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by curlywhirrly on October 20th, 2004

curlywhirrly

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What is the relationship between height and shoe size?

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Answers. 45 helpful answers below.

  • by lynnenorth on October 13th, 2005

    lynnenorth

    There is a closer relationship between shoe size and limb size than there is between shoe size and overall height. Unless something has interrupted normal patterns of growth, then the length of the foot from heel to tip of the big toe is exactly the length of the forearm between the inside of the elbow and the bend of the wrist. This has to do with how limb growth is genetically "balanced".

    Limb growth is related to overall body length in a slightly more complicated fashion, as it is very sensitive to nutrition. The length of the torso is generally determined more by genes than nutrition, but the length of the limbs is only partly genetic, and is partly due to the quality of diet and amount of protein that the mother gets while the individual is developing in the womb.

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  • by iwnit on July 3rd, 2007

    iwnit

    1) "Results
    The predicted percent for the ratio between foot size and height was 15%. The actual range for the
    percent foot size/height was 13.9 to 16.7% (variation range of -1.1 to +1.7). The equation from the plot of
    foot length versus height (y = 60.424 + 4.246*x) found that the relationship was 15.2%. The equation
    from the plot of shoe size versus height (y = 137.096 + 3.761*x) found the relationship was 17.5%.
    Conclusions/Discussion
    The foot measurement yielded important predictive information about the individual's height. Valuable
    assistance in solving crimes is gained through comparing shoe impression casts with actual shoes.
    Identifying marks and wear patterns can be used to match the shoe with the print to the exclusion of all
    others. Bones, and impressions left by foot bones, are key in solving many crime cases."
    Source and further information:
    http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/History/2002/Projects/J1003.pdf

    2) "Foot length is however different to shoe length.
    Shoeprint length and shoe size is positively
    correlated and increases linearly HOWEVER shoe size
    can only give an estimation of height.
    Difficulties include variation in the style of the sole
    and heel that influences the variability of the imprint
    left by shoes of the same size."
    Source:
    http://www.clt.uwa.edu.au/__data/page/112506/fsp09_anthropometry.pdf

    Further information:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_size

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  • by Pharoah on April 20th, 2009

    Pharoah

    There is infact a strong relationship between foot size and height, I am writing a report on the subject, I have interviewed and collected data from over 200 people. When viewed on a scatter graph there is a definite line or trend between foot size and height only proving that there is a relation between the two.

    Hope this helps

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  • by Ironhead on March 10th, 2009

    Ironhead

    I dont know if there is...but my size 15EE keeps my 6'5" frame from falling over.

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  • by Anonymous on November 18th, 2006

    Anonymous

    I think there a relationship between height and shoe size. I am a 5'9" male you wears a 9 1/2-10, but the funny thing is I measure only a size 9 in mens and 10 in womens. I have noticed women now average a 9 in womens and men average size 11. Height for a women has increased to 5'5" and men I believe is 5'11". With the increase in height shoe size will also increase. Women who are 5'6"-5'10" I would say majority of them wear a 9-11 and men who are 5'10"-6' would wear 10 1/2-12.

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  • by theredbaron on May 9th, 2007

    theredbaron

    For women, it's not necessarily true. It's not unusual for a woman's feet to grow (lengthwise) after giving birth. I know my mother was a size 9 when she got married at age 29, but sometime in her 30s grew to a size 11. She was 5'8" tall. I'm also 5'8", but I wear a size 8. I've never been pregnant and am almost through my 30s, so I think I'm safe! :)

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  • by Anonymous on November 14th, 2006

    Anonymous

    I would say the average height for a man is around 5'10 1/2 with and average shoe size of and eleven. I would say the average height of a women is still around 5' 4" with and average of a size 9 foot. The funny now is I just bought a pair of running shoes a size 10 in mens and I am a 5'9" male. When I measured my feet on the womens foot scale I was only a size 10 womens. When I measured on the mens I was barely a size 9. I think shoes have changed size now because more women wear a size 11 and that would we the old sizing for a nine in mens, now a size eleven womens would be size nine in mens. I even wear a 9 1/2 in boots. What is even crazier a women friend of mine is 5'9" and we have the same size shoe. I wish I wore atleat a size eleven in mens.

