Wide Fit Feet Blog

Wide Feet? You're Not Alone – The BigShoes.ie Guide to Wide-Fitting Shoes

At BigShoes.ie since we opened the retail shop and had customers in it is the number one question we get asked!

"Do you have this in a wide fit?"

We specialise in big shoes, so we're used to talking about length. UK 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and even 18 are our everyday business.

But something has become increasingly obvious to us:

Big feet aren't necessarily just long feet. A lot of them are wide feet too.

In fact, finding the correct width can sometimes be every bit as important as finding the correct shoe size.

That's why we're now going through our entire range at BigShoes.ie and categorising our footwear not just by size, style and brand, but by how it actually fits.

Our aim is simple: if you have big, wide or extra-wide feet, we want to make finding shoes that fit properly much easier.

Wide feet are more common than you might think

There is some surprisingly strong research behind the problem.

A review published in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research examined 18 studies into footwear fit. It found that 63–72% of participants were wearing shoes that did not correctly accommodate the length or width of their feet.

When researchers specifically looked at width, studies found that 30–88% of participants were wearing footwear that was too narrow.

That's remarkable.

For decades, most of us have thought about shoe fitting almost entirely in terms of length:

"I'm a size 12."

"I'm a size 14."

But that's only half the story.

Two people can both be a UK 14 and have completely different feet.

One might have a relatively narrow foot.

The other might have a very broad forefoot, wide toes and a high-volume instep.

Giving both people the same shoe simply because they're both a UK 14 doesn't necessarily make sense.

Oftern our customer go up in size length to accommodate wider feet, which we find crazy,

Why are our feet getting wider?

It's difficult to say definitively that the average human foot has suddenly become wider.

There are, however, several things happening at the same time.

One is body weight.

Research using 3D foot scanning has shown that obese adults can have significantly greater foot, ball and heel widths and larger foot circumferences than healthy-weight adults of comparable shoe size.

As weight increases, the dimensions and shape of the foot can change.

Age is another factor. Feet can change throughout adulthood as ligaments, tendons and soft tissue change.

Genetics obviously matter enormously too. Some people simply have naturally broad feet.

And then there's footwear itself.

Did COVID change the shoes we want to wear?

This is an interesting one.

We can't say that COVID physically made everyone's feet wider.

What we can say is that COVID accelerated a change in how millions of people dress.

Working from home, hybrid working and more relaxed workplaces helped normalise trainers, casual shoes and comfortable footwear as everyday shoes.

People who might once have spent five days a week in a suit and relatively structured leather shoes started spending considerably more time in runners, trainers, slippers, Crocs and casual footwear.

Once you've become accustomed to allowing your toes and forefoot more room, squeezing them back into a narrow, pointed shoe isn't particularly appealing.

The move towards casual footwear actually began long before COVID, but the pandemic appears to have accelerated the casualisation of working life.

Perhaps customers haven't suddenly developed wide feet.

Perhaps we've simply become much less willing to tolerate uncomfortable shoes.

And we think that's a good thing.

What actually is a wide-fit shoe?

Here's where things become unnecessarily complicated.

There is no single worldwide system for shoe width.

You'll see descriptions such as:

Standard
Wide
Extra Wide
XX Wide
XXX Wide
XXXX Wide

But you'll also see:

D
E
EE
2E
4E
6E

And then:

F Fit
G Fit* Most shoes sold in Bigshoes.ie start with a G fit.
H Fit
J Fit
K Fit

Confused?

You're not alone.

The biggest mistake is assuming these descriptions are interchangeable between every manufacturer.

They aren't.

A "Wide" from one manufacturer may feel similar to another manufacturer's standard shoe.

The shape of the last – the form around which the shoe is manufactured – also makes an enormous difference.

Toe-box shape, forefoot width, instep volume, heel width, materials and construction can all affect how roomy a shoe feels.

Wide, Extra Wide, XX Wide, XXX Wide and XXXX Wide

At BigShoes.ie, we're going to make this easier.

Rather than pretending that every manufacturer's terminology means exactly the same thing, we'll use width descriptions to give customers a practical indication of how the shoe fits.

STANDARD

A conventional fitting suitable for an average-width foot.

WIDE

Noticeably more room through the forefoot and toe area than an average shoe.

