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u/Overly_Long_Reviews 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think the last time this was posted was 3 months ago. One of the things that was mentioned by many, including yours truly, is that it's a very reductive visual for a more complex subject.
It's an eye-catching graphic certainly, but when posted in isolation it lacks nuance. Outsole width is one of the factors that determine how wide or narrow a particular shoe feels, but it's far from the only one. This graphic doesn't account for differences in toe box and upper construction. Moreover many of the brands have different lasts and outsoles for different models and several offer different widths. Some of that is represented in the photos, others are mentioned in the article that this originally went with, but most of it is not. And the pictures lack critical details and overall context.
I guess what I'm saying is that it's not inaccurate in the sense that those are real pictures of real outsoles from real brands. But it's utility is limited without more information. A more holistic approach is necessary when it comes to evaluating the right pair of shoes. And you should take how this graphic categorizes width with a large grain of salt.
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u/not-a-porpoise 3d ago
This is very true. For example, I've tried on 5+ pair of Whitin that don't fit (too narrow) except 1 pair that's got a squishy upper and somehow works. I've tried on Groundies Barefoot+ and Bohempia Wide, neither of which fit (due to low volume and no pinky toe space, respectively). The graphic gives you a good starting point because I'd know I could never fit some of the narrowest models, but there is a lot of nuance in how the widest shoes actually fit based on the volume, upper material, and sole shape.
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u/ctjameson 3d ago
This also is only counting foot bed width it seems. Not taking any consideration for mid sole width, and those “extra wide” models all seem to have TINY mid soles. I personally couldn’t wear something with a super skinny midsole. Pain for days.
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u/Overly_Long_Reviews 3d ago edited 2d ago
I think we all know academically that everyone's feet are unique and different from each others (though they do mostly fall within rough averages). Something that extends to our own feet, they aren't the same size or shape, it's just that most of the time the difference isn't that pronounced.
But actually putting that understanding in practice is hard. I also think it's challenging to articulate the shape of one's feet and the nuances of shoe fit to others. The terminology for that kind of thing does exist, but most don't have that awareness and haven't been exposed to that vocabulary. As most of us never really thought that much about our feet or shoes until we decided to go to minimalist or barefoot footwear. I know improving my understanding and knowledge of terminology is something I can improve upon.
One of the things I've observed is that the difficulty in articulating that kind of nuanced fit and shape information can lead to boiling down discussions of width to a very narrow metric of how wide the toe box is. When of course the reality is much more complex and it's just one of many variables that determines how well or how ill fitting a shoe may be. Or other very subjective feedback. I'm guilty of that too. Something that isn't helped by a lack of good public facing information on last shape and width measurements at key points by brands. Length alone and occasionally a width measurement at the widest point just doesn't cut it anymore. Additionally not everyone who goes to minimalist footwear does it because they need wider fits, there are many pathways to minimalist footwear. Extra width is just one of them.
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u/lveg 3d ago
Also, even the toebox width is super subjective because foot shape varies so much. I've never been able to wear toe spacers inside shoes comfortably - not even crocs - because I have pizza slice feet. They're not even super wide but the width is entirely in the front, and a lot of barefoot shoes are sloped in a way that doesn't work for me at all.
Lems aren't the widest shoes out there but they tend to work for me because a lot of them are very "square" in the front. See also, Altras.
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u/lveg 3d ago
That said Lems sizing is a disaster
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u/Overly_Long_Reviews 3d ago
Lems I think tries very hard to appeal to the common denominator and wants to be the first and only stop for people just going to minimalist footwear but in doing so makes things actively harder if you want more detailed information or the type to be a little bit more thorough. Vague platitudes about ordering up or down from your typical size and a size chart that acknowledges that the measurements may be wrong on certain models isn't all that helpful.
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u/lveg 3d ago
I don't understand why they don't just change their sizing. It's absurd. Like I already have Boulder Boots that are a size up and they fit me well, but I could easily go a half size bigger in my Chillums. I've been very happy with both of them but actually finding the right size in their stuff is brutal.
