How to Convert Youth to Women’s Shoe Sizes

Are you looking for help figuring out how to convert youth to women’s shoe sizes?

Or do you have a kid with big feet and you want to be able to buy them a shoe in a women’s size?

Or, and this is new to this article, do you want an overall way to convert juniors to women’s sizes for clothing?

In all of these instances, I can help.

My own daughters grew taller than their peers and, in no time, were wearing women’s sizes. That meant that we could no longer shop in the children or youth section of a shoe store.

Instead, it was time to buy them women’s shoe sizes.

In fact, by the time they were in middle school, they were both wearing shoe sizes that were bigger than my own.

At that point I was also the shortest person in the family. But, I digress.

My team created a custom-built shoe size calculator that you can use to convert youth to women or men sizes. However, don’t leave before trying it out. Because I also share important information about brand-specific size conversions.

Why you might want to know youth to women’s shoe sizes

There may be other instances where you want to convert a youth shoe size to a woman’s.

For example, maybe your child is going to be in a wedding and you need to be able to buy shoes that the bride had requested.

I know I’m dating myself by saying this, but I remember how Payless Shoe Source was a great resource for dyeable shoes for weddings and other special occasions.

Unfortunately, Payless is one of those defunct stores that no longer exists; they went out of business in 2019.

Another example might be if you have a Peloton bike and your kids want to ride it.

When I wrote this article about kids and Peloton, I found out that the most common question parents had was what size shoe they should get for their children.

For example, you can buy a size 5 Peloton shoe on Amazon, and it’s the same as a size 3 kid’s shoe size.

Finally, some people may be looking to save money on shoes. Children’s shoes often cost less than adult shoes, even wide children’s shoes.

Therefore, if you have really small feet, you may be able to get away with a children’s or youth shoe size. So, you can convert a woman’s shoe size to a youth as a money-saving tactic.

And, as I mentioned in the intro, I’ve added a section to this article about how to convert juniors to women’s sizes overall. This is for clothing, not just shoes.

Converting kid shoes size to women’s

For the most part, a youth shoe size, plus two, is a woman’s size. So, for example, a youth size 5 is typically a women’s size 7.

This works even if you’re buying shoes for boys–you can convert women’s sizes.

For example, you can usually find gender neutral sandals (think white, black or brown) for boys in very small women’s sizes, such as these Birkenstock sandals in camo. However, different brands handle sizing differently.

How to convert youth to women’s sizes by brand

Please continue to scroll down in this post to see conversion charts from these popular brands:

• Adidas
• Converse
• Doc Martens
• Nike
• Ugg
• Under Armour

Some of the most popular brands on the planet understand our desire to convert youth shoe sizes to women’s or men’s sizes.

I know this because, with a little digging, you can use the shoe size charts on their websites to figure out this size conversion thing.

And, because I know you’re busy, I did some of the hard work for you.

Below I’ve laid out how this works for some of today’s most popular brands. Why? Because my “plus two” formula doesn’t always work with every brand.

That’s why it is important to reference each brand’s size charts, if you’re committed to buying a specific brand.

Nike youth to women’s shoe size

For example, I grabbed an image of the shoes size conversion chart off Nike.com for their shoes.

You’ll notice that Nike converts shoes sizes for a number of variables:

• Youth sizes US
• Men’s size US
• Women’s sizes US
• UK shoe sizes
• European shoe sizes
• Foot length in inches

Also, according to Nike, a youth-to-women’s size is plus 1.5 (+1.5), not plus 2 (+2).

Adidas youth to women’s shoe size Adidas

Adidas doesn’t make it as easy as Nike to figure out what size children, youth or teen shoe sizes would be in adult’s. That is, there are two separate pages for each size chart.

Here is the children, youth and teen shoe sizes for Adidas. On the other hand, here is the page for women’s and men’s Adidas shoe sizes.

Lucky for us, though, each of these charts includes foot measurement lengths. So, with an extra step, you can figure out which size in Adidas would work to convert from youth to women’s.

For example, based on the charts above (which I created using Canva), we can see that a foot measuring 9 inches would be all of the following sizes for Adidas shoes:

• Youth size 5 US
• Men’s size 5 US
• Women’s size 6 US

So, again, the average formula of plus two (+2) doesn’t work with the Adidas brand. Instead, when converting youth sizes in Adidas to women’s sizes, it’s just one number higher or plus one (+1).

