Shoe size shambles

[pinkmonkey]

If you have shoes that are the same or similar toeshape then an insole measurement - I can look that up for you.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I remember a shoe fitting x-Ray machine in Stirling when I was a kid. I think it was Clark’s. My Mum would check my feet there then go and buy shoes somewhere cheaper.

I may be misremembering, but I think the idea was that the scope at the top gave you a view of your feet inside the shoes. It was in any case a big wooden thing and you inserted your feet at the bottom and then your Mum and the shop staff would take turns at peering into a viewer at the top.

One of those “they did what?” moments of a 60s childhood.

more about them here

they only put out a modest bit of radiation...

 

[teuchter]

If you have shoes that are the same or similar toeshape then an insole measurement - I can look that up for you.

Thanks, that's kind of you to offer but of my most similar specimen, the insole doesn't want to come out.

I'm curious though, why are the size charts I look up at odds with each other? I fully understand the concept of an imprecise precise measurement - but for most things if there's a standard, then it's fixed, even if everyone knows in reality that it can only be an approximation, at least everyone is working to the same approximation.

It sounds like the toe-shape has an influence on how what you call the "stick length" is converted into a shoe size. Could that explain the difference I see in the charts I find via google? Will some manfacturers be assuming that most of their shoes are of a certain toe shape, so they adjust their guidance chart accordingly?

 

[danny la rouge]

more about them here

they only put out a modest bit of radiation...

That’s the thing. Didn’t remember the name though.

 

[Detroit City]

How do you measure the length of your foot anyway does that measurement include toes and if so which.

 

[bellaozzydog]

I just got some heat sized wet suit boots

You pour boiling water in them and Then put them on to mould to your feet

Bloke in shop swore I needed a size down I said I had fucking wierd big feet, he stood his ground I went ok.....

Get home boil water pour in boots put boots on. Fucking don’t fit
Take them back get a refund order bigger size online

 

[MrSki]

Just try the fucking things on before you buy them. It is not rocket engineering.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

You pour boiling water in them and Then put them on to mould to your feet

i presume you take the water our first?

 

[Saul Goodman]

I just got some heat sized wet suit boots

You pour boiling water in them and Then put them on to mould to your feet

Bloke in shop swore I needed a size down I said I had fucking wierd big feet, he stood his ground I went ok.....

Get home boil water pour in boots put boots on, visit nearest burns unit, receive skin grafts.
Take them back get a refund order less dangerous version.

CFY

 

[weltweit]

Just try the fucking things on before you buy them. It is not rocket engineering.

I wish.

 

[danny la rouge]

Just try the fucking things on before you buy them. It is not rocket engineering.

You’re not allowed to at the moment.

 

[xenon]

so what you do is to try the shoe on to see if the damn thing fits

reluctant as I may be to say, teuchter does have a point here. An international shoe size. Surely this is something we can all get behind.

 

[MrSki]

reluctant as I may be to say, teuchter does have a point here. An international shoe size. Surely this is something we can all get behind.

They still have not managed to standardise phone chargers that are sold all over the world. Shoes that were traditionally made in the country they are worn will have different sizes in different countries. I have never had a problem with the Euro 43 size or a UK 9. Still brexit will lead to size 9 again but I can live with that. Not really a major problem. I am sure if you sanitize your hands or wear gloves then it should limit covid transmission. I have not heard of anyone catching it from trying on shoes.

 

[danny la rouge]

reluctant as I may be to say, teuchter does have a point here. An international shoe size. Surely this is something we can all get behind.

Can you imagine the chaos on S-Day, when the big change over happens? People will be putting on their children’s shoes and everything. Carnage.

 

[Saul Goodman]

People who don't try on shoes before they buy them, then complain when they don't fit. Worse than bathroom door lock dodgers.

 

[weltweit]

People who don't try on shoes before they buy them, then complain when they don't fit. Worse than bathroom door lock dodgers.

Difficult for some of us with abnormal sizes - which no shops stock - to try any on.
For me (size 13 - 48) it's a special trip to Northampton or risking mail-order.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

You pour boiling water in them and Then put them on to mould to your feet

i presume you take the water our first?

that having been said, i remember reading somewhere that army recruits were advised to piss in their new issue boots and leave it overnight to make them softer

i've no idea if this worked, or whether it was a trick to play on new recruits...

 

[xenon]

They still have not managed to standardise phone chargers that are sold all over the world. Shoes that were traditionally made in the country they are worn will have different sizes in different countries. I have never had a problem with the Euro 43 size or a UK 9. Still brexit will lead to size 9 again but I can live with that. Not really a major problem. I am sure if you sanitize your hands or wear gloves then it should limit covid transmission. I have not heard of anyone catching it from trying on shoes.

to be honest, I have bought several pairs of shoes off the Internet, size 9. I think I have very average feet. So it’s easy.