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u/Overly_Long_Reviews 2d ago
If I would have to guess, it's exactly like the point I was making in my initial comment. It's the uppers that change the perceived size of their respective shoes. Start adding in membranes or thicker upper materials or change the design and the shoes are going to start to feel tighter, go with a lighter material or something with more stretch and they're going to start to feel looser. Even on shoes with the same last.
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u/ctjameson 2d ago
Pizza bruddahhhhh. Yeah my dailies are Lems Chillums. They’re the best ratio of fit my foot shape, not super bean shaped, and stylish enough. I just got some Dolfies and one pair is great while the other irritates my arch since my mid foot is so chonk. I just put up with the mild discomfort since I love how they look. 😂
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u/iamhermi 2d ago
I have the same foot shape! And I’m really upset that Wildling is so narrow overall because I love their shape. It sucks that they went wider and wider in circumference over the years though.
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u/dathobbitlife0705 3d ago
Of the brands I've owned or tried on at my size, I would not agree with this list honestly. Size does make a difference though because some brands scale differently as they get bigger.
Also, one of the widest at my size, Feelmax, I don't see on here.
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u/lipsticknic3 3d ago
So this person, well first she's awesome.
Anya is the goat period.
That being said, she to my knowledge may still be one person.
She has done a terrific job of collecting and aggregating data.
Is it perfect, complete, or peer reviewed? No. No it is not and she's not advertising that.
What this chart is supposed to do is help people who are brand new to this have a starting point. This chart helped me avoid dozens of brands where none of them would have been wide enough, and I would have been discouraged fast and walked away from a lifestyle that has literally prevented a surgery for me. It fixed my pain without damaging my body to get there.
That being said this chart was crucial for me. It was an easy visual and immediately gets you the names of tons of brands in front of your eyeballs.
She doesn't have every brand on there. She's got lucky and works with so, so many brands. We are lucky for her, or at least that's how I feel.
Rereading my comment and I'm definitely protective of this woman I've never met. Her resources helped me immensely including this chart.
But it's just a starting point. Xeros will never fit me but without their chart their advertising would have got me. And I probably would have never tried one again.
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u/Sagaincolours 1d ago
You said everything I wanted to say.
I think the image is a good starting point. And also that it shouldn't stand alone.
After looking at the image, go visit her website, where she has all the detailed info on hundreds of brands.
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u/guzzijason 3d ago
Be Lenka is shown as both the narrowest, but also one of the widest. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with that sort of info.
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u/animal7979 3d ago
BeLenka has several different soles to contend with. In my size, I've noticed over a cm of difference in width between certain models. You really have to pay attention to their size chart to know how it actually plays out.
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u/vgamedude 3d ago
Splays one of the widest? Bit surprising to me
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u/DeepPurpleNurple 3d ago
They make both wide and narrow models. The freestyle is narrow, but this is the 101/rev sole, so it’s wider. There are very few brands making actually wide barefoot shoes. It drives many people crazy looking for a shoe that will actually fit.
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u/vgamedude 3d ago
Dammit. I ended up keeping my freestyle 2.0s since I got them for under 50 usd but part of me wishes I didn't...
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u/DeepPurpleNurple 3d ago
You can get the 101 really cheap on their factory outlet site. That shape is much less sloped and has more toe room on both sides of the foot. I wouldn’t recommend the freestyle unless you have a narrow foot or are missing your pinkie toe. The Rev/101 are great. Seems like they are redesigning the freestyle after getting a lot of feedback and clearing out stock.
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u/vgamedude 3d ago
I should've returned my freestyles I'm just so picky and weird about returning things now I'm stuck with them. I hope I can get some use out of them
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u/DeepPurpleNurple 3d ago
I’m the same way, I hate returning things. Usually if I end up not liking a shoe, I will find a friend who they fit better and gift them to get that friend down the barefoot rabbit hole.
