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One big step for women...Female feet are getting larger and even size 10s are in demandBy Emily Andrews Last updated at 11:50 PM on 01st January 2010
Not that long ago, a woman who wore size 6 shoes would have been considered large of foot.
Now, she's the average – and there's many with hooves far heftier than hers.
Sales figures show that the average woman's shoe size has gone up from a 5 in the past five years.
This means that demand for the biggest sizes, such as 9s, 10s and 11s, is also rising.
The increase has been attributed to the obesity epidemic.
Medical experts believe that eating high-density foods such as pizza and processed foods during puberty stimulates the growth hormone.
This not only increases waist size, but affects other parts of the body such as the hands and feet.
The research by Debenhams showed that in 2009, sales for ladies' size 9s increased by 23 per cent, while sales of size sixes rose by 17 per cent.
The high street chain is now considering stocking size 10 as a standard fitting across all of its ranges.
Currently, the largest shoe it stocks as standard is a 9, but demand for this size has now outstripped size 4, which was the standard measurement 30 years ago.
Our bigger feet are in line with our taller and heavier bodies, according to the UK National Sizing Survey.
Sixty years ago the average British woman's figure was a petite 5ft 2in, and she rarely tipped the scales above 9st 10lb.
Even her feet – size 31/2 – were small, and she fitted neatly into a size 12 dress with vital statistics of 37-27-39.
Now the average woman is 5ft 4in, weighs 10st 4lb, has size 6 feet and is a less curvaceous 38-34-40.
Last year newsreader Kate Silverton let slip on air she had size 9 feet.
Other celebrities in the bigfoot club include Nicole Kidman (size 9), Jerry Hall (8), Paris Hilton (9), Macy Gray (10) and Kate Winslet (9).
Michael Paynton, British Chiropody and Podiatry Association chairman, said: 'I have been in practice 42 years and in that time standard foot sizes have changed dramatically. At one time it would have been difficult for a woman to get a size 6 shoe. Now that is the norm.
'It's part of the process of evolution, as generally people are getting bigger and taller. We are seeing it clinically in both men and women as modern diets and lifestyle change.
'Once, a man's shoe size of six or seven was common, but now sizes 9, 10, 11 and 12 are more commonplace.'
The Debenhams sales figures showed that women in Leeds had the largest feet, followed by those in Belfast, London and Cardiff.
Ed Watson, of Debenhams, said the bigger sizes were even having an impact upon the store displays.
He said: 'It's the equivalent of putting a surfboard on a shelf space designed for a baguette.'
He added: 'Big shoes, especially heeled styles, have to be made much stronger with sturdier load-bearing points, able to cope with greater levels of stress and wear.
'In the past, these shoe sizes would have only been available bespoke, but today's women with larger feet want to wear the designer styles which we stock rather than frumpy specially made ones.'
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