Understanding foot anatomy and terms used can be of great assistance when trying on ready-to-wear shoes for the first time, particularly online shopping where trying on is unavailable. A knowledgeable salesperson should know which last shoe would fit which types of feet, by doing some research ahead of time you can eliminate shoes which won’t fit with just some information over email.
Here, I intend to highlight all of the common elements related to feet anatomy used when purchasing ready-made footwear.
Measurements of the Foot
A. Ball Width
Ball width is measured between the big toe joint and small toe joint. This area represents the widest part of your foot where flex occurs thus the shoe should also accommodate this movement.
B. Width at Widest Point
This measurement may differ slightly, and therefore they have different names. You take this measurement by standing with one foot against a wall while placing a tape measure under it from its sole out to the big toe joint and evenly distributing your weight between both feet. You should try standing as normally as possible with each. Often this measure should be taken with socks on, since that will be how your shoes will measure when worn, when ordering shoes this width usually needs to be specified as that can differ considerably. Always measure both feet as width can differ between sizes when ordering.
C. Length
Simply, length is measured from heel to toe and most easily identified when measured with heel against wall and tape measure placed under foot front to big toe again standing evenly distributed is best.
D. Heel-to-ball length
Although often forgotten, this measurement should be at least as significant as measuring total foot length. Flexion takes place in the ball of your foot, and for it to remain comfortable it should bend at that same location in a shoe. If the arch and ball don’t fit, however, there could be a gap between them, when walking forward the foot will be propelled forward by an insole beneath the arch which causes the entire foot to move forward within the shoe. A Brannock instrument is designed to measure all three dimensions listed above B, C and D. While some cobblers or shoe shops may still offer such instruments if you ask, unfortunately more and more often simple and less accurate measurement tools are now standardized that only measure length and width dimensions.
E. Ball Girth
Of course, two-dimensional measurements don’t provide a full representation of one’s foot shape. Circumference (volume of foot), can still vary among feet that share identical two-dimensional measurements above. A custom shoemaker takes multiple circumference measurements during production of custom footwear, here I’m only discussing one important circumference measurement when buying ready-to-wear footwear: ball girth (measured using tape measure across both joints around the ball of foot while standing up).
Also learn about shoes anatomy.
Parts of Foot:
1. Inner Ball
Inner Ball The inner metatarsal bone connects with the bone of the big toe to form its core, this forms its inner part.
2. Outer Ball
In reverse fashion, outer metatarsal bones meet small toe bones to form its outer portion – this creates the outer ball.
3. Instep
The instep plays an integral part in how well shoes fit, comprising the area between the ball of the foot and leg that sits directly underneath a pair of laces on traditional lac-up shoes. Low instep wearers often experience difficulty finding shoes that fit properly around their lacing system, as these tend to close too snugly around it and prevent tightening sufficiently. If you have a high instep, the situation can be reversed: too large of an instep gap may form between laces of your Oxford shoes, making them look uncomfortable and potentially ruinous for walking. To know whether you have high or low instep, purchase shoes with lasts designed specifically to accommodate each instep type, and if possible opt for derby’s which work better with high instep feet than oxfords.
4. Arch
An arch is the portion between your heel and inner ball that, on a healthy foot, should not touch the floor when standing up on a flat floor. People with flat feet have low arches where more or all of their foot touches down, those with high arches usually only touch down part way through their foot’s journey on flat floors, high arches have abnormally small parts touching down when walking across uneven terrain, height usually correlates with instep height though sometimes these concepts become confused, for those who possess high arches it may provide great comfort find an arch supporting shoe or insole which fits properly.
