Do Your Feet Shrink With Age?

[Bcup]

I know we get shorter, but I am wondering about feet.  I have some size 11 heels that I hadn't worn in quite some time because they were too small for me when I bought them, now they seem to fit much better. I never wore them very much, so I don't think they stretched out. Ideas?

[Histiletto]

Hey! Bcup,

 

I think you are correct in that assumption. I'm fitting into a half size smaller comfortably now, where before they were too tight. Of course, if this is really the case, I have a closet full of really loose fitting heels and I'll have to buy some inserts to fill up the slack. 

 

Then again, maybe the shoe manufacturers are trying to transition the sizing, so that men's and women's footwear fit the same sizing marks. Since more men are catching on to wearing high heels with their outfits, there would be less confusion in finding the right size, if we didn't have to use women's to men's conversion charts. Then again and again, this is the first day of April.

[Jkrenzer]

I think your feet get compressed a bit over time when wearing heels. I've found the same thing to be true.

[jetheelsfan]

Not Mine - My first pair was in 1970 at age 18 - the largest I could find was a 10B Medium - they fit well and for the next several years 10 was alright.  Then in my 30's they did not fit and 11s were few and far between.  In my 40s the 12s were right there when I could find.  Then they became too tight in my 50s and 13s were not a choice.  Now that Payless has had a significant supply of 13s available - It is so nice to be back taller in my 60s.

[dww]

Nor mine, I still have some sandals I bought in the early 70's back then the fit was perfect. Nowadays I can still wear them but they are very tight now, they will soon be travelling to the helicopter rescue bin along with some others.

[AZShoeNut]

I find that as my weight yoyos I go between 12m and 12w.

[blueparrot]

I used to be able to wear 10's back in my 30's but now I need 11.  Only my seldom worn wellies are US 10 but they obviously are sized different.  I wish 10 fit because there is so much more selection in that size.  In men's athletic shoes I always wore 9.5 but I couldn't get into them so had to get 10 last pair.  I have a couple of 12s in Italian knee boots but some of those (Franco Sarto, Corso Como) seem to run a size small.  Normally 12 is too big for me.  I have a pair of knee boots in 12 from Born that I need to get rid of because they are so big.  I am trying to control myself at Nordstrom Rackand DSW but that day I didn't do too well.

[Guest]

No they get bigger.

[hhboots]

I did some searching around, most say that feet technically don't continue growing after age 20.  However, you lose muscle as you get older (age 40+).  This can cause feet to spread in width and for arches to come down (which can affect the length). 

 

Weight gain (and loss) can also affect the width of the feet (+/-) a bit, too.

 

I suppose if you constantly wear very high heels, in theory, it is possible for your feet to compress a tiny bit being constantly forced downward into a small toe box.  But, I think this would be rather minimal (and temporary).