When I purchased my first pair of Birkenstocks, I took what the salesperson offered me and thought that they would eventually feel better on my feet. After all... I had friends and family who swore that Birks were the most comfortable shoes they'd ever worn. Just because my feet didn't feel my friend's described euphoria, I was sure they would after the break-in period that the shoe salesman mentioned.

Well guess what.... my feet never did conform to those not-so-cheap sandals and I decided that Birks weren't all they were cracked up to be!

Like many US retailers (including QVC) the store where I purchased my first Birkenstocks only offered them in one width ~ US medium/narrow or Euro narrow.

Once I slipped my tootsies into a pair of my daughter's Birks, I could see and FEEL what my friends had been raving about. My daughter's feet ~ like mine ~ are a tad wide and she purchased directly from a Birkenstock store where she lives.

Now.... on to the sizing lesson;

Birks are sold in Euro sizes ~ like 38, 39, 40, etc... 

The cork footbed on most styles usually tells the story with a size, a width and a metric measurement. For example, the pair I'm holding have a 39 for size, a 250 for the metric length and an open outlined footprint symbol stating a US medium to wide or Euro regular medium width.

If the footprint symbol is a solid filled in shape, the width would be US narrow to medium or Euro narrow width.

Birkenstocks also have another width that I haven't seen ~ it's a half open and half solid footprint and means Euro narrow to medium.

If the Birks have rubberized soles, there are usually toe-prints indented in the bottom. These toe-prints will have the size in the big toe and a letter/number in the second toe-print. If the letter/number is a backwards "S" or "2", the width is narrow to medium. If the letter is an "R", the width is medium to wide.

Most Birkenstock lovers are aware of the cork sole footprint, but few seem to know about the width info on rubber bottoms.

Hope this helps on your quest to happy feet!!

"waltdisneydreams"