 

[pinkmonkey]

Thanks, that's kind of you to offer but of my most similar specimen, the insole doesn't want to come out.

I'm curious though, why are the size charts I look up at odds with each other? I fully understand the concept of an imprecise precise measurement - but for most things if there's a standard, then it's fixed, even if everyone knows in reality that it can only be an approximation, at least everyone is working to the same approximation.

It sounds like the toe-shape has an influence on how what you call the "stick length" is converted into a shoe size. Could that explain the difference I see in the charts I find via google? Will some manfacturers be assuming that most of their shoes are of a certain toe shape, so they adjust their guidance chart accordingly?

It depends on their customers, the types of shoes they sell, it depends on the opinion of who makes their lasts, their footwear technologist, which country they are in, the preferences. When I develop something new, I can specify all of the measurements, but I have no idea of knowing, until the thing is made, how/if it is gonna fit - I can’t begin to grade and declare what size they sre or decide to adjust them until we’ve made one. Materials, toe shape, linings, design, all affect how it’s gonna fit, thats why I suggested you see what you have similar, measure the insock and then see what the brand you want to buy thinks the size should be.

 

[xenon]

is there an international standard size for doors actually. How do you know if your new bathroom door will be the right fit.

 

[pinkmonkey]

And shoe lasts aren’t standardised shapes, like tailors dummies are, they can be low or high heeled, pointed, round, chisel or square toes, they are so wildly different depending on what you’re making, you can only go so far in trying to standardise shoe fittings.

 

[weltweit]

There is a shop in Barcelona which sells really nice leather shoes in my size, every year or two when I am there I buy a couple of pairs of shoes. However now I have less reason to be there. I used also to buy a pair or two in the US as they normally stock larger sizes, at the moment it is unlikely I will be back in America.

In the UK there are a couple of specialist shops in Northampton, occasionally a chain might change their policy on sizes. Most UK shoe shops go to 11, some to 12, very few larger than that.

 

[bellaozzydog]

that having been said, i remember reading somewhere that army recruits were advised to piss in their new issue boots and leave it overnight to make them softer

i've no idea if this worked, or whether it was a trick to play on new recruits...

If you are working with bullshit hard to break in boots you need to get some sweeter boots

Caveat I have pissed in boot before And it works

 

[teuchter]

reluctant as I may be to say, teuchter does have a point here. An international shoe size. Surely this is something we can all get behind.

I do have a point, but that's not my point.

 

[teuchter]

When I develop something new, I can specify all of the measurements, but I have no idea of knowing, until the thing is made, how/if it is gonna fit - I can’t begin to grade and declare what size they sre or decide to adjust them until we’ve made one.

But how, at that point, do you decide what sizes to declare them as?

 

[pinkmonkey]

At the fittings stage - we fit one, if it’s really out of scope, then we adjust the lasts and pattern and make another and try again. If that’s ok, then we declare it as true-to-size, then we grade the patterns and make the full size range and try them on fit models, at this stage we conduct a two week wear trial of at least one of these pairs. The technologist inspects the shoes to see if they’ve worn in a dodgy way, we then declare what size they are. Fitting is the nightmare part of my job, but it’s more the technologists job than mine.

 

[pinkmonkey]

I just got some heat sized wet suit boots

You pour boiling water in them and Then put them on to mould to your feet

Bloke in shop swore I needed a size down I said I had fucking wierd big feet, he stood his ground I went ok.....

Get home boil water pour in boots put boots on. Fucking don’t fit
Take them back get a refund order bigger size online

No, don’t pour boiling water in, most cemented outdoor worn shoes are stuck together with hot melt glue - heat melts the glue again.

 

[teuchter]

At the fittings stage - we fit one, if it’s really out of scope, then we adjust the lasts and pattern and make another and try again. If that’s ok, then we declare it as true-to-size, then we grade the patterns and make the full size range and try them on fit models, at this stage we conduct a two week wear trial of at least one of these pairs. The technologist inspects the shoes to see if they’ve worn in a dodgy way, we then declare what size they are. Fitting is the nightmare part of my job, but it’s more the technologists job than mine.

But what do you fit them to - is a "fit model" a standardised model of a foot?

 

[bellaozzydog]

No, don’t pour boiling water in, most cemented outdoor worn shoes are stuck together with hot melt glue - heat melts the glue again.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I do have a point

?