Allen Edmonds loafer sizing
I'm shopping for my first pair of loafers. I typically wear shoe size 11.5. The AE salesperson measured my foot via Brannock and it showed 12.
I tried on some Randolphs and my normal size felt very loose, so I landed on size 11D. They fit very snug (but not painful) and there's no heel slippage at all.
I took them home and am wearing them in the house to make sure they're right. I'm noticing my pinky toe feels a little cramped. It's making full contact with the side of the shoe. When I stand, the leather flexes out over the welt a bit. Is this expected or does it sound like they're too small?
6 Replies
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weird I typed up a whole post but it's not showing
here I'll type it again:
I'm shopping for my first pair of loafers. I went to the AE store and tried on some Randolph pennies and landed on size 11D (I normally buy 11.5 shoes in most brands). I took them home to keep testing them out for longer periods of time (on carpet so I can still return them).
They fit very snug, but not painful, no heel slippage at all. The main thing is my pinky toe feels a bit crushed. It's making full contact with the side of the shoe. When I stand, the leather flexes out a bit over the welt. Is that expected? Does that indicate they're too small?
they're too small
allen edmonds is usually TTS, so if your brannock truly is a 12, then you would want a size 12
if your pinky toe feels a bit crushed just at home not moving much, then it's going to rub when you're actually walking around outside
i would look for a size 12, and if they feel too roomy then ask for a size 12 narrow width
when you go down in width, usually it decreases volume but doesn't decrease the horizontal width by as much
with sneakers, you usualyl can get away with missizing some because they are often foam footbeds and cloth/stretchy knit uppers depending on what sneakers you're talking
leather doesnt have as much give, especially the insole shape that dictates length, so you don't want it as snug or it'll hurt or rub when moving
the soft uppers in sneakers lets you size down for volume in sneakesr without too much repercussion, but for leather footwear most places do different widths in order to allow you to account for that while still keeping the correct length
amazing! thank you for that breakdown. so is it fair to say that your toes should not be making any contact with the shoe at all? they're more or less touching air inside the shoe when at rest? (ignoring the bottom of the toe of course)
yeah i would say thats generally what you want
so long the heel and waist fits and the instep is snug then you shouldn't have much slipping or anything
leather shoes usually get a bit smaller volume wise with wear too, since the way they crease means that they crease inwards
so you're more likely to lose volume than gain it with wear, unless you force it and go much too small
Shoes should be comfortable. Shoe sizing is a rough 2d measurement of something that is 3d and incredibly complex.
Any real rules beyond “shoes should be comfortable” are basically lies
cool this is helpful. I'll see if the AE store will let me keep trying sizes... they were kind of frosty about it last time I was in there
or maybe I'll just return them and look for a used pair on ebay. that will remove the unbroken-in variable