How to Get Your Shoe Size Right When Ordering

Measure your foot in centimetres, then buy against the seller's centimetre chart — not against the UK size you have worn since school. Foot length in cm is the only number that means the same thing on every brand and in every country. A UK 8 from a Pakistani brand, a US 9 trainer and an EU 42 sandal can sit several millimetres apart, and that gap is the difference between a shoe that fits and one that rubs.

Two minutes with a sheet of paper and a ruler gets you that number. After that, ordering is mechanical: find the cm range in the listing, pick the size that contains your longer foot, and leave a little room at the toe.

Below: how to measure properly, how the UK, US, EU and CN scales line up, why China-direct shoes run small, sizing children who are still growing, and what to check at the door before you pay.

Measure your foot, once, properly

Do this in the evening, when your feet are at their largest. Feet swell through the day by a noticeable amount, and a shoe measured first thing in the morning can feel tight by 6pm.

The paper-and-ruler method

1. Put a sheet of A4 flat against a wall, on a hard floor — not on carpet, which lets the paper shift.
2. Stand on it with your heel touching the wall. Stand, do not sit: your foot spreads and lengthens under your own weight, and that is the foot the shoe has to hold.
3. Have someone mark the paper at the tip of your longest toe. For many people that is the big toe; for plenty of others it is the second toe. Mark the toe that is actually longest.
4. Measure from the edge that was against the wall to the mark, in centimetres, to the nearest millimetre.
5. Repeat for the other foot.

While the paper is out, measure width too: wrap a tape around the widest part of the foot, across the ball, and note that number. Most people never need it. If you have always found shoes tight across the front even in the right length, it is the number that explains why.

Your feet are not the same size

Almost nobody has two identical feet, and a difference of 3–5mm between left and right is ordinary. Always buy for the longer foot. A shoe that is slightly roomy can be fixed with a thicker sock or an insole. A shoe that is 4mm too short cannot be fixed at all.

Measure children standing, and measure them again

Same method, but hold the child's heel against the wall and get them to put weight on the foot. Toddlers curl their toes when they feel paper under them, so take the measurement twice and keep the longer one.

Centimetres are the only number that travels

Here is the thing that makes online shoe shopping confusing: UK, US and EU sizes are brand conventions, not standards. Two factories can both stamp "42" on a last that is 4mm different in length, and both are within normal practice. Nothing stops them.

Foot length in centimetres is different. It is a measurement of your foot, so it does not drift between brands. That is why the better listings, especially on China-direct platforms, publish a cm column next to the size numbers — and why that column is the one to read.

So the rule is: treat your cm measurement as your real size, and the UK/US/EU number as a label that varies. When a listing gives both, trust the cm. When it gives only a size number, you are estimating, and you should expect to be wrong sometimes.

How much room to leave at the toe

You do not buy a shoe the exact length of your foot. You need space for the foot to slide forward as you walk. Rough guide, and treat it as a starting point rather than a rule:

• Trainers, joggers, sports shoes: about 1cm to 1.5cm beyond the longest toe. These are the shoes you walk furthest in, and a cramped trainer is how toenails get damaged.
• Everyday closed shoes, school shoes, formal shoes: around 1cm.
• Sandals, chappals, slides: 0.5cm is enough, and you want the foot to sit inside the sole's edges rather than overhang at the back.
• Khussa, peshawari chappal and other flat leather styles: close to exact, because the leather gives and the shape does not forgive length.

So if your longer foot measures 26.2cm and you are buying joggers, you are looking for a shoe built around roughly 27.2–27.7cm of internal length, which is what a good cm chart tells you directly.

UK, US, EU and CN: how the scales line up

When the listing gives you no cm column, these are the usual relationships. They are approximations — a brand can sit a half size either way of any of them.

• US men's is about one size above UK men's. UK 8 is usually a US 9.
• US women's is about two sizes above UK women's. UK 6 is usually a US 8.
• EU runs roughly 33–34 numbers above UK adult sizes. UK 7 is near EU 41, UK 8 near EU 42, UK 9 near EU 43, UK 10 near EU 44.
• CN sizes are usually the foot length in millimetres, or the EU number, depending on the seller. A CN "265" means a 26.5cm foot. If you see a three-digit size, that is what it is, and it is the most useful size system of the lot.
• EU is a Paris-point scale, which is two-thirds of a centimetre per size. That is why EU half sizes barely exist and why one EU size up can feel like a big jump.

If you want to sanity-check an EU number against your measurement, the Paris-point arithmetic is: add about 1.5cm of toe room to your foot length, then multiply by 1.5. A 25cm foot gives (25 + 1.5) × 1.5 = 39.75, so EU 40. A 27cm foot gives 42.75, so EU 43. Useful as a cross-check when a listing's own chart looks suspicious.