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  • by Anonymous on July 3rd, 2007

    Anonymous

    nothing

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  • by Akh7786 on February 17th, 2012

    Akh7786

    I'm 5'6", female and wear a women's 11.5. The limb size and foot size correlation makes sense to me, as I have long fingers, arms, legs, and of course feet for my height!

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  • by Akh7786 on February 17th, 2012

    Akh7786

    I am 5' 6" (female) and wear a size 11.5 in women's. The limb size correlation makes sense, as I have very long fingers, arms and legs (and of course, feet) for my height.

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  • by Anonymous on September 27th, 2007

    Anonymous

    I am a 5'3 male with size 9.5 dress shoes and 10 sneakers. I think it is genetic, my father is about my height (1-2 inches taller, I was born premature, thats what I tell myself) and he has about the same size feet and hands.

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  • by Topher on August 9th, 2005

    Topher

    Tough to say much more than "the taller you are, the larger feet you 'should' have".

    Let me give you some examples. I have a friends brother who is 6' 10". You can find him in a crowd anyday, but his shoe size is mens 11. I have another friend who is barely 5' 10", if that. (I think he lies about the height) but his shoe size is a 13, maybe a 14 now.
    More examples of the lack of relationship between shoe and height: My mother knows someone 5'10" with a size 8 shoe and someone else 5'6" with a size 10 shoe. She didn't tell me much more.

    As an average rule of thumb, (no fact, just what I have concluded) the average man has a size 10-12 shoe size. The average woman has a size 7-8 shoe in womens, 5-6 in mens.

    Average man height is 5' 10"
    Average woman height is 5' 6"

    Now remember, that this is just the average.

    It is said that in China they used to tie womens feet with rope or cord when the woman was between the ages of 6-8. This made it so that when the woman grew, her feet would stay the same size and not reach that size 7-8 shoe potential. "Why?", you may ask yourself. Well, they said it was to make them "pretty" but in reality was so the women couldn't leave the house.

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  • by pa_leo on October 14th, 2009

    pa_leo

    Anybody noticed (shoemakers,scientists) that our (human) foot (same as hands) are actually shrinking; contrary to height which is increasing (secular trend, Tanner)?

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  • by Gari on July 23rd, 2008

    Gari

    "There is a closer relationship between shoe size and limb size than there is between shoe size and overall height. Unless something has interrupted normal patterns of growth, then the length of the foot from heel to tip of the big toe is exactly the length of the forearm between the inside of the elbow and the bend of the wrist. This has to do with how limb growth is genetically "balanced".

    Limb growth is related to overall body length in a slightly more complicated fashion, as it is very sensitive to nutrition. The length of the torso is generally determined more by genes than nutrition, but the length of the limbs is only partly genetic, and is partly due to the quality of diet and amount of protein that the mother gets while the individual is developing in the womb."
    So true the length of your forearm (surprisingly) is exactly the same length as your foot (unless you have some kinda of growth disorder like acromegaly/gigantism). and people who have longer arms and legs (relatively) generally have bigger (longer) hands and feet as well!

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  • by Mistress_of_Paranoia on March 10th, 2009

    Mistress_of_Paranoia

    It is no definite relationship but the idea of it goes the taller the person, the larger the shoe size. This is because the taller the person it, the bigger the base needs to be. Without it a person would be too top heavy. The same if you were to build a tower with legos or something. haha
    I'm 5'9'' and wear a size 10 womens, size 8 mens

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  • by hauser1234 on March 12th, 2009

    hauser1234

    im 16 years old and im 5'7 . i wear a size 11 1/2 shoe.

