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What shoes fit true-to-size?

gladhands

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I meaure as a 12D on the Brannock device, yet I don't have a single pair of "nice" shoes in US 12D. I typically wear 11.5D or E US and 11E UK. I don't have a lot of experience with quality EU sized shoes.

I understand different lasts vary in size, but it's off that almost any good shoe in my brannock measured size is too big, while in my square-toed, corrected grain wearingg days, everything fit. Even today, cheaper casual shoes, e.g. Sperrys seem to fit true-to-size.
 

makewayhomer

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I think most AE not in the "Park Avenue" last (I forget which one, #5 I think) fit TTS. also shoes like vintage Florsheim.
 

gladhands

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I've got a handfull of AEs, and none of them are in my Brannock measured size. I'm not the AE lastmaster or anything (that would be KRS ONE, I think), but I'm pretty sure they're not all on the 5.
 

Twotone

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Bit of a pointless question. What fits "true to size" for me may not for you. Try on as many makes and models as you can and buy the ones that fit you best.
 

NORE

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You may be like me, between sizes and cursed to wearing exclusively UK sized shoes or Allen Edmonds. Order your size in English shoes and see if your problem is solved (not UK sized for the US market).
 

kasper007

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UK sizing is a size smaller than US size. therefore a 11E UK does fit true to size, which in my experience is the case for most English shoes.
 

gladhands

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Originally Posted by Twotone
Bit of a pointless question. What fits "true to size" for me may not for you. Try on as many makes and models as you can and buy the ones that fit you best.

True-to-size should mean "as measured by the industry standard device". I'm not asking which shoes will fit my feet the best.
 

DWFII

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Originally Posted by gladhands
True-to-size should mean "as measured by the industry standard device". I'm not asking which shoes will fit my feet the best.
Which "standard" is that? Which "device" is that?
 

NORE

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Originally Posted by kasper007
UK sizing is a size smaller than US size. therefore a 11E UK does fit true to size, which in my experience is the case for most English shoes.

Yes, but if you are in between sizes i.e. 11.5 a British 11 should fit perfectly.
 

ebmk3891

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Isn't this largely dependent on the shoe type? For example, an AE style could be 10D while another style could be labeled as 10D, yet one would still feel slimmer because of where it tapers?
 

makewayhomer

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gladhands, I already gave you the answer. I don' think you are going to find shoes that fit more tts than most Allen Edmonds.

the fact that they don't fit you is an entirely different matter
 

well-kept

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Originally Posted by gladhands
Forgive my ignorance, but isn't the Brannock device considered the standard for measuring US shoe size?

Yes it is, but is is generally of limited use. A foot is a complex three-dimensional form, as is a shoe. Getting those two things to align is an art and a science. I believe that most people who have taken some care with fit will report that their "Brannock" size is approximate at best, well off the mark at worst. My best advice is to try on as many different rtw last styles as you can, in various sizes, until you find what works. Perhaps none of them will ever be right, in which case there is bespoke.
 

DWFII

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Originally Posted by gladhands
Forgive my ignorance, but isn't the Brannock device considered the standard for measuring US shoe size?
It might be a standard device for measuring foot size in a retail shoe store. It is virtually never referred to by lastmakers or shoemakers...manufacturers or bespoke. Furthermore it bears little or no relation to how last or shoes are sized. Within a company...such as...Allen Edmond (for lack of a better example) different last models may be sized slightly different and different shoe models will be sized entirely different. Bottom line: just because a shoe...or a last...is marked, say 9D, doesn't signify. Period. Ultimately, it is what the lastmaker or the shoe manufacturer says it is. And yes, sometimes...as often as possible without having to break a sweat...a shoe manufacturer will label a shoe a 9D, for instance and it will be within a half or a full size of actually being a 9 and within two widths of being a D. But it's as much accident as it is intent.
 

hoit1981

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In my experience the width measurement is incredibly important when sizing shoes. I have worn Church's, Loake's and others but none of them fit well as I have an incredibly wide foot (EEE). You might be a US 11.5 or UK 11 or whatever, but unless you get the correct width you'll find nothing works. After much searching I finally settled on the Allen Edmonds "Clifton" Oxford in Walnut (12EEE) which is by far the finest shoe I've owned.
 

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