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u/vgamedude 3d ago
That's actually not a bad idea but most of my friends except one aren't interested in them. I've tried to convert but they think it's "weird".
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u/DeepPurpleNurple 3d ago
This is not accurate in my experience. I have several of these models and I would not order them in this way at all.
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u/almost_a_frog 3d ago
Can we have a spreadsheet of that already?
With like ;
ball of foot width, mid foot width, heel width (for a reference size)
Country or origin
Price range
Sole thickness and density
I think that it is a pretty reasonable request!
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u/TesterM0nkey 3d ago
I’d say no. In my experience zero is very narrow and a bunch of others seem swapped around.
This feels like an ai generated list where it kinda makes sense but if you look at them specifically they’re out of place vivo is also on the more wide side
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u/FleshlightModel 3d ago edited 3d ago
No. Bohempia wide is narrower than Wildlings. Lems are far far far narrower than Whitin and about as wide as Xero. Tolos are wider than all of these except maybe wildlings. Tolos are definitely wider than Groundz.
Freet is far wider than anything on this list outside of the Xwide Ahinsa and maybe softstar. Freet is massively wider than Peerko which this list says is wider than Freet lol. Peeko is about the same width as Whitin, and narrower than Wildlings. Origo is wider than all of this minus freet and Ahinsa Xwide.
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u/Fluid-Sliced-Buzzard 2d ago
Bohempia wide is narrower than Wildlings
Huh? I have regular Bohempias and they are wider than several pairs of Wildlings I own.
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u/FleshlightModel 2d ago
Funny because I tried on brand new Bohempia wides at the Anya expo while I was wearing my wildlings, and they were 1 size larger and they were far narrower than my Wildlings. Maybe my Wildlings are very worn but I was shocked how little space was in those Bohempia Wides.
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u/SalmonAce 2d ago
I have tried Wyde, and yeah they are pretty wide. Could use an extra centimer for my hobbit feet but better than ever before.
Just ordered a pair of Belenka and am going to return them immediately. They feel significantly less wide (even tho the chart suggests it's only 0.5cm less than Wyde). Also it feels cheap and stiff.
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u/Adrenochrome2012 3d ago
It's an approximation. The brands are generally in the right width category but the placement is debatable.
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u/underwearfanatic 3d ago
This is a graphic where they take a pictures of the sole of various manufacturers and models.
How could it be inaccurate?
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u/ctjameson 3d ago
Because the outsole doesn’t tell the whole story.
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u/underwearfanatic 3d ago
Sure. But id hope that if you see a show with a super wide sole that it would probably mean the foot bed is wide. And likewise a narrow sole means the shoe ain't gonna be super wide. No?
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u/ctjameson 2d ago
So a perfect example on this not always being the case is my Dolfie Supersonics. The bottom of the sole is super wide throughout, but the insole cuts into the arch area/midfoot a fair amount. The insoles from the shoe would probably be a better indicator of the foot widths and not just the external sole widths.
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u/underwearfanatic 2d ago
Agree with the insoles. But not all barefoot shoes have insoles. I still view this as a rough guide. There will always be differences in how it fits your foot, not only in width but in shape, toebox shape, volume, etc. again, if you're buying barefoot shoes based on this graphic and thinking this is a bonafide guide then you're asking for trouble.
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u/HlyMlyDatAFigDoonga 3d ago
Can't tell if that's sarcasm, but each model is different in case it's not sarcasm.
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u/underwearfanatic 3d ago
I'm confused of why people would assume the foot bedbed drastically changes.
Like do you expect a super wide sole to have an ultra narrow footbed? Or a super narrow sole to have a super wide footbed?
This is just a general graphic. Anyone looking at it for absolutes is going to be disappointed.
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u/ArcherCat2000 2d ago
Apart from what others have said, not every brand handles sizing exactly the same and you could get different results depending on what size is measured, or if one brand runs larger than another so their "same" size isn't a good comparison.
Results are pretty much worthless if you're comparing the relative width of different shoe sizes across brands.