Ugg kids to women’s shoe size conversion

Like Adidas, Ugg.com makes you do a little extra work to figure out what youth sizes in Ugg would be in a women’s size. Or vice versa.

On this Ugg size chart page, you can use a slider or different tabs to compare youth, women’s and men’s shoe sizes. However, like Adidas, these Ugg shoe size charts include size measurements.

Therefore, using Canva again, I was able to create this chart to help you find a youth size converted to a woman’s size in Uggs.

Here we see that if your foot is about 9.25 inches long, then you wear a 6 1/2 in women’s Uggs and a 5 in youth size for Uggs.

So, for example, as you can see below, if you wanted to buy a classic Ugg boot, you could buy it as a Kids Classic Ugg Boot II for $130 or a Women’s Classic Short Ugg Boot II for $170.

Converse brand youth to women’s sizes

With Converse shoes, especially the Chuck Taylor high top sneakers, all of my previously explained conversion formulas get thrown out the window. Here’s why.

According to Converse, Chuck Taylor shoes run large. Therefore, because of this Converse sizing anomaly, they recommend that you size down a half size to account for this.

So, for example, if you wear a women’s size 8, based on Converse sizing, you would need a size 7.5 in Chucks.

On the other hand, when it comes to converting youth size shoes in Converse to women’s sizes, there’s an even bigger difference.

So, for example, a nine-inch long foot in youth sizes for Converse is a size 3.5 youth in Chucks but size 4 youth in other Converse shoes.

Compare that with a woman’s size for a nine-inch long foot, and you’ve got a size 6 in women’s for Chucks and size 6.5 in women’s for all other Converse shoes.

Therefore, the conversion formula for Converse youth to women’s sizes is actually plus 2.5 (+2.5).

Under Armour youth size chart

Under Armour is another brand that makes it easier to convert youth sizes to women’s sizes.

In fact, on the brand’s website, you can choose Under Armour size charts based on many criteria. Not only based on the buyer–men, women, boys, girls–but also what you’re buying.

For example, when choosing footwear, you’ll get measurements so you can convert across the various sizes.

So, by visiting the sit and fit guide page on the Under Armour website, I learned that a foot measuring 9 1/2 inches was the following in Under Armour sizes:

• Women’s size 8
• Boy’s size 6.5
• Girl’s size 6.5

Unfortunately, men’s shoes do not come that small so I cannot compare them. The smallest foot measurement in men’s shoes is the oddly specific 9 11/16 inches.

Anyway, given the numbers above, you can use the plus 1.5 (+1.5) formula for converting Under Armour sizes from youth to women’s sizes.

Doc Martens junior sizes

When it comes to Doc Martens aka Dr. Martens boots junior sizes, everything is different.

That is, on the Doc Martens website the brand explains that it converts youth or junior sizes based on men’s size, not women’s size like so many other shoe manufacturers.

This is the bulleted list I found on this size chart page that explains this all:

• All sizes offered on the US site are in US sizing.
• Kid’s styles are made using a US Men’s size scale. Our Kid’s styles will display a US Men’s size, which is equivalent to a US Kid’s size.
• We offer whole sizes only. If you are a half size, we recommend going down to the nearest size.
• Fit may vary based on style. For instance, the fit of a Women’s style (offered only in women’s sizes on the product page) may be narrower than a Unisex/Men’s Style (listed in only men’s, or both men’s and women’s sizes on the product page) even in the same size.
• Going up a size will mainly change the length of the shoe, not the width.

FYI, when Doc Martens refers to kid’s sizes, that’s the junior or youth sizes you may have been searching for and ended up here. In fact, this will help if you’re searching for Doc Martens combat boots for tweens and teens.

However, if you’re looking to save money on Dr. Martens boots and have smaller feet, let me show you the difference in price with these images below.

That’s a huge difference–$75 versus $210. Again, this is assuming you wear a smaller size and can get away with fitting in a youth or junior size for Dr. Marten boots.

Saving money by buying youth sizes

If you are a woman with a small shoe size, you might be able to save money by shopping for shoes in big kid or youth sizes.

