| Americans start their sizing system at 1 (unlike the | | | | entirely speculative (unlike the women’s clothing |
| Europeans who begin at zero) and use a formula to | | | | industry where thanks to the undying popularity of |
| arrive at sizes for men’s, women’s and | | | | vintage clothing we can conclusively prove that a size |
| children’s shoes. The heel-to-toe length of the | | | | 7 today is the equivalent of a size 12 a few decades |
| foot (in inches) is multiplied by 3 and then a constant | | | | ago). It seems unlikely that Edwin B. Simpson, the |
| is subtracted from the product. This constant is | | | | man who first introduced a standardized shoe |
| different for men, women and children. | | | | system to the United States, had vanity in mind. |
| The Formula | | | | Simpson came up with the system (which we |
| For Men: 3 x length of foot – 22 = | | | | more or less still use today) after a need for |
| shoe size | | | | uniform shoes arose during the Civil War. Left and |
| For Women: 3 x length of foot – 21 (or | | | | right shoes were mass-produced for the first time |
| sometimes 20.5 or 20) = shoe size | | | | during the War, and each soldier was assigned a |
| For Children: 3 x length of foot – 9.75 (or | | | | “shoe size”. In Simpson’s system, a |
| sometimes 9.67) = shoe size | | | | difference of one shoe size correlates to 1/3 of an |
| Obviously, it is the constant that is responsible for | | | | inch (half sizes are 1/6 of an inch apart), which still |
| the discrepancy between male and female shoe sizes. | | | | holds true today. But that still doesn’t explain |
| (Dare I ask why we even need a constant in the | | | | why women and men were assigned different |
| first place?). Eduardo Kausel, a professor at MIT | | | | constants. |
| writes in his essay “Units, Schmunits: What Do | | | | The problem (like most problems regarding standard |
| You Care?”: “...for reasons now lost to | | | | units of measure) is uniquely American. Britain and |
| history, there exist different sizes for men, women, | | | | Continental Europe both elect to keep male and |
| and children, although the latter do use the same | | | | female shoe sizes the same. Since the UK |
| number for any given size, whether boy or girl.¨ | | | | eventually adopted Simpson’s system it seems |
| Looks like we may have to accept just not knowing. | | | | unlikely that the discrepancy originated with Simpson |
| There is, of course the vanity sizing argument. | | | | himself. Some other founding father of American |
| Women want their feet to seem smaller than they | | | | shoes must have made the call. |
| actually are, while men want big feet. But this is | | | | |