Buying the perfect pair of shoes online can be a challenge, especially for those with non-standard sizing.

In the past you may have fallen in love, guessed your size and pressed BUY and when the shoes have arrived it’s been a Cinderella’s sisters’ scenario. Just a few millimetres too big or small may as well be acres when it comes to fit.

All that ends right now. Here at Sante + Wade we want to make it as easy as possible for you to have the perfectly-fitting shoes of your dreams delivered to your door. Here’s how:

- Each shoe company has different standards for sizing, so you may be a different size with us than you are with another brand

- We use European sizing rather than UK sizing as there are smaller increments between sizes so you’re more likely to find a better fitting shoe

- Much to the delight of our customers, we have two width fittings for all our designs

- Our standard fit is commonly known as a C/D fitting. This means you’ll be able to wiggle your toes in our shoes, but your feet won’t be swimming in space

- Our wider fitting is an E/EE , which some brands call an ‘extra wide’ fitting. This size is perfect for you if you have swollen feet or large bunions

- If your instep is on the high side, consider styles that are low at the front. For example, you may like to think about our pumps and loafers

- All our shoes are made with luxuriously soft leather. However, material does affect fit so please remember that patent and embossed leather may be stiffer than their nappa and suede cousins due to their production processes

In a well-fitting shoe there should be enough room for you to move your toes while the ball of your foot sits comfortably in the widest part of the shoe.

In high-heeled pumps, your toes should be lying flat next to each other and not squashed together.

Whatever the style, if you can stick a finger in between the heel of your foot and the heel of your shoe, then you probably need to go down a size. Make sure you have around a centimetre of space between your longest toe and the top of your shoe.
Many people with wider feet buy shoes which are longer and not wider in size. This leads to wardrobes overflowing with shoes which are not quite right, and which never get worn. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you know the size which will fit you before you order.

Your shoe size is a combination of both the length and the width of your foot, so the best way to determine your size is to measure your feet. It will be worth it when you’re proudly sporting your new shoes, and you won’t need to return them.

Here’s how to do it:

• Your feet expand throughout the day, so always measure your feet in the afternoon or evening, when they will have reached their maximum size

• Find a piece of A4 or A3 paper, depending on the size of your feet, as well as a pencil, a ruler and a tape measure

• Sit down on a chair somewhere you have firm floor underneath you and place your piece of paper on the floor. Please make sure the floor is totally flat – carpet or other bouncy or fluffy floor types will give inaccurate results

• With your knee at a right angle, place one foot on the paper. Then, holding your pencil vertically and perpendicular to the sheet, mark the bottom of your heel and the tip of your longest toe. You can draw around your entire foot if you feel artistic, but you don’t need to – the length of your longest toe will determine your foot length

• Remove your foot from the paper and, using a ruler, measure the distance from the very bottom of your heel to the top of your longest toe. Then subtract around 0.5 centimetres to account for the width of the pencil. Write down the measurement of your foot

• Do the same thing with your other foot – they may be different sizes – and write down the measurement of your foot

• Circle a tape measure around the ball of your foot at the widest part, including your bunion if you have one, and write down the measurement. This is the width of your foot. Learning from scientific studies, we measure width using the circumference around your foot rather than the width of your sole for more accurate results. Once you’ve done this for one foot, move on to the other

• Check our chart to find the size and width that corresponds to your measurements. If you are in between sizes, or if one foot is longer than the other, then choose to go up a size for the perfect fit. Likewise if one foot is wider than the other and your are in between widths, then choose the wider fit option.

UK	EUR	US	LENGTH (INCHES)	LENGTH (CM)	GIRTH (STANDARD)	GIRTH (WIDE)
4.5	37	7	9.2	23.3	22.1	22.8
5	38	7.5	9.4	24	22.6	23.3
6	39	8.5	9.7	24.6	23.1	23.8
7	40	9.5	10	25.3	23.6	24.3
7.5	41	10	10.2	26	24.1	24.8
8	42	10.5	10.5	26.6	24.6	25.3
9	43	11.5	10.7	27.3	25.1	25.8
10	44	12.5	11	28	25.6	26.3
10.5	45	13	11.3	28.6	26.1	26.8
11	46	13.5	11.5	29.3	26.5	27.3

If you have any questions about shoe sizing, measurements or anything shoe-related, please contact us here: hello@santewade.com