Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 February 1920 — Average Size of Milady’s Shoe Is Now 5 or 5½, Due To Walking and Athletics [ARTICLE]

Average Size of Milady’s Shoe Is Now 5 or 5½, Due To Walking and Athletics

The fairy prince wonld have a harder time than ever fitting his Cinderella today, because women’s feet are growing larger year by year. This fact Is made known by the managing director of one of the largest-London shoe factories. “During the last fifty years,” he said, ‘•Englishwomen’s feet have increased enormously in length. A No. 3 shoe was worn by the average woman In the middle of the last century, whereas the average now worn Is a 5 or 5%. We find that sixes, and even larger shoes, can hardly be kept in stock, they are so much In demand. “The cause of this growth of women’s feet can be attributed to the amount of walking they do and the number of games they play from their earliest childhood?* —~ Women’s feet are much larger than they used to be, but this does not mean that they are no longer beautiful. Public taste has changed with the size of feet, and a small foot is no longer considered necessary for beauty. Indeed, the shoe mnnurac* turer explained that a long, slender foot is considered more desirable than a short, inelegant one. “Long lines- -are- the thing nowadays,” he said. “There is a clamor for long, graceful footwear, and fashionable woyien buy shoes more than an Inch too long rather than wear short, stumpy shoes.” ;