Everyone should know that wearing the wrong type of shoe or size for a prolonged period will bring serious foot problems with the eventual consequence of ending up in a clinic. Thank God only a few people in a buying position aren’t conscious enough to have the proper understanding of shoe fit and size and don’t even try to find someone who does. As we explained in our previous lesson, there are too many different types of sizes in how various countries measure and transmit the size of their shoes, creating confusion in the consumers’ minds. For example, apart from the UK, EUROPE(Continental or French), USA, and MONDO, there is also the Mexican, Russian, Japanese, and Korean systems.

Let’s study the fundamentals: the UK, EUROPE, and the USA. Firstly, we need to take the base standard size, EU 42 for men and EU 37 for ladies. An EU 42 in men will correspond to a UK 8 and a USA size 9. For ladies, instead, a standard size EU 37 will equal UK 4.5 and USA USA size 6.5.

To get the perfect shoe fit size, we need first to understand how we measure it. A shoe’s size depends on the foot, and to get this, we will need the foot’s measurement in millimeters from the heel, also called the heel point ‘0’ to the longest toe. To this measurement, we will need to add approx. 1cm more allowance to allow the foot movement inside the shoe during the usual walk. On another note, we should also measure the ball girth to calculate the fitting girth. Common commercial standards would be marked as slim, normal, wide, and extra wide fit. In the EU system, the difference in width will be 5.75mm, while it will be 6.35mm in the USA system, and by increasing or decreasing, we say that we vary the grade; but this is not part of this lesson’s objective. Returning to our foot size, it is essential to note that while measuring your foot with our Italian Footwear Solution technical Size Chart, both feet have a different length, so you must choose your longest foot.

In the EU (Continental or French or Paris Point) system, the difference in length from one size to another will be 6.66mm. In the UK system (English Point), the difference will be 8.46mm, and for the USA (American Point), it’s 8.46mm.


Italian Footwear Solution has developed the IFS technical size chart, which can be easily downloaded and printed on a simple A-4 paper. By placing your foot, you will instantly know every time your exact size while buying shoes by simply carrying it with you while shopping. Because our body changes in time and we increase or decrease weight, not to mention our feet are relaxed in the morning and swollen in the evening, it is advisable to take your measurements every six months and in the evening time.