your heel remains properly held.

RUNNING SHOES CAN BE DIFFERENT

If you’re buying performance runners, don’t automatically assume your casual shoe size is perfect.

When you’re running, your feet move, spread and can swell.

That’s why runners often need particularly careful attention to:

Toe room
Forefoot width
Heel hold
Overall volume

Brands such as New Balance can be particularly useful for bigger-footed customers because selected models are available in multiple widths.

If you’ve spent years buying a bigger size just because you have wide feet, getting into the correct length AND correct width can be a revelation.

Football, Rugby and Gaelic Boots too, can feel roomier, and also I always liked to go down a size to have my foot closer to the ball for more control, so I was always playing sports with a size too small, and I've flat feet so I felt it gave me a little spring and not get left flat footed, no pun intended!  

DRESS SHOES CAN FEEL COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Formal shoes often have a more structured upper and a different toe shape from trainers.

A pointed or tapered dress shoe can therefore feel considerably tighter than a trainer in exactly the same labelled size.

Don’t immediately assume you need to size up.

You may need a shoe built on a wider or more generous last instead.

SOCKS MATTER!

Seriously.

If you’re buying hiking boots and measure your feet wearing thin office socks, you’re not recreating the conditions in which you’ll actually wear the boots.

Try your footwear with the type of socks you’re actually going to wear.

Dress shoes → dress socks
Runners → sports socks
Walking/hiking boots → hiking socks
Safety boots → work socks

Those few millimetres can matter.

GET BOTH FEET MEASURED PROPERLY

For the most accurate assessment, a proper footwear fitting can measure more than simply heel-to-toe length.

A professional foot-measuring device can assess:

Heel-to-toe length
Heel-to-ball / arch length
Foot width

That heel-to-ball measurement is particularly interesting because two feet with the same overall length can have different proportions.

Ultimately, a measurement is your starting point — the final test is how the actual shoe fits your actual foot.

THE BIGSHOES.IE GOLDEN RULE

You are not “always a UK 13”.

You are not “definitely a UK 15”.

You are a person with a foot of a particular length, width, volume and shape.

The goal isn’t to get you into a particular number.

THAT’S WHERE BIGSHOES.IE COMES IN

Big feet are our business.

We’re not trying to squeeze a handful of size 13s onto the end of a normal footwear range.

We specialise in larger men’s footwear.

From trainers and casual shoes to formal footwear, boots, safety footwear, sandals and sports shoes, we’re building a range specifically for men who are fed up hearing:

If you’re unsure about your size, width or which model will suit your foot shape, ask us.

Tell us:

Your normal UK size
Your foot length
Whether your feet are narrow, standard or wide
What brands currently fit you well
What you’re going to use the shoes for

That information can make it much easier for us to point you in the right direction.

And if you’d rather do it the old-fashioned way, come into BigShoes.ie and get fitted, in the meantime I will be going through each Shoe we stock in my size and trying to give a comprehensive guide on the above to make choice a little easier.

Because when you’ve got big feet…

BIG SHOES SHOULD ACTUALLY FIT. 

BigShoes.ie
Big Sizes. Better Choice. Proper Fit.