Depending on the source, numbers ranging from 6 to 9.5 are seen as the threshold of small feet for a guy. Today, men's sizes start at 8, while 15 years ago, 7 was a men's size.
Age is another factor. Younger guys, including teens seem to have bigger feet on average. They're the ones who will say anything less than 10 is small. Older guys are more likely to see 9 as normal and maybe even 8.
What's your experience and opinion on what is a small size for a guy?
yes, I have tons of experiences for having what most teens consider now as "small feet". I wear a size 8.5 in mens but I feel that most teens consider anything under a size ten as small. I have been made fun of several times for having smaller feet than a 10-12 year old before. it is crazy how big kids feet are now a days.
ReplyDeleteThe Captain,
DeleteI've had plenty of experiences, myself, as a guy with size 8 shoes. Care to share any, either in comments or you can email me at heatofrxn3@yahoo.com
Are you guys short too? I'm very tall so I think I would have trouble not falling over if I had feet as small as size 8 or size 8.5.
Deletesure would be happy to! By the way, I am a 26 year old guy and am 5'8" about 125 pounds soaking wet. Yes, I am a pretty small guy all things considered, especially by today's standards. It doesn't help that I do not grow facial hair for that matter. I often get mistaken for looking much younger than I really am....
DeleteOne such instance occurred about a year ago when I was shopping in the shoe section at a local clothing/shoe store in my hometown. A mother and kid who looked about 12-13 or so years old were by me looking at shoes the same time I was. This "kid" must have been at least 6'2" and close to 200 pounds. He was absolutely massive for his age. Even the mother was a solid 6'0" and built very sturdy. They both made me feel like a small child standing next to them. Anyways, the kid must not have seen me and accidentally ran right into me looking for shoes. He looked down at me at first and didn't say anything but his mother interjected and said, "Billy, say you're sorry to the little boy (I was 25 at the time) for running into him and almost knocking him right over. The kid looked down at me and sheepishly apologized patting me on the head while doing so. I couldn't believe the mother thought I was a child! She then turned down to me as well and said, "Sorry honey, is your mom around anywhere or can I help you find some shoes"? I was speechless when she said it and didn't even know how to respond. She continued on and said, "My son here is looking for shoes as well but we can't find anything in his size. He's 13 and already wearing a size 14 shoe! Can you believe that! She looked down at my feet while saying that and continued, it looks like he may be a bit bigger than what you would be looking for".
Let me know if you'd like for me to continue!
That's quite the experience. Please continue!
DeleteContinued.... I looked up at the mother after she said that in disbelief. Of course I knew her kids feet dwarfed my own girlish size 8.5 feet, but still didn't even know what to say. This mother and her 13 year old child thought I was a child, probably even younger than her own son! The mom continued to look at me and said, "you've got to be what, about 11-12 years old probably?" As she said this she was sizing up her own giant son and me looking at our massive size difference in every regard. She went on, "Billy here hasn't been your size since he was about 10 years old I would imagine." should I continue???
DeleteContinued... The boy looked at his mom and laughed saying, "mom, I probably wore his shoe size when I was 8, what size are you anyways, a 7 or something?", the boy said looking down at my diminutive feet. I looked at Billy and mustered out that I was actually a size 8 or 8.5 depending on the shoe. He started laughing and removed a foot from his sandal and even his sock esposing one of the biggest feet I have ever seen on a teenager. Billy then placed his enormous foot right next to my feet which were exposed but still in sandals. His foot looked almost twice the size of mine, our heels were lined up and his toes were several inches past not only my feet but my sandals, too. I looked up and saw his mother trying to suppress laughter at the sight of the size difference between her sons feet and my own.
DeleteContinued... The mother caught my look of astonishment and immediately tried to stop laughing, looking down at me saying, "Oh, I'm sorry sweetie, it's just my Billy here makes your feet look so tiny, but he's got a few years on you so don't feel too bad." I could not believe what I was hearing, this mom and her gigantic 13 year old son actually thought I was 11-12 years old. Here I was, a 25 year old man being dwarfed by a 13 year old and her mother and getting mistaken for being an 11-12 year old kid! I was speechless and just looked up at the mom and this huge kid and smiled. I was so distracted I didn't even see Billy reaching down and removing my sandals and socks from my own feet. Billy then placed his massive foot next to both of my feet and marveled at the size difference. He said, "Mom, look how much bigger my feet are than this kid, he looks like he has baby feet!"
DeleteThis story could have happened to me too ... How did the story end?
DeleteYup, I've had similar experiences. As a skinny guy (23 year old at the time, 5'10", 130lbs) who tends not to grow much facial hair either and usually wears a 7.5-8 shoe (even though I measure like a 9) I have been mistaken for being 13-14 in the past and also when buying shoes!
DeleteThere was one time about a year ago when I was in RackRoom trying some DC courts in a size 8 when an older lady thought I was a young teen. She came over to help me. She felt my toes for fit (and I scrunched up my toes a bit so there would seem to be lots of space, normally a 8 would be a tiny bit snug, but then I take them home and stretch them so they actually do have lots of space!) and she's like: "oh, these might be a little big on you, let me get you a size 7.5. She pulled the 7.5s off the shelf and I tried them (also scrunching up my toes slightly, I can actually wear dc courts in a 7.5 normally without too much pain) and she says, oh these fit you much better!" Then she's like, "Don't worry, I'm sure your feet will grow to match your height soon. When my son was your age he had a growth spurt like you and it took a few months for his feet to catch up, now he's a grown man and wears a size 12, can you believe that? So you should have nothing to worry about". At the checkout (and I paid cash to avoid having to show ID or for her to wonder why a young teen had a credit card) she asks me if I am in middle school. I played along and told her I was in 8th grade at the local middle school :-) Then she's said, "I figured you were either in 7th or 8th. My son was in 7th grade when he had his growth spurt."
