Is it me or has shoe sizing changed?

[LiveLongAndBright]

Either shoes in the U.K have been resized or my feet have shrunk!

I used to be a standard 4 (37), but these days am a 3 (36).

I know vanity sizing for clothes is a thing but has the same happened to shoes?

[soulrider]

I haven't noticed that sizes have shrunk, but they do seem to be less consistent. I used to be able to guarantee a 5 would fit, now it's pot luck.

[Plump82]

I agree. I used to always be able to buy a size 5 and they would be fine. Im finding more and more i need a 4.

[Bambamber]

Have you lost weight recently? My feet shrunk a size when I lost a fair bit of weight

[WinterHeatWave]

Yep, 6.5 down to a solid 6 here.
Vanity sizing gets everywhere. Online returns must be massive

[dementedpixie]

I find I need a bigger size these days - an 8 rather than a 7

[ShowOfHands]

Me too. Size 5 here, occasionally a 5.5. Suddenly, I'm a 4 but all my old shoes (some 20yrs old in fact) still fit.

[GraceMarks]

I haven't found that they've got longer as such, but I have noticed more and more that there are a lot of "wide fit" styles. In places like New Look and Debenhams, there's sometimes more of those than standard fit. It's annoying to me because, although I am quite fat, I don't have wide feet and they come up really loose-fitting on me.

[NearWildHeaven]

Yes! I've been saying this for ages. I'm a 3, which was hard enough before. Now I'm slip slopping out of shoes all over the place. It's a nightmare

[Mmmmdanone]

I think so. I used to be a 3 and now 2.5. so hard to find adult shoes!

[isabellerossignol]

I haven't noticed them shrinking either, but like another poster, I find them inconsistent.

[thenightsky]

Yes. I thought I must be going mad or my feet were playing games!

I used to be a standard 6.5. Could buy on line and guarantee 6.5 would fit.

Shoes I currently own and bought over the last 2 years very from 5 to 8.

[NearWildHeaven]

X post! We need a support group for "former size 3s"

[flumpybear]

I'm with @dementedpixie - used to be a 7.5 could squeeze into a 7 sometimes, now it's an 8 or I'm crippled

[BlueSkiesLies]

YES!

I was a 7.5 or 8 and now am 7 or 7.5

Maybe it is the wider fitting a PP mentioned as I have wide toes which mean I needed a bigger size to fit the middle toes in.

[PrismGuile]

Always been a 4 and I'm still a 4 🤷‍♀️

[NothingTraLaLa]

Yes, I've noticed the vanity sizing. As I have always been a small size 3 (tending towards 2.5), it really boils my piss that it's now so difficult to get shoes that fit.

[PrismGuile]

Wait no! I'm lying I bought a 3 in M&S!

[LiveLongAndBright]

Thing is though why on EARTH would vanity sizing be a thing for shoes?!

I mean I get that I’d rather think I was a smaller dress size but feet??? Who cares what size their feet are???

[chasegirl]

I found the same. Been a definite 5 for years. Recently found that 5 is too big in all the shops I have tried. I have not changed weight.

4 or 4.5 seems to be my new size

[emeraldmoon]

They definitely have! I use to be a size 3, now I have to buy kids size 2 or occasionally a 1.5 😭

[Treaclepie19]

Yep! I was a 7 or a 6.5. Now happily in a 6.

[ToastyFingers]

Yes! Used to be a 6, maybe a 7 in sandals now I'm buying a 5.5

[ToastyFingers]

Can fit in kids docs now though, so I'm saving some cash at least.

[GraceMarks]

If it is vanity sizing, which I'm not convinced it is, it'll be because having teensy weensy dainty little lady feet is seen as being more feminine and, since you can't really change the size of your feet without chopping bits off, reclassifying the sizes is all they can do.

As with clothing sizes, don't blame the manufacturers for trying to give us what they think we want, blame the societal standards that make women place their value in how little space they take up.

[ChorleyFMcominginyourears]

I used to be a 7 and am now a 5!