Why aren´t shoesizes measured in inches or centimeters, but instead in 10, 37 and so on depended on where you live?
I got two kids and always when we need to buy them new shoes, we take out our measurer and check how long their feet are. And then you have to go to a site or even the manufacturers site to see which size of shoe to get them. Feels very complicated
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That’s because shoes sizes are using old units of normal life measurements:
* In most of Europe the size is simply the length of the foot expressed in point de Paris, which is ca. 2/3 cm, so a size 40 corresponds to a ~~30~~ 26 [*edited: thanks for those who corrected me*] cm long foot.
* In the UK the size is expressed in barleycorn, an old unit which is ca. 1/3 inch, and it represents the difference between the length of the foot and a minimal length (which differs for children, for whom it is 12 barleycorns, and adults, for whom it is 25 barleycorns).
It depends on where you live and where you’re getting your shoes.
Here is a picture of boots that use millimeter measurements.
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