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  • by Big Al on December 2nd, 2009

    Big Al

    Well. I think it depends on the family history. I know someone who is 17 and is 6'3'' but wears a 15/16 and is done growing: But i also know a couple of people who are 6'10'' and only wear 15's(for example, Tyler Hansborough, former UNC basketball player). I just turned 16, i wear a 17, and I'm 6'6'', but im not done growing. It definitely has some relation, but it ultimately depends on family history

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  • by Anonymous on March 10th, 2009

    Anonymous

    I'm 5'6" and have a shoe size of 6-7 men (depending on brand). Apparently, I have very small feet for my height. My forearm is about 2 inches longer than my feet. I suspect that Asians have smaller feet-to-height ratios than other ethnicities, even when the fact that Asians are shorter in general is taken into consideration.

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  • by Gari on July 29th, 2008

    Gari

    People who are taller should have bigger feet (hence bigger shoe size) because bigger people need a larger support base for their body. But that isn't necessarily the case. Sometimes a shorter person may have larger feet than somebody who's taller.

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  • by Garcia enigma on October 16th, 2007

    Garcia enigma

    not really
    im 6 foot
    and i wear size 10
    and my brother is 5'8 and he wears 12

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  • by Ambrose the Colossal Praying Mantis on February 9th, 2012

    Ambrose the Colossal Praying Mantis

    A travesty. I can squeeze into a wide 9 and I need 3 pairs but I am 25 ft tall. I have a sad little chipolata of a penis but I don't need spectacles. Is God a joker or just plain sick?

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  • by Nikka Yuko on September 27th, 2007

    Nikka Yuko

    There is no relationship between height and shoe size. I have met a lot of people shorter than I am wearing shoes at least two sizes bigger than I do. I also know people that are taller than me that wear smaller shoes.

    I'm 5'1" and I wear a size 6.5.
    My friend is 4'11" and she wears a size 8.
    My other friend is 5'4" and she wears a size 4.
    We are all the same age and ethnicity.

    So, there is no definate relationship between height and shoe size.

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  • by TELLITASITIS on February 9th, 2012

    TELLITASITIS

    relationship?
    tall ppl usually have bigger feet than short ppl - duh?

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  • by tparrish on July 19th, 2010

    tparrish

    what will be the height of a 10 yr old girl who wears a womens shoe size 8

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  • by Weird.NonMexican.Guy.Named.Pedro on September 17th, 2010

    Weird.NonMexican.Guy.Named.Pedro

    I don't know what to say, but I am 14, 6'1" and a 13EE. I don't know if there is a relation, but I am an odd ball amung my friends

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  • by soy_sauce on September 18th, 2010

    soy_sauce

    There is definitely a relationship, but it's not an exact one. We could say that someone who is 5'8" will probably have a large shoe size than someone who is 5'2", but there are plenty of exceptions.

    On average, the length of a foot in inches is about 15% of the person's height, but there is a lot of variation. My feet are ~13.5% of my height - I'm (sadly) 4'11.5", and my feet are about 8 inches long. My sister's feet are about 16% of her height.

    It's also impossible to predict how tall a child will be based on their shoe size.

    So generally, the taller you are, the bigger your feet will be, but not always. My guess is that if you took the average size feet for everyone, and averaged the shoe size for each height, and then graphed average shoe size against height, you'd have a pretty linear graph. But if you just took two random people, and compared height and shoe size, the the results could be pretty much anything.

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  • by Gedster on November 19th, 2010

    Gedster

    *Simple logic: A taller person has a greater likeliness to have bigger feet than one who is shorter.

    Proportions tend to carry on more or less with height, but there are exceptions to every rule which is why you will occasionally find men 5'8" for example with a size 12 shoe and men over 6 feet with only a 10 shoe. It happens. Not normally, but it happens.

    Many websites still list men averaging 5'9.5" and women 5'3.75" which is old data from the 1990's. Now in the 2010's the average height has spiked a bit.

    The average man is 5'10" with a shoe size of 10.5 US Mens.
    The average female is 5'4.5" with a shoe size of 8 US Womens.

    The equivalent of a shoe size in Mens will always be 1.5 sizes larger in Womens. Thus, an 8 in Womens would be like wearing a 6.5 in Mens.

