As a woman, sometimes you may feel like shoes from the men’s collection would suit you better than the ones offered for women. With this thought in mind, you may often wonder if women can actually wear men’s shoes.
Worry not! This article will answer all your queries regarding this topic. Also, being a woman myself, I’ll let you know how can you practically wear men’s footwear while boosting your style up to the mark.
So, keep reading!
Can Women Wear Men’s Shoes?
Yes, women can wear men’s shoes as long as they fit perfectly while complementing their style. Women, especially those with wide feet, find men’s shoes comfier than their own ones. This is because they struggle to find their perfect size in the women’s section.
However, with the ongoing modernizing glamour world, you can see that generic gender-based fashion is diminishing day by day.
Most brands don’t offer much variety when it comes to the design and size of women’s shoes. So, women are gradually getting drawn toward the opposite gender’s footwear styles.
When you are a woman and wanna wear the opposite gender’s shoes, you need to consider some things– especially their differences.
So, now let’s talk about what is the difference between men’s and women’s shoes.
How do Men’s and Women’s Shoes Differ?
The key difference you will find in men’s and women’s shoes are in their style and sizing. Most brands offer a range of shoes for both genders, which are quite different in terms of available styles and sizes.
You may wonder why and how there is such dissimilarity. Let’s find that out.
Style of Shoes
For ages, men and women prefer wearing different styles of shoes over one another. For example, you will find women wearing high heels, flats, pumps, and many more. On the other hand, men are considered to wear dress shoes, loafers, and boots.
Though fashion has no boundaries, gender-specific styles still remain in the world of footwear.
But, in the present time, women are getting more interested in men’s footwear. This may be because of the activity they do, or simply because they like to style in a masculine way.
Talking about my experience as a female athlete, in the women’s sports shoe collection, I often struggle to find the perfect pair that suits both my style and need for the activity.
As big brands like Adidas don’t give that many style options for women when you look at their website. Instead, you will find a variety of styles and eye-catching designs in the men’s section.
Also, men’s boots are more durable and affordable than the ones for women.
Size of Shoes
When you look at the size chart for both male and female shoes, you will see a big difference there. Because in most cases, men’s and women’s feet differ in size.
For instance, most men’s feet are wider and longer than women’s feet. So, all the shoe brands out there offer small and narrow sizes for women and, wide and long sizes for men.
Because of that, if you are a wide-footed woman like me, you may struggle to find the right-sized shoes for you in the women’s section.
Moreover, shoe brands offer gender-specific styles because of the above-mentioned reasons. To get a perfect fit, you need to consider these differences when thinking about switching from women’s to men’s shoes.
How to Convert Men’s to Women’s Shoe Sizes?
When choosing shoes from the men’s section, you may find your suitable style or design. But you will get troubled finding the right size for you, as shoe sizes are different for both genders.
Though there is a unisex option offered by many brands for both genders, they are only limited to sneakers. If you wanna wear other men’s styles like loafers or dress shoes, you may not find the unisex option.
However, a simple conversion of shoe sizes from men to women can resolve this problem.
So, let’s take a look at how can you convert your women’s shoe size to men’s:
- First, you must figure out how the sizing works for both genders. As for most brands and models, there is a 1-1.5 size difference in men’s and women’s shoe sizes. For example, men’s size 7 for Puma shoes is size 8.5 for women’s. And women’s size 8.5 is similar to men’s size 7.5 for Adidas.
- So, if you are a size 10 for women’s shoe size, you will be size 8.5 or size 8 for men’s shoes in most shoe brands. Look at the size chart carefully to find out what the size difference is for the specific brand’s shoes.
- By comparing the size charts given for both genders, you can easily convert your shoe size from men to women or vice versa.
- Another easy way to convert sizes is by measuring your shoe size. This way is very useful when you don’t know what your size is.
However, after measuring the length of your feet in centimeters or inches, you can find your size easily from the size charts.
For example, if your feet are 22 cm, then you’ll see from the size chart of Nike that you are size 5 for women and 3.5 for men for their shoes.
Overall, size conversion from women to men is pretty simple if you carefully look at the size charts and compare both the men’s and women’s shoe sizes. Through this easy conversion process, you can wear your favorite pair of men’s shoes without worrying about the fit.
Can Women Wear Men’s Running Shoes?
Yes, women can wear men’s running shoes if they give you a comfortable fit. Wearing men’s running shoes can be helpful to women with wide feet, as there aren’t many wider options available for women. Thus, through a simple size conversion, you can get your perfect running shoes regardless of gender.
Most men’s running shoes offer much more arch and heel support than women’s ones. But shoes with less arch support and cushioning can cause ankle pain. So many women find men’s shoes more comfortable and a better choice for running.
However, running shoes are supposed to fit you snugly so that they don’t slip off your feet while running. So, for a perfect fit, you need to consider some things like their length, width, and functionality while opting for men’s running shoes.
In most cases, men’s shoes are much wider, longer, and heavier when compared to the ones for women. That’s because women’s feet, in general, are narrower than men’s, especially around the heel and toe area.
So, when switching to men’s shoes, try out them properly and check if they are of the right width for you or not. Because loose fitting around the heel and toe means they aren’t the right fit and can hamper your activity as well.
But, regardless of these limitations, as a female runner, you definitely can go with men’s trainers as long as your feet allow you.
Final Words
In this modern era, fashion is revolutionizing with time, and so is the footwear style and trend.
However, if you are also thinking about switching from women’s to men’s shoes, hopefully, this article will help you till the end.
So, without any hesitation, choose your favorite pair of shoes if they fulfill all your needs.
For more queries regarding this topic, just drop a comment below!
