Fit and Sizing

Measure late in the day

Feet swell over a day by a noticeable amount, and an evening shoe is worn in the evening. Measure standing, on paper, with weight on the foot, heel against a wall, and take the longer foot. Most people have one foot up to half a size larger than the other and fit the larger one.

Between two sizes

Open-toe sandals with an ankle strap

Size down rather than up. Length is forgiving because the toes end in open air, and a sandal that is long lets the foot slide forward until the toes overhang the sole edge. The strap can take up width, not length.

Closed-toe pumps and courts

Size up. There is no room to borrow, and a heel pitches the foot forward into the toe box every time you stand.

Boots

Size up if you intend to wear anything thicker than a stocking. A boot that fits barefoot in a shop fits nothing else afterwards.

Ankle straps

An ankle strap does two jobs: it stops the heel lifting away from the shoe, and it holds the foot back against the heel cup so the toes are not pushed forward. Both depend on where the strap crosses. Above the ankle bone it works and disappears. Directly across the bone it rubs within an hour, and no amount of adjustment fixes that, because the problem is the height of the strap rather than its length. Buckle closures give more useful adjustment than an elastic loop; 22 pairs here close with a buckle.

Boot shafts

Shaft height on a boot is quoted from the arch, not from the floor, so a stated shaft is always shorter than the visible height of the boot on the leg. Calf circumference is the measurement that decides whether a knee-high boot works, and it is rarely published. A lace-up back panel is the only construction here that adjusts for it; a plain zip does not.

Widths

Sizes in this catalog are standard medium width, marked B(M) in the US system, unless the listing itself says otherwise. Nothing here is offered in a wide fitting. If you normally buy a wide shoe, an open-toe strappy sandal will accommodate more than a closed pump of the same stated size, because there is less material to run out of.

First wear

Wear a new pair indoors for an evening before committing to it. Two things show up immediately and cannot be predicted from photographs: whether the strap meets the ankle bone, and whether the sole slides on your own floors. Both are reasons to exchange while the shoe is still unmarked.