    Another thing I have discovered with profound accuracy is that each inch a person is taller than the norm equates to the likeliness of another half size larger shoe. Likewise, for every inch shorter a person is from the norm exists the likeliness of that person having a half size smaller shoe. Logic would go as follows:

    5'4" = 7.5 shoe
    5'5" = 8 shoe
    5'6" = 8.5 shoe
    5'7" = 9 shoe
    5'8" = 9.5 shoe
    5'9" = 10 shoe
    5'10" = 10.5 shoe
    5'11" = 11 shoe
    6'0" = 11.5 shoe
    6'1" = 12 shoe
    6'2" = 12.5 shoe
    6'3" = 13 shoe
    6'4" = 13.5 shoe etc

    One more point is each half shoe size is equal to 0.25 inches in feet length. That means if someone wears 1 shoe size larger than you, their feet are probably 0.5 inches larger. Finally, shoe size and height are 70-90% hereditary.

    There, I told you everything you need to know! Kudos to me!

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  • by DA BEN DAN yanggui zi on July 18th, 2010

    DA BEN DAN yanggui zi

    there isn't

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  • by celticpoo on July 8th, 2010

    celticpoo

    I'm 13yrs old and I'm only 5'6 but I have size 13w shoes & size 12m

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  • by leehawker on January 19th, 2010

    leehawker

    Not sure about the relationship, but my 10.5yr old daughter was fitted for soccer boots and is a size 8 womens.

    So considering she is still growing, she is probably going to be a very tall girl.

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  • by Marky Mark on January 19th, 2010

    Marky Mark

    I like lynnenorths answer. Your foot is the same length as your forearm (from elbow to start of hand). Try it with one of your shoes.

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  • by Monynurs07 on June 22nd, 2010

    Monynurs07

    In searching for the correlation, I stumbled across this discussion. I had the opportunity to meet Mike Tisdale, incoming senior at U of I and basketball player. He is 7'1" tall and wears a size 18 shoe. A great foundation for a tall man. My husband is 6'10" tall and wears a size 16 which is also a good foundation. The reason I am looking in to this is because my newly 15 year old is 6'8" tall and is wearing a size 18 shoe. When he injured his ankle playing AAU basketball this spring, the doctor told us he has alot of growing to do. I would like to know how tall, on average, someone with a size 18 shoe would be. Rumor has it that if mom is tall for a woman, then the kids will b tall like their dad. I am 5'10" and wear a size 11.5 -12.

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  • by Monynurs07 on June 22nd, 2010

    Monynurs07

    In searching for the correlation, I stumbled across this discussion. I had the opportunity to meet Mike Tisdale, incoming senior at U of I and basketball player. He is 7'1" tall and wears a size 18 shoe. A great foundation for a tall man. My husband is 6'10" tall and wears a size 16 which is also a good foundation. The reason I am looking in to this is because my newly 15 year old is 6'8" tall and is wearing a size 18 shoe. When he injured his ankle playing AAU basketball this spring, the doctor told us he has alot of growing to do. I would like to know how tall, on average, someone with a size 18 shoe would be. Rumor has it that if mom is tall for a woman, then the kids will b tall like their dad. I am 5'10" and wear a size 11.5 -12.

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  • by nonononono on January 16th, 2011

    nonononono

    I am 6' 1.5+" female, size 12 Wide feet. I was fully 6' 2", am 48 years old, now shrinking a bit due to degenerative disc disease and knee cartlige damage/surgery. My feet grew 1 size with pregnancy due to ligamental laxity from hormones. This is typical of most women, heavier women and those who gain a lot of weight see a higher percentage growth. ( my son was born almost 2 feet tall, is 6' 5.5", almost 21 and still growing, size 14W feet) We do not have Marfan's. We are just tall.

    Re: The questions about how tall a girl will get based on shoe size at age 10:
    It largely depends on when the girl hits puberty, eating habits, activity, and what family history is. Most girls slow down height growth considerably after their 1st period and quit growing w/in 2 years. If you really want to know how much longer she'll grow, a MD can Xray her long bones to look at the density of the epiphesial plates.

