Reading a
Brannock device

What a Brannock device measures

The Brannock Device was invented by Charles F. Brannock and patented in the 1920s. Its length scale is marked in US sizes, not centimetres: on the men’s side, size 9 is a foot up to 26.25 cm, exactly the standard US men’s scale our charts use.

How to read it

1. Step 01

   Heel in the cup

   Shoes off, socks you’ll wear on. Right heel in the right heel cup, against the back of the cup.

2. Step 02

   Weight on both feet

   Stand with equal weight on both feet, so the foot is at its full length.

3. Step 03

   Heel-to-toe size

   Press the toes flat and look straight down over the longest toe, which isn’t always the big toe. Read the size on the scale there.

4. Step 04

   Arch (heel-to-ball) size

   Slide the arch pointer forward until its curve sits on the ball joint at the side of the foot, and read the size it points to.

5. Step 05

   Width

   Slide the width bar against the outside of the foot and read the letter in the row for your size.

6. Step 06

   Both feet, the larger size

   Of the two lengths, use the larger size. Then turn the device end for end, measure the other foot, and fit the larger foot.

Brannock size chart

What each men’s reading means in foot length, and the same foot in other systems. The arch column is the heel-to-ball length for that size: if your arch reads a bigger size than your toe, that’s the size to use.

Foot length and arch from Wikipedia’s Brannock formulas; UK and EU from the standard tables for the same foot.

The women’s scale is one size up

On a Brannock device, a women’s size is 1 above the men’s size for the same foot: a men’s 9 reads as a women’s 10. Most US size tables, ours included, put women’s 1½ above men’s, so the same foot is a standard women’s 10.5. If a shop measured you on the women’s scale, the device’s number can be half a size below what a size chart gives; type it in as a men’s size 9 to compare.

Width on a Brannock device

The width bar reads letters from AAAA, the narrowest, to EEEE, and the letter depends on the length: each size up adds width. At a men’s 9, Wikipedia’s formula gives B 89 mm, D 98 mm, EE 108 mm. If you’re between two letters, Brannock suggests the wider for a thick foot and the narrower for a thin one. Brands’ own widths differ: shoe width chart.

Other shop gauges

A gauge marked in UK or EU sizes is read the same way, standing, at the longest toe, and type the size into the converter as a UK or EU size. A gauge marked in centimetres or millimetres gives your foot length directly: type it into the calculator.

Children’s gauges: measuring a child’s foot, and how much room the shoe needs.

Convert your reading

Choose “US men’s” (or “US women’s” for a standard women’s size) and type the reading: you get the foot length, every system and each brand’s size for that foot.

Questions