Shoe fitting – Why my shoes don’t fit? (Part 1)

“Why my shoes don’t fit?”  Why is shoe fitting not that easy like to choose a small, medium, large or extra-large shirt?

Many people having trouble with their shoes as shoe technician I’m listening very often these questions. “My size is 8 and the shoe doesn’t fit, so I go for  8 1/2 and it’s not really better and if I take than a size 9 my foot slips out of the shoe. Why is it such a problem to find the right shoe?”.

Let’s get started:  Why my shoes don’t fit? Almost everybody believes that shoe fitting has to do with the shoe sizes and the shoe length. Well, yes of course it has also to do with shoe sizes, but not only and  it has not too much to do with the actual length of the shoe.

“It’s not the length?” I haven’t said that length is not important, but the length of a shoe is certainly not the only metrics to look at, like you can see in the image below:
image-12.jpg

Fig. 34 shows the shoe of the unfortunate Duke
Montgomery, a victim of the relentless animosity of Richelieu. It is of black leather, with a large red heel, and
entirely covered with ornaments; tradition says it was
gathered on the scaffold. Fig. 35 represents a highly
ornamented lady’s shoe of this period.  Awhile Fig. 36 is a shoe worn during the Regency. The heel is very high and not unlike a barber’s wig-stand; the front, however, is rather graceful in shape.

Let’s try have a look at “shoe fitting” from am an different angle. How would you describe to an alien “what is a shoe?” Most of us would start like … a shoe is something which has to protect your feet…A good start, but then your shoes might look like these:

ag_safety.jpg

Industry safety boot with a steel-toe-cap and steel mid-plate. We have developed this boot a few years back and sold it also quite well, but I don’t think, that we are looking here for them!

So, if it’s not about protection alone and it’s not about shoe length, then what

are we missing?

If we like to understand and solve our footwear problems, we need to look at another three important points:

  1. What is a shoe (and what not!)
  2. How shoes are actually developed
  3. What type of foot do you have?

In the next posts, you will find some valid information’s and introductions. This article series is for everyone, easy to understand and will hopefully give you a good feeling for quality and fashionable shoes, as well it will help you to understand your own feet better.

Please continue reading – we’ll have a look at the important shoe components. Get yourself a copy of the free e-book and shoe size guide “Why my shoes don’t fit?” with feet measurement instructions.

Andre Gerdes   (…the shoe man…)

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