Many people wear different sized shoes on each foot. Some do that to accommodate a brace on one side and others just have one foot larger than the other. Due to an amputation some people only need one shoe.
Instead of buying two pairs of shoes and paying twice as much or getting a pair to discard one, we recommend our patients go to stores that actually sell split sized or individual right or left foot shoes.
In our experience, one of the best places online to get different sized shoes is Zappos. When looking for shoes, scroll down the filters and choose the single shoe box to check available options.
Nordstrom also offers single and split-shoe service online and in their stores. Their website states that “the shoe sizes must be at least one and a half size different, at least one size and one width different, or two widths different.” The good news is that all of their shoes can be ordered as part of this program.
Whenever at a shoe store or a retail store that sells shoes, always give it a try and ask. They might or might not sell you split sized shoes, but this is usually at the management discretion.
If you can’t access different sized shoes, you should opt for the bigger shoe size. Sometimes a foot insert or a tongue spacer can work to make the wrong size shoe fit comfortably and safely.
