A Nike US 10 measures 28 cm. An adidas US 10 measures 27.1 cm.
That's nearly a full centimetre of difference wearing the same number on the box. To get 28 cm out of adidas, you need a US 11. Same foot, same fit, different number — and if you order on the number alone, you'll be wrong roughly half the time.
This matters more here than almost anywhere else. In Sandton you can't walk into a store, try three sizes and walk out with the right one. When you buy an authenticated grail online, you wait for it to reach you. Getting the size wrong doesn't cost you an afternoon. It costs you a week and a half.
So here's how to get it right the first time.
Forget your size. Measure your foot.
Your “size” isn't a property of your foot. It's a property of a particular brand's chart. The only thing that doesn't change is the length of your foot in centimetres.
Here's how to measure properly, and it takes two minutes:
- Put a sheet of paper on a hard floor, flat against a wall
- Stand on it with your heel touching the wall — stand, don't sit, your foot spreads under your body weight
- Mark the tip of your longest toe. That's not always your big toe
- Measure from the wall edge of the paper to the mark, in centimetres
- Do both feet. Most people have one foot slightly longer. Use the longer one
Do this in the afternoon or evening. Feet swell over the course of a day, and a shoe fitted to a cold morning foot will feel tight by 6pm.
Now take that number to the brand's own chart on our Size Guide — not a generic conversion table you found somewhere. We list Nike/Jordan, adidas, New Balance and ASICS separately for a reason.
Why brands don't agree
There's no international standard for shoe sizing. There never has been.
UK sizing originated from barleycorns — literally, a third of an inch each. US sizing evolved separately and sits roughly a size above UK for men. EU sizing uses Paris points, two-thirds of a centimetre. Every brand then applies its own interpretation on top.
That's how you end up with the situation on our size guide, where:
- Nike and Jordan convert US to UK by a full size. US 10 = UK 9
- adidas and New Balance convert by a half size. US 10 = UK 9.5
- adidas also uses fractional EU sizes — 41⅓, 42⅔, 45⅓ — which no other brand on our shelves does
None of them is wrong. They're just different systems, and the number on the box is meaningless without knowing whose system it belongs to.
Fit notes, model by model
Length is only half the story. Two shoes can measure the same and fit completely differently, because width, toe box shape and padding all change how a shoe feels.
General tendencies worth knowing, from what we see and what buyers consistently report:
Air Jordan 1 (High and Low) — generally true to size. One of the more forgiving silhouettes. If you're a clean 28 cm, take the 28 cm.
Nike Dunk Low — runs narrow through the midfoot. If you have a wider foot, this is the pair most likely to disappoint you at true size.
Nike SB Dunk — same last as the Dunk but with a fat padded tongue and a thicker insole. Snugger than it looks on paper.
Air Jordan 4 — roomier than the AJ1, particularly through the toe box. The plastic wings and mesh panels give it a different feel entirely.
New Balance 9060 and 1906R — chunky, generous silhouettes. Plenty of people find them roomy at true size.
ASICS GEL-Kayano and GT-2160 — cut on a narrower running last. Wider feet often want to reconsider.
Yeezy Slides — the single pair people get wrong most often. Slides don't follow the same conversion logic as the sneakers, and the fit is polarising. Do not guess on these. Message us.
Treat all of that as a starting point, not gospel. Foot shape varies more than brands do.
When you're between sizes
If your measurement lands between two sizes, go up.
A shoe that's slightly long can be managed — thicker socks, a lacing adjustment, an insole. A shoe that's too short cannot be fixed. Your toes hit the front and that's the end of the conversation. You'll wear it twice and then it lives in the box.
The exception is a shoe you already know runs large. If you're between sizes in a 9060, that's a conversation worth having before you order.
Just ask us
This is the part we'd genuinely rather you did.
Send us your foot measurement in centimetres and the exact model you're looking at — email lx.unvaulted@gmail.com or DM @lx.unvaulted on Instagram. We'll tell you what size to take.
We're not being polite about this. Every piece we sell is authenticated and sourced individually, and it takes up to 12 days to reach you. We would far rather answer a message today than have you wait a week and a half for something that doesn't fit. We don't offer returns for change of mind — you do have a 7-day cooling-off right under South African law, and we honour it fully, but that means return shipping on your account and another wait.
One message costs you thirty seconds. Getting it wrong costs you a fortnight.
The short version
- Measure your foot in CM, standing, both feet, later in the day
- Use the brand's own chart, not a generic converter
- Between sizes? Go up
- Wide feet? Be careful with Dunks and ASICS
- Buying slides? Ask first
- Not sure? Ask. That's what we're here for