THE PENNY LOAFER

May 19, 2015

(shown: Dack's Sussex)

The penny loafer originated in the 1930s when GH Bass started producing loafers with a distinctive strip of leather across the saddle with a diamond cut-out. The shoes were called Weejuns, sort of a play on the word Norwegian, the shoes then worn by Norwegian farmers being the inspiration for the loafer.

The term “penny loafer” was coined when American prep school students took to inserting a penny into the slit of each shoe, enough money to make an emergency phone call in the 1930s. The name stuck and the practice of inserting pennies continues to this day, even more so since the recent disappearance of our Canadian penny. Penny loafers are among the most popular shoes for any man who is committed to a classic but leisurely appearance.

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Size chart

US/CAN	Europe	UK	Australia	Mexico	Japan	China	Inches	Cm
2.5	35	2	2	-	20	33	8.750	22.22
3	35.5	2.3	2.3	-	21	34	8.875	22.54
3.5	36	3	3	-	22	35	9	22.86
4	36.5	3.5	3.5	-	22.5	36	9.125	23.18
4.5	37	4	4	-	23	37	9.25	23.5
5	37.5	4.5	4.5	-	23.5	38	9.375	23.81
5.5	38	5	5	4.5	24	39	9.5	24.13
6	38.5	5.5	5.5	5	24.5	39.5	9.625	24.45
6.5	39	6	6	6	25.5	41	9.875	25.08
7.5	40	7	7	6.5	26	-	10	25.40
8	41	7.5	7.5	7	26.5	42	10.125	25.72
8.5	42	8	8	7.5	27	43	10.25	26.04
9	43	8.5	8.5	8	27.5	43.5	10.375	26.34
9.5	43.5	9	9	8.5	28	44	10.5	26.68
10	44	9.5	9.5	9	28.5	44.5	10.625	26.98
10.5	44.5	10	10	9.5	29	45	10.75	27.30
11	45	10.5	10.5	10	29.5	46	10.875	27.62
11.5	45.5	11	11	10.5	30	-	11	27.98
12	46	11.5	11.5	11	30.5	47	11.125	28.26
12.5	46.5	12	12	11.5	31	47.5	11.25	28.58
13	47	12.5	12.5	12	31.5	48	11.375	28.90
13.5	47.5	13	13	12.5	32	-	11.5	29.22
14	48.5	13.5	13.5	13	32.5	-	11.625	29.54
14.5	49	14	14	13.5	33	-	11.750	29.86
15.5	50	15	15	14.5	34	-	12	30.48
16.5	51	16	16	15.5	35	-	12.25	31.12

Shoe Width

Our standard shoe width is an F fitting. However, in order to accommodate variations in foot size, alternative width fittings are available in certain styles.

Narrow Fit = D width (USA E Fit)

Standard or Average Fit = F width (USA EE Fit)

Wide Fit = G width (USA EEE Fit)

Extra Wide Fit = H width (USA EEEE Fit)

As a shoe increases in size, the length and width both increase. A size 10F shoe is therefore one size bigger and one size wider than a size 9F shoe. A size 9G shoe is a size wider than a size 9F - in other words the width of the shoe would roughly correspond to a size 10F.

In the table below, the 11D, the 10F, the 9G and 8H would all be roughly the same width.

Shoe size	D Fit	F Fit	G Fit	H Fit
11	X
10	Y	X
9	Z	Y	X
8		Z	Y	X
7			Z	Y
6				Z