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?

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.

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. However, different brands handle sizing differently.

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, below.

How to convert youth to women’s sizes by brand

I’ve written separate articles for some of the most popular brands that you might want to convert shoe sizes from youth to women or vice versa. Please use the links below to find those brand-specific articles.

• Adidas
• Converse
• Nike
• Uggs
• Under Armour

Where 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.

Shoe size conversion chart

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

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?

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.

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.

Once again, here is the shoe size calculator if you want to play around with converting sizes.