Width fittings, explained properly

The letters are not a standard

There is no legal or industry-wide definition of a shoe width fitting in the UK. Each manufacturer sets its own last widths and labels them however it likes. That is why you can be a comfortable EEEE in one brand and swimming in another's, and it is why buying by letter alone is guesswork.

What is consistent is the direction of travel: each step up the alphabet adds girth at the ball of the foot, roughly 5–8 mm per fitting depending on the maker. What varies is where the extra room goes, and whether depth increases with it. A brand that adds width without depth produces a shoe that is wide and still uncomfortable.

What our fittings add

Figures are indicative girth increases at the ball of the foot on a UK 7. Width fittings are not standardised across the industry — one brand's EEEE is another's 4E, and neither is a legal definition. Always fit by girth measurement, not by letter.

Girth is the measurement that matters

Length gets all the attention and decides very little about comfort. The measurement that decides whether a shoe fits is girth — the circumference around the widest part of your foot, across the ball, measured standing with weight through the foot.

Take a tape measure round the widest part of the foot, over the joints at the base of the big toe and the little toe. Do it at the end of the day, standing, both feet, and write down the larger figure. The home measuring guide walks through it with a printable gauge.

Signs you are in the wrong fitting

The shoe leaves a red line across the top of the foot. Your little toe or the joint below it burns after twenty minutes. The upper bulges over the sole at the sides — that means the foot is wider than the platform underneath it. You have bought a size up to get width, and now the heel slips. Or you take your shoes off the moment you get home, every day, without thinking about it.

Any one of those means go a fitting wider, not a size longer.

Width and depth are different things

A foot can be wide and shallow, or narrow and deep. Bunions need width. Clawed or hammer toes need depth. Swelling needs both, plus instep volume. Orthotics need depth specifically. When a shoe is described only as wide, ask what happened to the toe box height — depth is the quieter half of fit and the more common cause of nail and knuckle damage.

Between two fittings? Go wider

Feet swell through the day, in hot weather, on long days on your feet and with age. A shoe that is slightly generous can be tightened by the straps. A shoe that is slightly tight cannot be made bigger, and the pressure it creates is the thing that damages skin. With adjustable straps the cost of going a fitting wider is close to zero.

Common questions

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