Two more things worth knowing. Pakistani brands and most local sellers list UK sizes, because that is the convention the local trade grew up on. And half sizes are inconsistently stocked here, so if you fall between two sizes in a closed shoe, take the larger one and manage the extra with an insole.

Why China-direct shoes run small

This is the single most common sizing mistake Pakistani buyers make, and it is not a defect. Shoes built on Chinese domestic lasts are cut for a narrower average foot and are often graded shorter at the same stated number. The result is that your usual size arrives tight, especially across the ball of the foot.

What to do about it:

• Find the cm or mm column and ignore the size name entirely. On a listing that gives both, this solves the problem outright.
• If there is only a size name, go one size up for closed shoes and sports shoes. For sandals and slides, your usual size is usually fine, because there is nothing to pinch.
• Read the review photos, not the review stars. Buyers who post "ordered my usual 42, had to send it back" are telling you the grading, and that is better information than any chart.
• Treat width as the real risk. A narrow shoe in the right length still hurts. If your ball measurement is on the wide side, a China-direct closed shoe is the riskiest footwear purchase you can make online.

Sourcing direct from China is still worth it for the price on many categories, and Markaz China orders typically take 10–17 days to reach Pakistan against 3–5 days for local stock. Just go in knowing that footwear is the category where the sizing homework actually matters, and allow for the longer wait if a swap turns out to be needed.

Width, shape and the shoes that fit "wrong" in the right size

Length gets all the attention. Most of the complaints are about everything else.

Width

Few sellers in this market publish a width, so you work it out from the shape in the photos and from the style. Pointed formal shoes and slim-profile trainers are narrow by design. Round-toe school shoes, work boots and most chappals are generous. If your ball measurement runs wide, filter toward round toes before you think about size.

Instep height

A high instep — the arch area on top of the foot — makes lace-ups and pumps feel tight even in the right length, because the pressure is over the top rather than at the toe. Lace-ups with more eyelet rows adjust further and suit high insteps better than loafers or slip-ons do.

Heel shape

Heel slip is a width-and-shape problem that people try to fix by sizing down, which just moves the pain to the toes. A heel grip or a tongue-pad is the right fix; a smaller shoe is not.

Material and give

Soft leather and knit uppers stretch a little with wear and mould to the foot. Synthetic leather, patent finishes and most moulded sports uppers do not. If the shoe is a hard material, the size has to be right out of the box, because nothing is going to improve.

Kids' shoe sizes: growing room without buying a boat

Children's feet grow in bursts, and the temptation is to buy big and get two seasons out of a pair. That backfires: an oversized shoe slides, the child's toes grip to compensate, and the shoe wears unevenly before it ever fits.

• Allow about 1cm of room, which is roughly one size. That is enough for a few months of growth without the shoe flopping.
• Re-measure every 3–4 months for pre-school children, every 4–6 months after that. Children do not reliably report a shoe that has become tight; they just stop wanting to wear it.
• Check the inside of the shoe they are wearing now. Pull the insole out if it comes out and look for the imprint of the toes. If it reaches the end, the shoe is already too short.
• Buy school shoes with an adjustable closure — velcro or laces — so the same pair works across a bit of growth.
• Never hand down shoes expecting the size to be the size. A worn shoe has a used insole and a set shape; a second child's foot will be a different shape even at the same length.

If you are shopping for the whole school list in one go rather than just shoes, our guide to picking a school bag that lasts the year covers the other item most families get wrong.

Local styles: khussa, peshawari chappal and school shoes

Traditional footwear plays by its own rules, and the online size charts are often thinner than for trainers.

Khussa runs narrow and is usually listed in UK sizes. The leather sole has no flex to begin with and the upper is stitched, not moulded, so there is little give in length. Buy your measured size, not a size up, and expect a short break-in period rather than a change in fit.

Peshawari chappal is the opposite: open, forgiving, and generous. Many sellers grade it in whole UK sizes only. The usual mistake is buying it long, so the heel hangs off the back of the sole. Match the sole length to your foot length.

School shoes get worn five days a week with socks of varying thickness, which is the case for an adjustable closure and the 1cm allowance above. Black school shoes are also the category where a cheap moulded sole cracks first, so look at the sole join in the photos as closely as the size chart.

If you want specific picks to run these checks against, our roundups of the best shoes for girls in Pakistan and the best slippers for men in Pakistan list options by style, and the general habits that protect you on any purchase are in our guide to online shopping in Pakistan.