I thought it was hilarious she was trying to provide me unsolicited comfort for my small feet and clearly thought I was a young teen who had just had a growth spurt, it was a fun time! :-)
I'm a freshman in college, and all the guys I know have feet between size 12 and size 20. You are more likely to find a guy here with size 20 feet than size 10 feet. Even girls my age have bigger feet than you small footed guys.
ReplyDeleteI take it you guys are mostly older since I see a lot of guys my dad's age who have feet that look like they belong on 10 or 11 year old boys. I would feel constantly humiliated if I had feet that small as an adult man.
I don't doubt 12s are common, but really size 20 more than size 10? That's amazing to think guys are that big now.
DeleteYeah, I would have to agree that people wearing size 20 is pretty rare. I still think they majority of feet don't go past 13 generally (it's still generally the largest size sold in quantity, though for sure there are move over 13 than there used to be, and probably a lot more people in the 11-13 range). I used to have a co-worker who was like 6'5" and he wore a size 18. His huge feet were a daily topic of conversation, with people joking about his huge feet, calling him bigfoot, etc. (which were big for 6'5" too). I think he sort of enjoyed the attention but but he was clearly an outlier, I have never known anyone else with feet that large. I remember when he first started, someone else in the office who was like 5'9" wore a size 13 and loved to brag about his big feet and compare with others taller than him to show his feet were bigger. He seemed skeptical that the guy with size 18s really had feet that big and got him to take his shoes off to compare, but next to the size 18s the guy with size 13's feet looked like a little girl's. The sz 13 guy was so deflated that day but he needed it because he was super obnoxious!
DeleteI will also say that I think a lot of people who are a size 14 actually wear a 13 because 14s are so much harder to come by. I knew a guy who did that. He said 13s were a little snug but the selection was so much more limited in 14s (just look on ebay at the sharp drop off over sz 13) that he would often just get a 13. So some percentage of the sz 13s you see are probably really size 14 feet. Wouldn't surprise me if 14 and 15s become more main stream in a few years. Size 13 has been the standard largest size for a long time. I am surprised it has not increased, since clearly feet are getting bigger. Though people wearing shoes snug is probably also more common than it used to be...
DeleteIn college now, most of our friends are bigger than US10 and they think my US9.5 are small
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding! You say most are bigger than size 10; does that mean you know any smaller? How tall are you?
DeleteI am only 5ft7. Most of guys around my height have 10-11 size... I only knew two of my friends around my hight have size 9 and 8.5 I guess... what's your email address we can talk more details there
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Deleteheatofrxn3@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI'm about 5'7 too and nearly all of my friends are much taller than me. Too often height becomes a topic of conversation, I think. They call me 'shorty' and 'sweet', one friend who's about 6'3 last week took off one of my sneaks and started to laugh as he as he discovers my size, then he compared his huge size 14 feet so my small size US 8 shoes. Everybody was laughing - this was really humiliating ... I felt like a 10 yo boy comparing his feet to a giant man ...
ReplyDeleteOuch. I luckily haven't had that harsh of an experience. I know what you mean about feeling like a 10 year old. I remember in 5th grade, 2 of my classmates had size 8 shoes...
DeleteYou see - anything less than size 10/11 nowadays is small, my friends wear size 10.5/11 to 14, but they are all taller than me. Sometimes it's hard not to feel like a midget - I could tell you many other stories ..
DeleteI generally think 8-8.5 is considered the cut-off for what people would consider a mens size, though I know guys who are reasonably tall (5'11"-6ft) that wear size 8-8.5 and think nothing of it. I will say that in many of those cases they like to fit them snug I think. Especially Jordans in seems. A lot of people seems to wear their Jordans so their toe almost touches the end and I feel like there are some sneaker heads who feel that smaller shoes look better with some styles and they are almost proud to not have big feet so they can "look good" and have more size options. Some of them would probably squeeze into a size 7 if they were available in the style they wanted. So I think the trend goes both ways.
ReplyDeleteI have never met an adult man with feet the same size or smaller as me (size 8), even guys who are like 5'2 have bigger feet. The smallest I've seen on another guy is 8.5 and he is 5'11"
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they're out there! :-) But I know what you mean. I know people who wear like an 8.5 in Js but more often than not I am skeptical that there feet are really that small. I think some like the tight fit (pain?) or just have to have a certain release and discomfort is secondary. I have bought preowned Js from sneaker stores and thrift stores (like Platos) and I usually replace the insole and quite often I find the foot print shows that their foot went all the way to the end. To me that a little too uncomfortable (and I am also happy for my shoes to look bigger) but I have also been told that I wear my shoes too big. So I agree that it is probably pretty unusual to see a grown guy who's foot's true size is less than an 8 or 8.5 (makes me more self conscious since one of my feet does only measure an 8.5) and also means that if I upsize too much one foot can end up swimming! I feel like my left foot, that measures a 9.5, is "just barely" on the low end of par and my right foot at 8.5 is definitely below par...the right one looks so small in flip flops :-/ Generally I try not to care, but it does make me a little self conscious and I know people notice (even if they don't comment).
DeleteAnything 8-8.5 and above no longer seems (or feels) small to me. So to me small is 7.5 and below. That's not compared to others (I know a 9 is still considered small) it is just based on my personal feeling when I try on shoes... It is hard to make 8.5 seem small when I have had some that feel quite big on me...and even more so after I stretch them ;-)
ReplyDelete