While there are established international standards for footwear sizing systems ( US, EU, Mondopont etc) Many brands publish their own “label size” in order to provide a better idea of the fitting or even change the gradation between sizes. Even the international size charts are benchmarked against the ideal foot length for a particular size.  While this is done with the best intentions, we understand that it is confusing to shoppers- who rarely know their foot length or width accurately.

There are several DIY measurement procedures recommended on almost every retailer, brand, and general information site, such as:

https://www.wikihow.com/Find-Your-Shoe-Size

or

https://www.healthyfeetstore.com/shoe-fitting-guide.html

While such methods provide a baseline guideline – the process is laborious and error-prone : (

However, if you are doing this, here is a list of common mistakes that are likely to happen, and please be mindful of the process.

 

1. Standing position: Unless the measurement is taken in a weight-bearing position, i.e standing the exercise is futile.  The optimum way is to stand with your feet slightly apart with equal weight on both legs.  You will need someone else to draw the outlines for you.

2.Paper crumpling & Toe cringing: Make sure you use clean & non-creased paper for this process. The paper is crumpled even slightly under your foot- the deviation will be substantial. Also, stand with your toes spread out comfortably.  

3. Foot Angle: Keep your foot a straight as possible. If your foot doesn’t fit on one paper, tape two sheets together and then do the process.

4. The angle of the pencil & line thickness: Using either a blunt pencil or not holding it straight will cause the line to inaccurate leading to inaccuracy in measurement. For best results, use a sharp pencil and hold it perpendicular to the ground. Bending either inwards or outwards will cause the line deviation.

5. Measuring the lines: Ensure your select the longest toe and the endpoint for the length & for the width, measure at the ballpoints even if your toe box is wider. As shoe width is only calibrated based on this ballpoint width.

6. Measuring directly in mm: Measuring in inches and converting to mm will loose some accuracy due to the fraction rounding. Find a ruler which is calibrated in mm to start with.

 Overall Error: Given the combination of factors that matter while taking these pictures to keep in mind this method only provides a ballpark reading and you will still need to order couple of sizes or actually try out the shoe.

Time to Disrupt is now!

Until recently there have been no alternatives to this process. While several companies have attempted this – Most people ask you to download an app and do fairly complicated photos. Based on our research of the last 4 years and over 50,000 data points collected we are proud to present a browser-based solution that requires one simple photo.

All you need to do is open this link on your mobile browser and click on the photo:

 

Everyone’s been sort of been using this term loosely for the last decade or more, but what does it really mean ?

Virtual fitting simply put means the ability to predict fit of a particular garment or footwear over the user body. In reality, this system is meant to help you simulate different fits – as if you were trying out an item.

Why is this so key ?

Given that several new brands launch every quarter and almost most them have never have physical shop – the only way you can try out their garments or shoe is by making the first purchase. Even if you get the first one right – every time there is a new style, new fabric there is size adjustment required. In the pre-online era, for each item manufactured, it was assumed – it will be tried out in the store.

In fact the whole sizing system was made about 350 years ago ( 1647 according to SATRA website ) for batch manufacturing and not really intended for online shopping.

How does Virtual fitting work ?

For virtual fitting to be successful it essential for the user’s body profile in some measured along with clothing or footwear measurement. Several virtual fitting companies are building technologies to capture a consumer’s body profile in the simplest and fastest way possible , which will definitely help in solving the issues.

However – just knowing that the garment is   “Medium” is not very useful as this provides no indication to the actual measurement. The key will be to build a smarter database off the actual products and help a standardization of the inventory.

Why is the problem acute in footwear ?

Unlike apparel- where wearing one size big or small in many cases maybe only an antithetical compromise- with footwear it functionally impossible. Either wearing a shoe too small or too big can a fair bit of trouble starting with blisters to sever back pain.

How do we hope to solve the problem?

We at www. shoesize.online have a quick and easy technology to measure your foot length and capture few other critical dimensions and shapes. We also work with footwear brands to help standardize the shoe sizing.
Our system provides a fairly accurate simulation of how the shoe would fit on your feet

What ‘s coming next ?

As more and more brands and retailers take their business online – virtual fitting rooms are expected to become a norm and who knows  might even become the default version in physical stores also.