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When it comes to off the shelf shoes, there’s often an elephant in the room. That elephant is the natural variation in she size and shape of human feet. Standardised shoe sizing works wonderfully for most people, but not everyone.
If you have particularly wide or narrow feet, you may find it difficult to find shoes that are a good fit.
Fit is particularly important for leather shoes. Leather shoes are designed to mould to fit the shape of the wearer’s foot over time, but if your foot is a completely different size or shape to your shoes, this just won’t happen. Not only does this mean that your shoes may be uncomfortable, it can also lead to cracked leather and a much shorter lifespan for your shoes.
If you have non-standard feet, you’re likely to need to invest a bit of extra time into finding shoes that fit well.
You may discover that certain shoemaker brands are more suited to you than others. Shoemaking companies use different lasts, and so some brands are generally wider or narrower fitting than others. Once you have found a shoemaking brand that is a good fit for your feet, you may want to return to them for future pairs of shoes, too.
Alternatively, you may want to look into bespoke shoemaking. With bespoke shoes, the shoes will be built to your specifications, using your exact measurements. This means that at the end of the process you will be presented with a pair of shoes that really are the perfect fit.
Well fitting leather shoes are designed to feel like they’re part of your feet. If you often find that your shoes are uncomfortable or unwieldy, it’s quite probably because you’re wearing the wrong shaped shoes.
If you think bespoke shoes could be the next step for you, here’s an insight into our process.