General Shoe Size Question

[Almighty1]

Greetings everyone:

I have a question, supposed one brand of Men's dress shoes such as Ferragamo in their Tramezza line. Assuming that size 9D was too narrow and size 9E and 9EE were not available even to order and 9 1/2EE which was the one that one physically tried but it left a 1/3 gap in the rear of the shoe, how well would a 9 1/2D fit? Because I know Neiman-Marcus as a example for the local San Francisco store says they only carry shoes in the D width and if one needs a 9 1/2 wide, then get a 10D instead. Thanks!

 

[NoVaguy]

you need to try them on. it really depends. it also depends on how much tolerance you give for a "good fit".

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by NoVaguy

you need to try them on. it really depends. it also depends on how much tolerance you give for a "good fit".

I second this advice, but generally a shoe 1/2 size larger will also be one letter width wider. So a 9 1/2D will be the same width as a 9E, meaning 9 1/2D is both longer and wider than a 9D. IIRC, the width difference between two adjacent letter widths (e.g. D and E) is 3mm.

 

[Almighty1]

Interesting. I thought the width would stay the same if it's D from a 9D to a 9 1/2D but only the length will be longer. Are D widths from other brands slightly wider than Ferragamo Tramezza's?

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by Almighty1

Interesting. I thought the width would stay the same if it's D from a 9D to a 9 1/2D but only the length will be longer.

Nope. Not true, in general.

Are D widths from other brands slightly wider than Ferragamo Tramezza's?

I can't give a general answer. Exact sizing always depends on make, model, and the specific last (form) on which a shoe is made. So you cannot even rely on all Tramezzas in, say, a 9D to have the same width. They might be constructed on different lasts. As an example, I own both the Merald2 and Filosofo monkstraps. The Filosofo has a substantially narrower toebox and took longer to become comfortable.

 

[Almighty1]

From the Nordstrom salesperson, it seems that they say Ferragamo's are narrower in general to other makes. As far as width for shoes with laces, is the width actually measured when the lace holes are close together or when it's wide apart?

Speaking about shoe sizing since I haven't bought dress shoes recently but how much does size differ as a number between dress shoes and athetic shoes? I've read that it's 1/2 size difference.