Tuesday, September 22, 2020

How big is big?

Popular consensus is that size 8 and maybe size 9 are small for guys. But what about what's considered big?

For me, "big" is size 12 or bigger. Others may say size 14 is the threshold. What do you think?

28 comments:

  1. I would say size 11 and above, but I'm rather short (5'7 and size 7.5/8).

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  2. Interesting blog you have... The issue of foot/shoe sizes is sort of an interesting one. My feet are size 9.5-10 (as measured by the shoe store device) and I am 5'11" but I usually have to wear size 10.5-11.5 and even sometimes 12 sneakers to be comfortable. I have been told in the past that the shoe store measuring devices are really more for dress shoes and when wearing sneakers one should add at least one whole size. And of course sneakers can vary a lot in size vs fit. I have also found that a lot of people wear their sneakers bigger than I do (and I usually just wear them with decent room for me to be comfortable). On the other hand I also know people who like to wear their shoes smaller than me, with their toe right at the end. An extreme example, I have a skater friend who I found out's feet are the same size as mine, maybe tiniest bit bigger, (and we are almost the same height) but he likes to wear a 7.5-8 shoe (he says small shoes are better for skateboarding). He says they can be uncomfortable for the first few weeks but that once he stretches/breaks them in they are perfect. I was skeptical but he let me try on his 'broken in' es shoes in a size 7.5 and I was amazed (and also kind of freaked) that they actually fit me pretty well (snugger than I would normally wear, but I could totally wear them without being in pain). His shoes look small so he gets comments about having small feet but when someone comments and maybe wants to compare he almost always has bigger feet than people wearing much bigger shoes. He said his foot was actually bigger than one guy who was wearing a 13, which totally freaked that guy out. He seems to enjoy when people ask to compare and he ends up coming out on top (perhaps the real reason he likes wearing small shoes?). So it seems like it is hard to tell what size feet someone really has, you can't just tell by shoe size, some people like to wear their shoes big and others snug and I don't think people always really know what their true size is. I think shoes with more padding and the trend of wearing shoes looser have probably also contributed to increasing apparent foot sizes.

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    1. Awesome, sounds like I have some similar tastes (for small shoes) to the guy you describe though I generally don't seek out size comparison like that. I mean I can see how it is cool to wear small shoes and surprise people by actually having bigger feet, but that is not really what I want to. I want people to actually think my feet are a size 7-7.5 rather than surprising people that they are actually bigger.

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    2. It is possible the guy I wrote about was committed to wearing small sizes like you but I sort of doubt it. He would sometimes wear bigger shoes too and he was convincing in his argument that it was for board feel. Though he did love showing up people with bigger shoes so he may have had something going on there, who knows ;-)

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  3. Replies
    1. Is 10 big or is it just low end average? Don't you have to go to like 11 or 12 to get to "big"? Actually maybe you have to get to 13+ to be called big? I feel like "average" is 10-12 for guys, and 10 is on the lower end. Definitely below 10 starts below average so 10 couldn't be big could it? I consider my size 7.5-8 shoes "very" small. And maybe below 7 is tiny? :-)

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  6. Let me change this to 12 too.
    10.5 is just decent.

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  7. Bored and I was looking at size distributions on ebay...I looked up Men's Jordans, under athletic shoes, and here was the result:

    3 (1,430) Items (1,430)
    3.5 (1,579) Items (1,579) - Drop off after size 4.
    4 (5,770) Items (5,770)
    4.5 (4,090) Items (4,090)
    5 (7,996) Items (7,996)
    5.5 (6,802) Items (6,802)
    6 (9,789) Items (9,789)
    6.5 (10,306) Items (10,306)
    7 (18,041) Items (18,041) - Technically 7 and below might be more likely to appear under kids rather than mens so the data may be less accurate 7 and below since I am not including kids. On the other hand, maybe that's fine since I am trying to find popularity among men rather than kids.
    7.5 (8,947) Items (8,947) - Why is 7.5 unpopular, less so than size 6 even?
    8 (26,217) Items (26,217)
    8.5 (26,604) Items (26,604)
    9 (32,929) Items (32,929)
    9.5 (33,705) Items (33,705)
    10 (41,469) Items (41,469) - Most popular!
    10.5 (38,832) Items (38,832) - 2nd
    11 (38,385) Items (38,385) - 3rd
    11.5 (20,875) Items (20,875) - Size 12 is magic so no one wants to be an 11.5, lol.
    12 (36,055) Items (36,055) - 4th - more common than any size below 10. 12 seems manly so everyone wants a 12, lol!
    12.5 (4,328) Items (4,328)
    13 (25,082) Items (25,082) - Curiously less common than an 8 or 8.5.
    13.5 (519) Items (519) - Half sizes are rarely made 13.5 and beyond.
    14 (8,881) Items (8,881)
    14.5 (115) Items (115)
    15 (3,387) Items (3,387)
    15.5 (50) Items (50)
    16 (1,333) Items (1,333) - Really starts to drop off here...I could have an easier time finding a size 3!
    16.5 (23) Items (23)
    17 (760) Items (760) - Really getting rare
    17.5 (7) Items (7)
    18 (836) Items (836)

