Canadian shoe sizes have changed.

All my adult life, I’ve taken a size 11. Size 11 in oxfords by a top Canadian maker (nolonger in business); size 11 in military oxfords (issued to me for use with a Pipe Band); size 11 in sports shoes (cleats for various sports; runners, walkers, trainers, etc); size 11 for work boots.

Recently, over a somewhat poorly remembered time period, because shoes last and I’m not chasing fashion anymore, things have changed. A size 11 seems OK until it’s been walked in for a while then it’s a bit too small.

I finally noticed that what is advertised in big print as an 11 is an “11 US”; a 10 ½ UK and 45 European. I went on line to check this out and found that the listing for Canadian size is now the same as the US.

Incidently size 11 UK which used to be the convention we followed. Who decided that our shoe sizes were to shrink to the US sizing and that produce advertising etc. should use this smaller size?

When we are celebrating the War of 1812 (where our winning part was to stay out of the United States) why are we cow-towing by giving up our shoe sizes and adopting the US? It isn’t the Free Trade agreement as Mexico uses an entirely different sizing system.

When a change is made, lets make the full change. Somewhere there has to be a shoe sizing convention that is based on the SI system of measurement. If we are to make a change:

1. Don’t ape the US
2. Don’t adopt a convention that has same numbers for something we learned as a different size
3. Make a real change. Find a sizing convention that is rational, means something other than an arbitrary number and is hopefully based on actual length (hopefully in SI units).

The Plaidneck