Shoe Sizes

For years, I have heard the rumor that former NHL defenseman Paul Coffey wore skates that were two sizes smaller. I think this is a myth. Why? First of all, have you ever put on shoes that were a half size too small? Not fun. You immediately take them off. Imagine walking in those shoes for an hour...now imagine skating in them. Yeah, not gonna happen. Secondly, and more importantly, skate sizes run large. So, you would not be wearing the same size shoe as you do with skates.

I just got an new pair of skates, since I am playing hockey again. Here is the deal...why is there not a universal shoe/skate size? Now, I have lots of pairs of shoes. I am kinda a shoe whore, but not as much as most women. Yeah, I said it. In my adventures of looking for shoes, I have noticed that shoe sizes differ from company to company. Heck, they even differ from model to model. I have ordered 'custom' shoes from NikeID and while I order my usual Nike size, they fit about a half size too small.

Note: Your feet do swell up in the middle of the day and depending on the temperature. Trust me on this, I used to work at an ice rink and I sold many pairs of skates.

So, why is there not a universal size that we can refer to. Well, there kinda is. Let me explain, we will use my shoe size as an example. Why, because this is my blog and no one reads this anyways. In shoes, I wear a size US 8 (generally), which works out to be a UK 7, Euro 40.5, and 26.5cm. It translates to a size 6.5 skate.

That last one, 26.5cm, which what the Japanese use to size their shoes. Notice they do not go by inches. Centimeters, an actual measurement of one's foot, something we can and should all go by. Like metric and SAE, the world will never agree on a standard on shoe sizes. I wish there was a standard shoe size...it would bring us a step closer to world peace. Okay, not really. But it would sure make my life, and yours, a whole lot easier when shopping for shoes...or skates.