Foot measuring chart and shoe size converter

Print the chart at Actual size and check that a bank card covers the card box exactly. Cut along the heel line, put that edge against a wall and lay the sheet on a hard floor. Stand on it with your heel against the wall and your weight on that foot, and have someone mark the tip of your longest toe — which is the second toe for some people — with a pen held upright. Read the mark in millimetres or inches. Measure both feet, in the socks you will wear, and use the longer one.

Late in the day, after you have been on your feet for a while: feet are usually at their largest then, and shoes chosen for that size will not pinch in the evening. Measure standing, not sitting, because the foot lengthens under the body’s weight.

Each system counts the length of the last, the form a shoe is made on, which is longer than the foot. European sizes count Paris points of 2/3 cm: size = 1.5 × last length in cm, with the last about 2 points longer than the foot, so size ≈ 1.5 × foot cm + 2. UK and US sizes count barleycorns of 1/3 inch from different starting points: UK adult ≈ 3 × foot inches − 23, US men’s ≈ 3 × foot inches − 22 and US women’s ≈ 3 × foot inches − 21. Mondopoint (ISO 9407) is simply the foot length in millimetres.

Because brands build their lasts with different allowances and shapes, and round to sizes differently: the same foot can be a size apart in two brands, and sports shoes are often sized differently from dress shoes. The sizes here come from the definitions of each system, so they are a good starting point, not a promise. When a brand publishes a chart of foot length to size, that chart is the one to follow — and the foot length you measured here is what it asks for.

Mondopoint is the international sizing system of ISO 9407: the size is the length of the foot in millimetres (sometimes followed by its width), in 5 mm steps for everyday shoes. Ski boots and many military and work boots are sold in Mondopoint, so a foot of 268 mm takes about a 265 or 270 boot.

UK children’s sizes run from 0 to 13½ and continue with adult size 1 — child size ≈ 3 × foot inches − 10. US children’s sizes run to 13½ and continue with “big kid” youth sizes 1Y to 7Y — size ≈ 3 × foot inches − 9.75. European sizes simply continue upwards for children and adults alike. Children’s feet grow quickly, so measure before buying each pair.

An A4 sheet holds a scale of 270 mm and a Letter sheet 250 mm after the margins, which is short for many adult men. Choose A3 or US Legal if you can print them, or Two sheets: the first sheet is cut along a line at its top and glued onto a grey tab on the second, the scale continuing to 350 mm. Check the join: the mark 10 mm above it must be 10 mm from the cut edge.

It is drawn in millimetres from the heel line, so a printer at 100% puts every mark where it belongs. The risk is printer scaling: “Fit to page” shrinks a page by a few percent, which would make a 260 mm foot read about 8 mm short — more than a whole size. That is what the card box is for: bank, credit and ID cards are 85.60 × 53.98 mm (ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1), and the card must cover the box exactly.