Disclosure: This is a sponsored post via LinkVehicle.
If you're an office worker, shoes that pinch can distract you all day long. If you're a marathon runner, shoes that pinch can mean the difference between first and second place. Finding a good fit is absolutely essential when buying a new pair of shoes, so here's how you can make sure it's perfect every time.
1. Measure Your Feet
Your shoe size can change over the course of your life even after you've stopped growing. Pregnancy, for example, is notorious for enlarging your feet. Your feet are also bigger at night than they are during the day. It's a good rule of thumb to always measure your shoe size the night before you go shoe shopping.
2. Try Things On With Your Larger Foot Most people have one foot that's slightly larger than the other. Such asymmetry is common; just make sure, when you're trying things on in the store, that you're gauging the comfort of the fit by your larger foot and not the smaller.
3. Try Multiple Sizes
Even if you've determined that you're a 10 1/2, ask the store employees to fetch you the same shoes in a size 10 and 11 as well. You never know when the construction of the shoe might throw off its typical fit, so something made with aerodynamic arches or special midsoles might run differently than usual.
4. Look Up Customer Reviews If you're interested in, say,
mens New Balance sneakers, look up reviews for both New Balance athletic shoes and their men's line specifically. You're searching for any testimonials that mention size. Do they run large? Do they run small? How many customers agree?
5. Give Yourself Wiggle Room
Your feet get bigger during the day, remember? So you'll need shoes that can accommodate that. Look for footwear that offers about a quarter of an inch of wiggle room between your big toe and the interior of the shoe.
6.
Check the Heels
Talk a walk down the store aisle. Are the backs of the shoes riding up and down your heel? Sometimes it's just a sign that you need to lace them more tightly, but sometimes it indicates a poor fit. Try another pair just to be sure.
These are six tips for getting a good fit every time. Don't make your toes suffer needlessly! Take a few extra minutes to ensure that you're buying footwear you'll be comfortable with in the long run.