Lifestyle

Shoe & Clothing Size Converter

Convert shoe sizes between US, UK, EU and Japanese standards for men, women and children, and translate clothing sizes across regions. Sizing systems grew up independently, so the same foot is a different number in each country — and brands vary on top of that. Enter a size to see the equivalents and the underlying foot length in millimetres, which is the one measurement that does not lie.

How to use this tool

  1. Choose the category: men, women or children.
  2. Enter a shoe size and select which region’s system that number belongs to.
  3. Read the equivalents in every other region, plus the foot length in millimetres.
  4. Optionally pick a clothing alpha size (S, M, L…) to see its regional equivalents too.
  5. Because brands differ, use the result as a guide and confirm with the maker’s own chart.

The formula

Every shoe scale is a different way of encoding foot length. The tool matches your size to a reference row keyed on foot length in millimetres, then reads across to the other regions.

foot length (mm) ↔ regional size (from reference table) EU size ≈ (foot length in cm + ~1.5) × 1.5 nearest row chosen when no exact match
last
The foot-shaped mould a shoe is built on; brands differ
foot length
The physical measurement every scale encodes

The relationship between systems is not perfectly linear, so published conversion tables (used here) are more reliable than a single formula.

Worked examples

US to European

Given
Men’s US 9
Result
EU 42.5, UK 8.5

A men’s US 9 is about a 270 mm foot, which maps to EU 42.5 and UK 8.5.

Buying from a UK site

Given
Women’s US 8
Result
UK 5.5, EU 39

US women’s sizes run about 2.5 numbers above UK sizes, so a US 8 is a UK 5.5.

Japanese sizing

Given
Men’s US 10
Result
JP 28 cm

Japanese sizes are simply the foot length in centimetres, so a 280 mm foot is size 28.

Frequently asked questions

Because the systems were created separately. The US and UK scales both count in barleycorns (a third of an inch) but start from different points, so they differ by about half a size. The EU “Paris point” scale and the Japanese centimetre scale are different again. They all describe the same feet, just with different numbers.

They follow standard published equivalents and are a reliable starting point, but shoe fit varies a lot by brand and style. Two shoes marked the same size can fit differently, so use this to get close and rely on the maker’s chart or a try-on for the final choice.

Stand on a sheet of paper, mark the back of the heel and the tip of the longest toe, and measure the distance in millimetres. That length is the most dependable input; match it to the foot-length figure the tool shows rather than trusting a remembered size.

The scales don’t line up perfectly, so an exact size in one system can fall between sizes in another. The tool shows the nearest standard size and tells you when it has rounded, so you know to consider the neighbour size too.

Yes. Children’s scales restart and overlap with adult ranges, so they use a separate table. Kids’ feet grow quickly, so measure often and leave a little growing room rather than buying exactly to length.