Comfort and fit is a huge factor when I buy shoes. You don’t want to have a whole bunch of painful-to-wear shoes just sitting in your closet looking pretty but lonely because you can’t stand to wear them.
A huge pet peeve of mine is when I see a girl wearing heels with a sizable gap between her foot and the back of the shoe. Clearly the shoes are too big. Buying heels that are the same size as flat shoes or sneakers is a common mistake many women make. Ladies, you are not the same size in every type of shoe! This is due to a variety of reasons: the shoe style, function, structure, and brand. My numerous shoes are anywhere between 6 and 7 (36.5-37.5 in Euro size). That’s a full size range! The key to finding a perfect fit is to understand how your feet feel in different kinds of shoes. Spend a couple hours (or a whole day!) just trying on shoes to get a little more familiar with your feet and their relationship with shoes.
Start with these tips to find the right fit:
- Know your general size, but don’t be afraid to try on smaller and larger shoes. It might just work out!
- If you plan on wearing heels without socks, a general rule is to size down about half a size from your normal flat-shoe size. This half-size makes a huge difference. You want your heels to hug your foot comfortably, as if they’re in love.
- Strappy heels are tricky; you don’t want them to be too tight because they’ll cut off your circulation, but they also can’t be too loose because your feet will be sliding all over the place. Sometimes you might need to size up a 1/2 size, and sometimes you might need to size down a half or whole size.
- When wearing pumps, you don’t want to look like a little girl walking around in mommy’s shoes (a.k.a. the dreaded heel gap). Pumps need to be small enough that they don’t slip off your heel, but large enough that your toes aren’t jammed into the front of the shoe. For some of you ladies, this means avoiding pointy toe styles that are too narrow for your natural foot shape.
- If you’re worried about stability, look for shoes with ankle straps or other adjustable features.
- If you’re familiar with a brand’s fit and already have a lot of their shoes in the same size, chances are you will be that size in almost all their shoes. However, some brands/designers are notorious for having fluctuating sizes.
Keep in mind that if a shoe doesn’t fit or feel right, don’t try to force it. Not every shoe is made to work with every foot!