How to Measure Your Feet

Dear Shoe Lady,
My feet have gotten wider as I have aged and have a bunion on left foot. As well lost a considerable amount of weight of the last two years. Not sure what I size I actually wear now. How do I measure my feet?

Dear Linda from Dallas,
Congratulations on your weight loss and keeping it off for over 2 years! With weight loss comes a reduction in the width of your foot and at times even the length. Good idea to measure again at your new svelte weight! Here is a how to guide and the full guide plus size chart can be found by clicking here.

Step 1) Trace your barefoot on a piece of paper. Place weight on the larger foot. Hold a pencil straight up and trace a line around your foot (keep the line as tight as possible to your foot).

Step 2) Measure two perpendicular lines: one straight across the widest part of the foot, the other a straight (not diagonal) line from the toe to the heel.

Foot Measurement Guide

Foot Measurement Guide

Keep these two dimensions: Ball WIDTH and heel to toe LENGTH, on hand when you ask us about a shoe. Also, you must consider the shape of your feet. Thickness (muscularity), thinness, hammer toes, bunions and other shape features should be considered as you look at the size, width and shape of the shoe.

For bunion-proof shoes, you likely are looking for kitten heels, and shoes make of softer material. The Annie Geneva Brown Velvet Suede shoes are the perfect material for bunions.

Annie Geneva Brown Velvet Suede at DesignerShoes.com

Annie Geneva Brown Velvet Suede is a Low Heel Casual Flat

On the other hand, if you want to keep the same footwear without sacrificing heel height, may I recommend the Aerosoles Tapestry Red Patent heel give that va-va-voom look without forcing you to walk home barefoot!

Happy Holidays and please let us know the results of your measurements Linda!

Hammer Toe Tips

Q: My elderly aunt has very painful and difficult feet to fit.  She wears a size 11.5 and needs a wider rounded toe to accommodate her hammer toes, but has a narrow heel.  Also, she does better with her heel slightly higher than her toes, but not more than 1 inch.

Can you recommend any shoe styles for me to look at for her??

Thank you so much.

A: Dear Kristen-

Aren’t you the perfect grand daughter!  Were you trained or do you come by this compassion naturally?  A well brought up young lady is such a treasure!

I am in total sympathy with your grandmother, who I am imagining as an otherwise spry, relatively young 70.  Hammertoes are ….. well they are the pits.  Surgery doesn’t really work well.  Those little Dr. Scholls cushions are helpful but annoying because they slip around.  The hammertoes get corns and that is painful.  So keep that compassion flowing.

Yours truly, the Shoe Lady, is a size 11.5 with a narrow heel and with hammertoes.  So I bring more than the usual amount of expertise to this shoe question.

I recommend the big toe box, for sure.  When you can’t find a big toe box in shoes, shoes for a dressy occasion for example, get shoes that are either soft leather or fabric (like dyeables) and take them to a shoe repair shop to have the toe box stretched upward to accommodate those hammertoes.

Look at DesignerShoes.com’s SoftWalk brand styles:

For example, Jupiter style:

Softwalk Jupiter Navy at DesignerShoes.com

Jupiter by Softwalk is a Low Heel Casual Flat

Mary Jane straps are a great design feature when you want a wider toe box but have narrow heels.  It keeps the shoe on your foot!

Look at DesignerShoes.com’s Trotter’s brand styles:

For example, Heloise style:

Trotters Heloise Pewter Metal at DesignerShoes.com

Heloise by Trotters is a Mid Heel Dressy Loafer

A woven leather will give more flexibility on the top vamp.  The vamp comes higher up your foot so it stays on your foot better.  The texture makes any “toe bumps” less noticeable.

Whatever you do, do NOT buy styles that have reinforced leather, or toe cap seams across the top of the vamp where those hammer toes will hit.  That makes me wince just thinking about it!  A seam or a thicker piece of leather will be like steel or a rod against those poor defenseless toes.

Best to your Grams!

The Shoe Lady