Brannock Device Measurement

I picked up a Brannock Device on eBay last week. I've measured myself a couple times now using these instructions. My measurement is not that close to the size shoe I wear. My foot measures one size larger and and two sizes narrower. What are people's thoughts on the Brannock Device? Does anyone else have a large discrepancy between their measured and actual shoe size?

I'm also curious about this, though I don't have a great answer. It's possible that the sizes used by shoemakers have become so variable that they no longer correspond to the Brannock device.

The most obvious reason the size you get on the Brannock and the size you commonly wear are out-of-sync is that you are wearing the wrong size shoe. Post a photo of your shoes and maybe another one with your foot in the shoe (in profile). Sometime it's obvious just from a glance whether a shoe fits.

The second most obvious reason that there is a discrepancy is that shoe sizes are whatever the make wants them to be. For instance, it is a thinly disguised secret that many makers of women's shoes re-label the lasts (or have the lastmaker do it) so that what is really a size eight by general consensus is now labeled a size seven.

If I have a run of lasts made for me I don't care about sizes...I only care about measurements. Sometimes I will accept the lastmaker's designation and sometimes...just for the sake of consistency...I will ask the lastmaker to relabel the model for me.

Have you ever noticed that you wear a size X in one brand and a size Y in another brand? Same thing. Maybe even the same last--the size designation, while, perhaps for the sake of convention, not too out of line, is, nevetheless, arbitrary.

I have never, ever seen anybody wear the width the Brannock device tells them to. I measure (nominally) a 9B on said instrument, and there is no way in Hell I could squeeze my foot into a B on any last (I've tried, just to satisfy my curiosity). When I sold shoes, I told people the device was only a starting point, and that different lasts fit differently and inconsistently. I have everything from 8.5D to 9.5D in my closet, and they all fit well. Most are 8.5E or 9D, but certainly not all.

I had customers (and a father) who had previously bought a certain width based on salesmen's urgings that if they don't buy what the Brannock device tells them to and "break them in" (read: stretch them no matter the pain), the shoes will never fit. My dad has four pairs of Johnston and Murphy dress shoes just sitting in his closet because of this, and he's still plenty pissed about it.

Buy what fits. Numbers are basically meaningless.

The Brannock is just a generic measuring devise. From that measurement you need to make a judgement based on the particular shoe.

Originally Posted by LeatherSOUL

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The Brannock is just a generic measuring devise. From that measurement you need to make a judgement based on the particular shoe.

I measure between a 9C and a 9D on the Brannock, but I wear anywhere from an 8 (Converse) to a 10 (Nike), including all sizes in between.

When I get around to it, I should post some scans from an actual book on how to fit shoes properly. It was supposedly standard issue to salesmen of fine stores many decades ago.

..

Originally Posted by Teacher

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I have never, ever seen anybody wear the width the Brannock device tells them to. I measure (nominally) a 9B on said instrument, and there is no way in Hell I could squeeze my foot into a B on any last (I've tried, just to satisfy my curiosity). When I sold shoes, I told people the device was only a starting point, and that different lasts fit differently and inconsistently. I have everything from 8.5D to 9.5D in my closet, and they all fit well. Most are 8.5E or 9D, but certainly not all.

I had customers (and a father) who had previously bought a certain width based on salesmen's urgings that if they don't buy what the Brannock device tells them to and "break them in" (read: stretch them no matter the pain), the shoes will never fit. My dad has four pairs of Johnston and Murphy dress shoes just sitting in his closet because of this, and he's still plenty pissed about it.

Buy what fits. Numbers are basically meaningless.

Interesting. Come to think of it, the last time I measured myself on the Brannock at a Nike store, the reading might have actually been a 9C, but I've never been able to wear anything narrower than a D width (I've also tried).

those brannock devices i believe are outdated. i dont know.

i try them all the time when im at the dept stores just for kicks and they always say im barely 9D (not even wide) american.

well, that is completely wrong, because i CANNOT wear any 9D shoe ever they are all impossibly too tight. (except for prada though, they run too large).

i wear 9.5E UK in most Lobb lasts and 9.5/10D in EG and 10D in most every other shoe out there.

The device is good for a starting point though it is accurate for some things. We use one to size our students for firefighting boots and it is dead on. In my experience you can't measure yourself accurately, someone else has to read your measurement.

I thought you weren't supposed to be able to measure yourself on the brannock. My understanding was that you needed to stand up straight and have someone look at the measurement up close as your foot is fully expanded. You can't do this sitting down.

Also, keep in mind that the brannock does nothing about measuring a high instep or "thick" toes. All these factors would make the suggested size too tight.

well obviously. if you sit down or stand and look down slanted you'll get a different angle on the numbers or a less-weighted foot to cover more area on the device. i know that. but i have measured with my wife and a few times with the sales rep doing it for me. same number

Originally Posted by pebblegrain

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I thought you weren't supposed to be able to measure yourself on the brannock. My understanding was that you needed to stand up straight and have someone look at the measurement up close as your foot is fully expanded. You can't do this sitting down.

I do realize your foot expands and is longer when you're standing and your body weight is on it vs. sitting. I did all the adjustments sitting down and read the measurements standing up. Bent down to make further adjustments when necessary.

Originally Posted by pebblegrain

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Also, keep in mind that the brannock does nothing about measuring a high instep or "thick" toes. All these factors might make the suggested size too tight, depending on the last.

+1 and fixed.

A Brannock device would make a nice wall ornament today. Something just occured to me..perhaps the flaw in the device was always well known, and secret instructions were given to shoe stores; a compensation factor if you will. This would make every shoe salesman feel more important and skilled so he wouldn't quit his thankless and underpaid job. Now he's a skilled Brannock Operator , respected in the same league as a doctor almost. Slightly off-topic, here's a wonderful blast from the past short film to see You And Your Work http://www.archive.org/details/you_and_your_work You can download this video it won't take long. Sorry I couldn't find it on YouTube.