Have you ever wondered about the proper shoe fit? Buying a shoe can be a reproving experience if you don’t know the answer to the question. Sometimes you might walk into a shoe store and baffle yourself by thinking about how much room should be in the toe area of a shoe.
Well, you are not the only one having such thoughts. To answer your questions we will be highlighting some factors you need to keep in mind to get the perfect fit with sufficient room for your toes.
To know how much room you need in the toe area to comfortably wear your shoes, you must be strict with some basic execution.
Measure your feet
Without knowing the measurement of your feet you are likely to make a salesman go crazy over finding the right size. For more professional measurement you can use a Bannock device. If it’s not accessible, simply get a paper, pen and ruler. Put your foot on the paper, draw the outlines and measure it with a ruler. Make sure you buy shoes that fit your larger feet. Yours, once you measure both feet, you will see that one is larger than the other.
Make Sure to Wear Socks
Measuring along with or without the socks will have a great difference. Wear the types of socks you usually wear so that you don’t ultimately end up with loose shoes.
Protect the Dress Shoes
Use a shoehorn, it can easily slide your feet on the base of the shoe and the back shoe dress will be protected from wrinkles and breaks.
Use Your Fingers to Check the Gap on the Rear
Once you’ve slid your feet in both shoes, use your index finger, put it between your heel and the shoe back. Your finger should fit in perfectly without being restricting or too loose. If you feel tight, you need a bigger shoe, if the finger room is too loose, get a smaller shoe.
Check the Toe Area Gap
Stand up wearing your new pair of shoes, first and foremost you must be comfortable. Once you stand you will see that there is a small gap in the shoe front, your toe area. The gap is something crucial for a perfect snug fit. The gap should be approximately ½ inches from your longest toe to the tip of your shoe.
Don’t think that having a gap means the shoe is bigger. It might be, only if the gap exceeds the desired limit as we mentioned. Without the gap, your feet will be cramped in the frontal zone and you will get blisters on your skin. To avoid friction and skin irritation always have a gap of ⅜ inches to ½ inches.
Time for Ramp Walk
Now that you have a desirable gap between your shoe tip and the toe, start to walk. This is where you check for the ultimate comfort of a new shoe. New shoes are not broken in yet, so your heels might slip a bit. Heel slip up to ½ inch is normal, if it exceeds you might need a smaller shoe.
As you walk, make sure the shoe doesn’t chafe anywhere or rub against your feet too aggressively.
Size of Your Toe Box
Make sure you are wearing something that has a deep toe box. Deeper toe boxes give you the desired amount of space needed to keep your feet relaxed. Your toes won’t rub against the nose of the shoe, so you won’t suppress blisters. A wider toe box will be a snug fit for your precious feet and give you enough room in the toe area of your shoe. A smaller toe box with no room in the toe area will likely cause hammertoes.
The Correct Width
If your feet width doesn’t match with the shoes, you will be in trouble, inducing pain sooner or later. Not having the right amount of width will make you push your feet forward and backwards causing you to cut out the gap in the front of your shoe with your toes. Too much rubbing unnecessarily will cause sores on your toes.
The Perfect Shoe Size
If you are wearing the perfect shoe size, you should have room between your toe and the tip of your shoe, around ½ inches. If the shoe fit is too restricting, the gap in the toe area will be tighter causing cramps. If the size of the shoe exceeds the correct measurement, You will have a mammoth gap in the toe area which is not ideal either. So we prefer you get something comfortable and fittable for your convenience.
Tip
When you wear the shoes, your feet should be in a snug position and not feel restricting. Now to know how much room should be in the toe area of a shoe, you can use your pinky finger to get a basic measurement of a perfect fit. Your hands’ pinky width is about half an inch. Put your finger and see if you have that gap on the toe area of the shoe. Like we said above, you need about ⅜ inches to ½ inches of gap between your toe and the shoe front. Your hands Pinky finger will give you a clear picture of the gap in the toe area is ok or not.
Final Thought
If you have read through the article, we hope now you know how much room should be in the toe area of a shoe. Always purchase a shoe that has the desirable gap upfront, and relief on the Achilles area as well. This will help you to slide your feet in and out easily. Check out the points we discussed above and get yourself a snug pair of shoes.
Reference:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hammertoe-and-mallet-toe/symptoms-causes/syc-20350839