Suitable for people who regularly find standard shoes tight across the sides of their feet.

EXTRA WIDE

A substantial step up in room.

These are for genuinely broad feet rather than simply somebody who likes a slightly roomy trainer.

XX WIDE

Very generous footwear designed for considerably wider-than-average feet.

XXX WIDE

Specialist extra-roomy footwear for extremely broad feet and/or considerably increased foot volume.

XXXX WIDE

Our widest category.

These are specialist shoes intended for exceptionally broad or high-volume feet where conventional wide-fit footwear simply isn't sufficient.

Important: these BigShoes.ie categories describe the practical fit of the shoe. Where a manufacturer provides an official width – for example 2E, 4E, 6E, G or H – we'll show that too.

What do D, 2E, 4E and 6E mean?

This system is particularly common among athletic footwear manufacturers.

For men's footwear, you'll commonly encounter:

D – Standard/Medium
2E – Wide
4E – Extra Wide
6E – Very/Extra Extra Wide

New Balance, for example, offers men's footwear in multiple widths and publishes actual width measurements for its shoes.

That's particularly useful because length and width increase independently.

If your foot is a UK 13 but too wide for a standard UK 13, the answer isn't necessarily to buy a UK 14.

You may actually need a UK 13 Wide.

Going longer simply to obtain more width can leave unnecessary space in front of the toes and affect heel hold and overall fit.

What are G, H, J and K fittings?

This is where we'd urge customers to be particularly careful.

There is no universal rule saying that a particular letter means exactly the same width across every footwear manufacturer.

For example, one traditional British shoemaker may describe:

F – Regular
G – Wide
H – Extra Wide

Yet another major footwear manufacturer uses:

G – Standard
H – Wide

So an H fitting from Brand A cannot automatically be assumed to be identical to an H fitting from Brand B.

J and K fittings generally appear on specialist wider-fitting footwear and normally indicate progressively roomier fittings within that manufacturer's own sizing system – but again, they should not be treated as universal measurements.

That's why at BigShoes.ie we're going to look beyond the letter printed on the box.

Not all wide feet are the same

This is probably the most important part of the whole subject.

Width isn't just one measurement.

You can have:

• a broad forefoot but a normal heel
• wide toes
• a high instep
• a high-volume foot
• a wide heel
• bunions or other prominent joints
• swelling
• a generally large-volume foot
• or combinations of several of these

That's why two shoes officially described as "Wide" can feel completely different.

The shape of the shoe matters just as much as the width written on the label.

Why BigShoes.ie is changing how we catalogue our shoes

We think the footwear industry makes this unnecessarily difficult.

If somebody knows:

"I'm a UK 14 and I have very wide feet,"

they shouldn't have to order five pairs of shoes and hope one happens to fit.

We're therefore working through our range and improving the information we provide about every shoe.

Where possible, we'll identify:

Size
Manufacturer's official width
Our practical width category
Toe-box shape
Forefoot room
Instep/depth
Overall fit

And we're going to deliberately source more Wide, Extra Wide and specialist wide-fitting footwear in larger sizes.

That's important.

Finding a UK 8 wide shoe isn't particularly difficult.

Finding a genuinely wide UK 14, 15, 16 or 17 is a completely different problem.

That's the problem we want BigShoes.ie to solve.

Stop sizing up just because your shoes are too narrow

This is something we see regularly.

Someone who really needs a UK 13 Extra Wide ends up wearing a UK 14 or even UK 15 simply because it's the only way they've found to stop their shoes pinching.

But their feet haven't necessarily become longer.

They needed more width, not more length.

Correctly identifying both measurements can completely change how a shoe feels.

Big feet. Wide feet. Properly fitted shoes.

BigShoes.ie has always been about solving a problem mainstream footwear retailers don't solve particularly well:

big feet.

We're now taking that a step further.

Big feet aren't all the same.

Some are narrow. Some are standard. Some are wide. Some are extremely wide.

So we're expanding our wide-fitting ranges and developing a clearer way of describing the actual fit of every shoe we sell on our website in the descriptions, this may take some time but it’s going to be easier to get the right fit! That’s what it’s all about.

Because ultimately the number on the box is only part of the answer.

The right shoe isn't just the right length.

It's the right shape for your foot.

BigShoes.ie
Big sizes. Better choice. Better fit.