When did shoe sizes change?

Roxy De La Lune

Roxy De La Lune

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Hi, hope I've posted in the right section for this question?

I understand the labels in vintage clothes and shoe sizes are to be read as smaller than todays sizes (don't know if I put that right, but I know you'll get me).

My query is to do with shoe sizes in particular.

Is there a specific year that this change can be pinned down to?

I am a UK 4. The 1970's platforms below are marked as 4 1/2, and they fit me OK but a size bigger (not that I'm likely to find one!) may be even more comfy.

Therefore, a vintage shoe marked size 5 is probably good for me.

Anyway, my question is when did the sizes shift, and what was the reason for the change?

It fascinates me :wow:
 
I think Jonathan addressed this question at some point and the answer lay somewhere in the realm of shoes sizes not being standardized...but i will wait to see what he says or will look for the old threads on it.

I know for myself, my modern size is 8M, but if i wear cheaper high heels, i need an 8.5. Or sometimes an 8.5N. In vintage I had one pair that was a 7.5, and the rest are 8 or 8.5. So I don't follow the "half size bigger in vintage" mold.
 
Even though I'm as sick as a dog (darn fever has come back), I can't seem to stay away from the guild!

LOL, I'm a Euro size 41 whch equals to a UK 7 or 8 (US 9 or 10) depending on the brand and this topic fascinates me too.
In fact, I tend to be the opposite when it comes to really antique shoes and then my size starts to settle in by the 40's and 50's. With antique shoes (Victorian to 1920's) , all the ones that have fit me really well have been marked as 7's but then it seems that by the 40's and 50's, the shoes that fit me are being marked a 8's.

NOW, it seems to have gone back to antique sizing- all the modern shoes I have bought for summer are 7's instead of the 8's I was buying 6 years ago! :puzzled:

Lei
 
I can't really answer your question, but I wanted to say I LOVE those shoes! I think so much of shoe sizing depends on not only the manufacturer, but the "last" it is made on. E.g., athletic shoes tend, in my experience to run very small. I take a 6 or 6 1/2 shoe, but a 6 1/2 or 7 in a jogging or training shoe. shoes made on what I think is called a "European" last--is that the right term for a dress-shoe last?--run larger. My last pair of high-quality golf shoes (which, sadly, my dog ate after I'd worn them only once) were on a dress last, and were size 6; my new ones are on an athletic one and are size 6 1/2.

I've had vintage size 6's fit me, and new ones not. I've also had vinty shoes in 6 1/2 that were too small. And I recently had one pair of vintage shoes that I <i>wished</i> ran small, but, alas, they appeared to be perfectly in tune with modern sizing.

I'm sure I'm not of any help, but at least you know that everybody seems to have this dilemma!
 
I think the other factor is that older shoes also had more widths available. I had a shoe question once where something was a 7 but it had two other numbers over eachother instead of just "1/2". I found out that it was describing the heel width. They were Cobbie loafer pumps from the 70s. Now the way that many different widths and variations are eliminate, the middle size "B" is really truly a "M" medium...meaning instead of it being "B" i relation to A, AA, B, C, etc widths, it seems to be an "average" - they just took the average width of the heel that people bought and the average width.

Now, you can easily find say 8N which is 8A, 8M (B), or 8W (c). Sometimes you still can find an 8AA. But anything else you are out of the department store and into a specialty shoe store most of the time.

I wonder if men have the same difficulty as women. But i will say DH wears usually a 10, but it really varies from a 9.5 to a 10.5 depending on the shoe. he really has to try them on. Boots tend to be pretty true to size 10 but dress shoes, its anyone's game
 
And as always.... stick to real foot measurements for best description & fits:
length - use a tape inside the shoe from toe to back of heel
width - can take the wide measurement across the ball of foot on the sole
heel height - back top edge of heel to floor.
 
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