Reading a shoe listing before you order

Five things to look for, in order of how much they tell you:

1. A cm or mm column in the size chart. Present means the seller knows their product. Absent means you are estimating.
2. A photo of the actual sole, from underneath. It shows you the shape and whether the toe is round or pointed, which is your width proxy.
3. The upper material, named. "Premium quality" is not a material. Leather, synthetic leather, mesh, knit and canvas all behave differently as the shoe breaks in.
4. Review comments about sizing, specifically. Sort for the ones that name a size and say whether it fit. Three such comments beat the chart.
5. The exchange terms, read before ordering. On footwear this matters more than on anything else you buy online, because fit is not a quality judgement — a perfectly good shoe can simply be the wrong shape for your foot.

It also helps to compare a few pairs side by side instead of buying the first one in budget. Browsing a Markaz shop categories lets you line up several at once, and the deals page is where seasonal stock moves.

What to do at the door

This is where ordering shoes in Pakistan is genuinely easier than it looks, because Markaz local orders are cash on delivery. The parcel reaches you before any money changes hands, so the try-on happens before the purchase is final rather than after.

Do it properly in the two minutes you have:

• Try them on indoors, on a hard floor, with the socks you will actually wear. Winter joggers with thick socks need more room than the same shoe with thin ones.
• Stand up and walk a few steps. Sitting hides everything. Your foot lengthens when you put weight on it.
• Press your thumb at the toe. You want roughly a thumb's width between your longest toe and the end.
• Check the heel while walking. Slight movement is normal and settles; a heel that lifts clear of the shoe will give you blisters.
• Try both shoes, not one. You bought for the longer foot, so check the longer foot.
• Keep the box and packaging intact until you have decided. An exchange is simpler when the shoe goes back the way it arrived.

Local Markaz orders typically arrive in 3–5 days, so if a swap is needed there is still time before an event or the start of term. Ordering a fortnight ahead rather than two days ahead is the cheapest insurance on a sizing decision.

For resellers, fit is also the commercial problem. Footwear is one of the highest-return categories in Pakistani ecommerce precisely because sizing goes wrong, which is why a size chart in cm on your own product page pays for itself — our guide to cutting COD return rates covers how to measure and reduce it. Markaz stock carries no minimum order quantity, so a reseller can test two sizes of one style before committing to a range. If that is the business you are in, the Markaz reseller programme is the place to start.

If the size is slightly off

Not every near-miss needs an exchange. What works, and what does not:

• Half a size too big: a full-length insole, or a thicker sock. Both genuinely work. A heel grip helps if the problem is slip rather than length.
• Tight across the width, soft upper: wear them indoors for short spells over a week. Leather and knit give a little.
• Tight across the width, synthetic or patent upper: exchange it. These do not stretch, and the home remedies people suggest mostly damage the shoe.
• Too short by any amount: exchange it. Nothing fixes a shoe that is shorter than your foot.
• Heel slipping, length correct: a heel grip or a lace-lock pattern on the top eyelets. Do not size down.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find my shoe size at home without a Brannock device?

Stand on a sheet of paper with your heel against a wall, mark the tip of your longest toe, and measure the distance in centimetres. Do both feet, use the longer one, and measure in the evening. That number plus the seller's cm chart is all you need.

Is UK size the same as Pakistani shoe size?

In practice, yes. Pakistani brands and most local sellers list UK sizes, so a UK 8 and a "Pakistani 8" are the same intended size. Grading still varies between brands, so the cm chart is the better reference when there is one.

Should I size up when ordering from China?

For closed shoes and sports shoes, usually yes, by one size — Chinese lasts are cut narrower and often shorter at the same stated number. For sandals and slides your usual size is normally fine. Best of all, find the cm or mm column and match it to your measured foot, which removes the guess.

What does CN 265 mean in shoe size?

It is the foot length in millimetres, so 265 means a foot 26.5cm long. Three-digit Chinese sizes are the most useful system in use, because they refer to your foot rather than to a factory's convention.

My feet are two different sizes. Which one do I buy for?

The longer one, always. A slightly roomy shoe is fixable with an insole or a thicker sock. A shoe that is too short for one foot is wasted.

How much room should a child's shoe have?

About 1cm beyond the longest toe, which is roughly one size of growing room. More than that and the shoe slides, which wears it out early and makes the child walk oddly to keep it on.

Can I exchange shoes that do not fit?

That depends on the seller's terms, which is why you read them before ordering rather than after. On Markaz local orders the practical protection is cash on delivery: the shoes arrive first, you try them on before you pay, and a pair that does not fit goes back without money having changed hands.