Width is a bit of a minefield and unfortunately whilst we try and provide as much information as possible and many brands do now offer an internal width measurement we find that it is usually not quite as simple as comparing a foot width to the width of the sole unit.
How a shoe fits and suits the foot is dependent on a number of factors of which width is just one. The volume of the foot is a key factor, including how high the instep is. Foot shape is also important and looking at where the foot is widest, for example across the toes or across the ball of the foot? Where the foot is widest may not necessarily correspond to where the sole unit width measurement is taken.
School Shoes linked Left to right below
Foot shape is a whole subject in itself. For example do the toes slope sharply away from the big toe or are they squarer in shape. Is the second toe longer than the big toe or alot smaller? Matching the foot shape to the shape of the sole unit makes a big difference to fit in terms of ensuring space for all of the toes.
Another key factor is how the shoe upper is attached to the sole unit. This can either increase or reduce available space depending on how soft the upper is and by how much it curves away from the sole unit or nestles in.
All of these factors can be just as important as the width of the sole unit in terms of how they fit. This is why we always recommend taking the time to try a range of options to find what suits your little one and working carefully through our fitting guidelines to ensure the best fit.
As a starting point we thought would be useful to line up all of our most popular school shoes in order of sole width (as far as we can ascertain it!) and take a photograph to demonstrate. This way you can hopefully see not only relative widths but also the shape of the sole units in comparison to each other.
Looking at the photograph above and going from left to right in order of sole width are the following sole units from our school shoe range;
- Pediped Barbara (narrowest)
- Bobux Kid + Leap
- Plae Nat
- Paperkrane Ruler
- Petasil Dash
- Young Soles Darcey
- Camper Peu
- Vivobarefoot Ludo
- Vivobarefoot Addis
- Froddo Mary Jane Flowers
- Sole Runner Puck
- Be Lenka Bounce
- Tikki Ziggy Black
- Freet City (widest)
You can see the full range of school shoes HERE.
We hope that you will find something to suit in our range and are always happy to advise on suitable options should you get stuck.
