Wearing the right size shoes is important for your health and comfort. You need to choose a shoe that fits well, but if you don’t know what size to get then it’s hard to know if the shoe you want is going to fit properly. In this post, we’ll go over how European shoe sizes compare with South African shoe sizes—from women’s sizes to children’s sizes and from men’s standard sizes 4 through 13 shoes.
To find the European size of your shoe, you need to measure the length of your foot from the heel to toe.
To find the South African size of your shoe, you need to measure the length of your foot from the heel to toe.
The conversion is: European size – South African size = 3.5 (3 5/6)
History of Shoe Sizing
The history of shoe sizing starts in the early 20th century when a large number of shoes were handmade. Since shoes were not mass-produced and sold to the general public at that time, there was no need for standardization in terms of sizing.
The first standardized shoe sizes were introduced by French inventor Charles Loubier in the late 18th century. However, these numbers were based on measurements taken from adult men’s feet rather than children’s or women’s feet; thus they would have been too big for most people. The average size at that time was about 10½ inches long and 11 inches wide (25 x 26 cm).
In 1930s America, shoe manufacturers created a system for measuring feet by using a device called “foot length photogrammetric machine.” This machine took photos of people’s feet and converted them into numerical values based on their measurements—but it wasn’t until 1958 that these machines could be used by anyone at home thanks to affordable technology becoming more widely available throughout society during this time period!
Women’s Sizes
Women’s sizes are the same as men’s. This can be confusing since women’s shoes tend to be lower than men’s. However, there is no difference between a size 8 in women’s and a size 8 in menswear; the only difference is the sizing of the shoes themselves.
The sizing of shoes for both genders follows international standards where European sizing takes into account centimetres (cm) and American sizing considers inches (in).
UK to SA Size Conversion
- UK size 36 is SA size 3.5
- UK size 37 is SA size 4
- UK size 38 is SA size 4.5
- UK size 39 is SA size 5
- UK size 40 is SA size 5.5
EU to SA Conversion
The EU to SA conversion is a simple one.
EU sizes are based on the length of your foot in centimetres, and SA sizes are based on the width of your foot in millimetres.
You can convert between these two measurements by multiplying or dividing by 25.4 (the number of millimetres in an inch).
The UK systems use lower numbers for shoe sizes. The UK sizes include children’s size 0 to size 14 shoes. A UK size 36 is a South African 3.5
A UK size 37 is a SA size 4
A UK size 38 is a SA size 4.5
A UK size 39 is a SA size 5
Conclusion
If you want to find out what European size is a South African size 3.5, there are many ways to do so. You can use the chart above or convert from EU to SA as explained in detail below.