    I didn't start having periods until I was almost 16 and kept growing (2 added inches) until 21. Most of that 2 inches was w/in 2 years but bones definitely got thicker, my son's too. I smoked since age 15 but only dabbled at anything else. My sister is 5' 8", size 11feet now, were size 9 at age 18 when she got pregnant and quit gaining height. She had her first period by age 13. She drank, smoked, dieted and abused all nature of substances as a teen.

    My sister's daughter takes after her 4'11" paternal grandmother. On the advice of her MD, had her quit gymnastics as the pounding she was taking was interfering with height growth. at 12 she was less than 5', period started, quit gym. gained almost 4 inches in 1.5 years and stopped. size 7 feet.

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  • by Anonymous on February 15th, 2011

    Anonymous

    I am 6 feet tall but where size 13, or really 13 1/2, I also have a pair of 14 I wear regularly, have you ever heard of that in a grown man?

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  • by markdear2 on May 25th, 2011

    markdear2

    The relationship also logically relates to ones frame and weight, along with the height. I've known guys that are maybe 5'-8", but heavy framed and barrel chested, weighing over 200 lbs. that have big feet. Whereas slender guys don't require as big a foot to support their weight. Girls generally have smaller feet because they are much smaller framed and shorter. I dated a girl in college who was petite and 4'-10" tall and she wore a size 5 shoe. She had to buy her shoes mostly in the kids dept. I dated another girl for a while who was 6'-1", with a light frame, and she wore a size 9.5 mens or 11 in womens. We wore the same size, and she used to use my sandals all the time. But they looked a heck of a lot cuter on her than they did on me. Even girls big feet seem to be more delicate and pretty than the guys, for sure.

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  • by Drew_S7841 on July 26th, 2011

    Drew_S7841

    I am 13 years old, 5'11 and wear a size 14 shoe... WTF

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  • by Andy B has left AB on July 26th, 2011

    Andy B has left AB

    Generally, taller people take a larger shoe size. However, there's bound to be a few exceptions to that generality (I won't call it a "rule").

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  • by XLfeet on February 9th, 2012

    XLfeet

    I'm 6'3", and my feet are size 16 EEE. This is reason i created XLfeet.com

    I have data on more customers with large size feet it would make your head spin. One thing I can say for sure, is Large dress shoes are high in demand, and most of the guys buying size 18 dress shoes are close to 7 feet tall.

    XLfeet.com for large mens shoes.

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  • by Stephen_M7306 on May 2nd, 2011

    Stephen_M7306

    what percentage of men have big feet in united state

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  • by DA BEN DAN yanggui zi on April 13th, 2011

    DA BEN DAN yanggui zi

    no correlation.

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  • by slayer131995 on April 13th, 2011

    slayer131995

    I'm 15, only 6'4", and I wear a size 20 shoe, and I'm close to needing 21s. The hell's goon on over here? Nobody else on my family has big feet. And I think I should be taller: my great(x3-4) uncles were all 6'8 and some even grew to be 7'5". The height genes akipped a few generations. My half brother, who is Italian, is 20 years old, wears a size15, and is only 6'0". I think we each got half of the genes. I'm German, Irish, Scottish, Swedish, Scandinavian, Austrian, Romanian, Hungarian, Polish, Czechoslovakian, Slovenian, Armenian, and Russian.

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  • by Mark "The Beard" on April 13th, 2011

    Mark

    Well I'm 6'1" and I only wear a size 11

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  • by princesssofia on April 13th, 2011

    princesssofia

    Well you'd think there would be a relationship, but there isn't really. some little short people wear size 10 shoes...look like those Bozo the Clown dolls kids used to have that you could hit and they'd pop right back up...and some tall people have smaller feet than I do, which is an 8 and I'm 5'7" which seems about right to me, but there's no rules.

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  • by cb7112 on December 31st, 2009

    cb7112

    well i'm 5'6 and i wear a mens size 9 (btw i'm a girl) and i have friends the same height and they have smaller feet than me

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