    So this show that 10 does indeed appear to be the most common size, but with 10.5 and 11 more common than 9 and 9.5. Things really start to drop off after size 8 (which makes my size 7-7.5s in the rare category) and 7.5 is curiously less popular than 7 or 8. Then as sizes get larger we see that 11.5 is curiously less popular than 11 and 12...my theory there is that 12 is sort of a magic size that makes people feel like they are getting into "big" sizes and so is someone is an 11.5 they are probably more likely to want to size up so they can say they are a 12. Beyond 12 half sizes are less common and we also see a steep drop off after size 13, with size 14 actually less common than a size 6. And sizes above 16 being less common than a size 3 even (mind you this search was for "men's" jordans, not kids). Unscientific, but I would think what people sell on e-mail would be pretty telling.

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    1. I should also add that I am a bit surprised to see the steep drop off after 13 too, I would have expected 14 to be more common...but here a size 6 is more common.

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    2. Also hard to believe I am more likely to see a 7-7.5 than a 14 or above....

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    3. I guess my theory on 7.5 is that maybe people see 8 as the minimum acceptable small? So 8 is sort of a magic number for small...not to go below. So if you are a 7.5 you want to go to size 8 to at least be minimum man's size? So then 7 would be more common than 7.5 because they would be the people who just can't go to 8, it's too big, or they are a kid and 7 is normal for their size...

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  8. Interesting SSrF!
    I agree that 8 and 12 are 'magical sizes'.
    Nobody wants to be below one, and once approaching 12 everyone wants to be that one.
    For generally being the smallest and biggest one stocked?

    Personally i know more 13+s than 6s... well, I don't know any fellow 6.

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  9. So I guess me wearing 10.5-11 makes me above average? Sweet! ;-)
    I am a little surprised by those numbers too, I would have expected more on the 13+. Maybe that makes me feel slightly better?...

    I also agree about the magical sizes, especially 12. Everyone wants to be at least a 12. I tried to wear a 12 too when I was in high school but they were just way too big and only resulted in embarrassment :-( But growing up a lot of kids wore 12s and usually they fit them without them being huge like they are for me...though there were a few exceptions. There were definitely a few who tried to wear way bigger sizes than they really were. And as far as 8 I would have to agree that it is rare to see a grown man or a teen with shoes less than size 8. Though in school I really felt less than 10 was getting rare. A 9-9.5, like my true size, was generally reserved for the short kids.

    I remember in school there was a kid who was not that short who wore size 7.5 and kids used to give him a hard time. Shortly after he was claiming his feet had grown and he was a 10 now, but I suspect it was just peer pressure, you could tell the 10s were too big for him.

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  10. You had expected MORE on the 13+?? They're already so much surpassing availability for 6! 😳😁.

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  11. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pmRT0n_zOkk :-)

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  12. Replies
    1. I know it's a prank, but it is so obvious the dude is wearing much bigger than a size 6. But you could tell the sales guy was pretty proud of his 12s at that moment, lol.

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    2. I mean, it doesn't look like he has huge feet. From what I can find, the dude is 5'7. His shoes look like a size 8-9.

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  13. Sure it's a prank. No real 6 would do this, and defo defo not for the camera.
    Heatofrxn, yeah, that's how he looks.

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    1. I agree he doesn't have huge feet, but I would bet he is at least a sz 9-10, even at 5'7". His feet don't look "small", and an 8 usually looks small.

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    2. I don't know how or what or why, but me too i instantly identify him as a 9er.

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    3. Somehow I bet his feet are a size 10 and bigger than mine even though he is 4 inches shorter. I just feel like that's how it always goes... And wouldn't he have to at least be a size 10 to do the size 6 prank with a straight face? You don't do a size 6 prank when you yourself are marginal and wear a size 9...and definitely not an 8.

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    4. I think you're right JBC, you have to be quite far from 6 before you'd have the confidence or carelessness for such a prank. Then again, some 9s still have that.

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    5. Just thought of the 5'6" and 5'7" guys that me I know, and the majority is a 10. 9 only comes second.

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