You’ll notice the savings in the Ugg boot example above. By buying the youth size boot you would save $40.

Here is another example–and sorry that it is also a boot, but I wrote this article in winter.

Case in point: I just searched for Hunter rain boots at Nordstrom. Hunter makes upscale boots for women, men and children.

In big kid sizes, you can get a Hunter boot up to size 5. That boot costs $90 regularly and $72 on sale right now.

We know from the chart and bulleted list above that a size 5 youth is a seven in women’s sizes.

On the other hand, if you were to look in women’s shoes, you would find a similar Hunter boot. I say similar because the children’s size of the Hunter boot is 12 inches tall.

The short version of the adult sized Hunter boot is 10 inches. So, very close.

Anyway, the price for a women’s size 7 (which is the same as kids or youth size 5) for the Hunter rain boot is normally $170 or $128 on sale. The savings are obvious.

Other places to buy youth shoes in women’s sizes

Clearly, Nordstrom is a great place to buy youth-sized or big kid shoes that women with small feet can wear. However, it’s not the only store.

For example, Zappos stocks big kid shoes that go up to size 7 youth. It’s the same at Famous Footwear.

You can find big kid shoe sizes up to 7 in brands like:

• Adidas
• Nike
• Converse

Shoe size conversion chart

You may find this conversion chart helpful when shopping for kids shoes in wide widths. However, this is hardly perfect.

Youth or big kid shoe size to women’s shoe size

In case you’re having trouble seeing the chart on your device, let me describe the conversion of kids sizes to women’s shoe sizes.

It’s pretty intuitive once you get the hang of it. Also, this is a general recommendation. As I’ve explained above, certain brands might run bigger or smaller than normal.

So always try a few sizes or different kinds to make sure. The number on the left is the big kid’s size. And the number on the right is the women’s size equivalent.

• 3.5 youth or big kid size is usually 5.5 in women’s sizes
• 4 youth or big kid size is usually 6 in women’s sizes
• 4.5 youth or big kid size is usually 6.5 in women’s sizes
• 5 youth or big kid size is usually 7 in women’s sizes
• 5.5 youth or big kid size is usually 7.5 women’s sizes
• 6 youth or big kid size is usually 8 in women’s sizes
• 6.5 youth or big kid size is usually 8.5 in women’s sizes
• 7 youth or big kid size is usually 9 in women’s sizes

Juniors to women’s clothing sizes conversion

When I originally wrote this article, it was all about converting youth or junior shoe sizes to women’s. However, as this article has grown in popularity, more people have reached out to ask about this conversion for clothing. Therefore, this new section.

So, when it comes to juniors clothing vs women’s size clothing, the first thing you’ll notice is how different the sizes are. I mean, how the numbers are represented.

For example, junior’s sizes are odd numbers. On the other hand, women’s sizes (including petite and plus) are odd numbers.

However, you can’t just go to the next nearest neighbor in size and expect the clothes to fit. Experts tell me that juniors’ clothing is cut for small hips and just smaller people overall.

Converting odd number sizes to even

So, a size 9 in juniors is not a size 10 in women’s. It just doesn’t work that way.

Of course, like with shoes, it all depends on the designer and manufacturer. Heck, I’ve even tried on the same pair of jeans from the same maker in the same size, and have had a size 10 fit perfectly and then a size 12 was too small. Go figure.

Anyway, the general rule of thumb when converting youth size clothing to women’s sizes is to go down one or two to the “sister” size. Therefore, that aforementioned size 9?

Well, its sister size is 10. I’m sure you’ve seen size tags that say 9/10.

So, when going from juniors to misses or womens, you would go down at least one whole “sister” size to a 6 or 8.

Conversely, if I wear a size 12 in women’s (which I normally do), then based on this junior size conversion chart from Kohl’s, I would wear a 13 or 15 in juniors.

Interestingly, when going by “word” sizes (small, medium, large), junior sizes seem to match up with misses. So, my size 12 large would also be a size large in junior’s.

Does that make sense?

Final thoughts on youth to women’s shoe sizes

I realize I’ve offered just a few examples of how to convert–and save money–with youth to women’s shoe sizes.

However, if there are other examples you’d like me to investigate or other questions that you have or other brands you need help with, please let me know.