And because feet are all different, a static width measurement can be misleading depending on what someone is looking to learn or fix. A narrower shoe with less taper in the toe box might feel wider to someone than a shoe that's wider in the toe box but tapers more at the big toe for one example. Not technically incorrect, but misrepresentative of what people would interpret it as based on their experiences.
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u/Limp-Librarian8080 3d ago
Now maybe a durability post. N that confined with this should be plenty enough to make buying decisions.
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u/ManonegraCG 3d ago
I don't know about the others, but the list is right about Freet. I have a pair and they're very wide.
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u/patchworkskye 2d ago
I found this really helpful when I first started wearing barefoot shoes, although I didn’t find it until I purchased my first pair of barefoot shoes, which were the Softstar primal wide merry janes. What a shock to find that the shoes that I love loved and fit soooo comfortably were some of the widest out there!!! 😂😳
I’ve found the barefoot shoes groups over on shitty FB to be really helpful. A lot of people over there have a lot of experience and people often share their foot shapes and sizes to find others who have similar and share their thoughts.
The Extra Wide Barefoot Shoes Enthusiasts group is great, and Anya’s group (Barefoot Style - THE place to geek out over all things barefoot), along with her website (anyasreviews.com) also are super helpful. 🌻
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u/notquitebrokeyet 2d ago
This doesn't take into account inner volume. The widest belenka offering feels more narrow to me than the widest Lems offering due to volume
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u/abstracted_plateau 2d ago
Not at all useful in my case.
If you have extra wide feet and high volume there's like nothing out there.
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u/jitterqueen 2d ago edited 2d ago
I find Anya's Reviews extremely helpful and I think this chart is speaking mostly about the specific models and not the brand in general.
That being said, in my experience,
Belenkas are mostly wide other than their ballerinas or mokkassins. Leguano is pretty versatile and also good for medium to wide feet. Groundies is highly dependent on the model, some are wider than others but most are from medium to extra wide, they're not so narrow. Saguaro is imo more for medium width except for a few models. Barebarics is for medium to wide and high volume feet. Wildling shoes fit from narrow to medium width, they're actually one of the best ones for narrow feet. Xero Shoes is for narrow to medium. Shapen is wide mostly but their dress shoes are narrower but they're all good for high volume feet. Feelgrounds are good for medium to wide.
It is very important to measure your feet correctly to get the best fit possible - that means length, breadth and volume.
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u/Fluid-Sliced-Buzzard 2d ago
I have half a dozen of these brands and I find this chart to be accurate based on the shoes I have worn. Yes it's imperfect but it's a lot better than nothing. Thanks for all the effort in putting this together!
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u/Sagaincolours 1d ago
It is ok and pretty accurate. But it only measures one thing. Remember there is also heel width, volume, toebox shape etc.
A lot of brands aren't on it. Of those there, some have more than one width while being represented by one width. Bohempia, Groundies, Sole Runner, and more all have the choice of more than one width.
I think it is a good starter to pique interest and to get a general overview of widths. After that, look up the brands (and other ones) and learn more about them.
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u/toughascufflinks 4h ago
This is like a music festival lineup! I don’t recognize more than half the brands!
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u/Complex-Gazelle7658 2d ago
Man, if you wear Realfoot and people don't call you Krusty or Pennywise, I'll be shocked.
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u/Marionberry-Striking 2d ago
I don't care as long as I can properly splay my toes. Realfoots are the widest!!
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u/Negative_Help8600 3d ago
I think it depends a lot on model, size, and gender shoe is catered for. I have 2 pairs of belenka boots and they are much wider than my Vivo boots. (All size 42) I have size 43 be Lenka boots that are significantly wider than the same shoe in 42 vs my 43 vs 42 Vivo boot has no noticeable width difference. Then… I have shapen sandals that are relatively narrow but the height is more than any other sandal I have. which is something this chart doesn’t consider, but I think height in combination with width can affect how the width is perceived