Question about Shoe Fit?

There's a small space between your toes and the tip of the shoe. It should feel comfortable. Ask a salesperson when you try the show on. An inch sounds like too much but maybe not. Best learned IRL.

Depends on the size. Sabbage says one full section beyond the length of the foot (LOF)...for medium round toed lasts. A "section" is 1/11th of the foot length...so roughly one inch for 8, 9, 10, a little less for sizes below that and a little more for larger sizes.

This is for a "classic" style shoe. For fashion forward, maybe inch and a quarter.

The rough and ready rule in the US is the 'rule of thumb"--the width of a man's thumb (about 5/8") beyond the LOF for wide round toed shoes, more for narrower toes.

Beyond a certain point the toes of the foot cannot control the insole at the end of the shoe and the shoe toe will curl up and the toe stiffener will look like it no longer belongs to the shoe.

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Edited by DWFII - 11/13/12 at 7:43am

Can you say something about "arch length?" This would appear to produce substantial variation in the length of shoe beyond the toe if one fits to arch rather than overall foot length?
 

Arch length doesn't have anything to do...for good or ill...with the shoe length or the SLL (standard last length). But it has everything to do with proper fit.

Ideally, a shoe will be fit to the customer's unique arch length...also known as "heel to ball" length. Since some people have short toes and some have long toes, the H-B is really the only reliable datum that can determine the proper size of shoe for that foot.

Of course there are industry accepted "standards" for the relationship between the H-B length and the SLL. But in use, this varies from one manufacturer and/or one model of last to another. And is often based more on perceived fashion trends or even economic considerations than on sound anatomical principle. Some people have H-B measurements that don't even begin to correlate to with industry standards. Compounding that is the fact that it is the rare individual who has two feet that are exactly the same length or have the same H-B.

But the accepted procedure for determining foot size--a measurement taken from the back of the heel to the end of the toe (also known as the "stick") is, at the end of the day, deeply and fundamentally flawed.