It can be very frustrating to have wider than average feet. This can even become aggravating when buy new dress shoes as they tend to be less flexible in the width department.
Fortunately, we have experience in these matters.
Read on to discover the Best Wide Dress Shoes For Men that you can buy online. Afterwards, we’ll talk a little about the importance of buying dress shoes with the proper width that aren’t too tight.
See All Bespoke Unit Dress Shoe Guides
Quick Buyer’s Guide
Looking to just dive right in and buy the best shoes according to your needs? You can use the Guide Buy Guide to head straight to the retailers. However, if you want to learn a bit more about each pair, scroll on down.
Derby Shoe
Brogue Shoe
Derby Shoe
Penny Loafer
Versatile Boot
Formal Boot
"Great fit!" I've ditched the clown shoes and now fit into something that matches both my foot width and length.
With Bespoke Unit founder, Paul Anthony, standing in at well over six feet tall, we have tested many a dress shoe for its width. Below you’ll find our top 6 favourite wide dress shoes:
- Oxford Shoe: Allen Edmonds Fifth Avenue Cap-Toe
- Brogue Shoe: Allen Edmonds Strandmok
- Classic Oxford: Johnston & Murphy Hyde Park II
- Penny Loafer: Allen Edmonds Addison
- Business Casual Boot: Wolverine 1000 Mile Cordovan
- Formal Boot: Allen Edmonds Sullivan
See anything you like? Use the links above to jump ahead or scroll down to read about them all.
- Style: Oxford Shoe
- Formality: Business Professional
- Pricing: $425 [Buy From Allen Edmonds]
Overview
You’ll see several pairs of Allen Edmonds shoes on this list as they’re the closest thing we’ve experienced to custom shoes when purchasing ready-to-wear. With their wide range of widths and sizes, you’ll surely find the right size for you. Furthermore, these classic Oxfords are remarkably stylish and comfortable too.
How To Wear
We love the touch of subtle broguing across the cap toe, which adds an element of flair the to the shoe’s style. Nevertheless, it’s the perfect classic dress that can be worn from the office to extremely formal occasions such as black tie.
Best Colors
You can also buy these in brown, which is fine thanks to the broguing that makes it a little more versatile. However, we’d push to the black shoes as they’ll be much more appropriate for formal wear.
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- Style: Brogues
- Formality: Varies
- Pricing: $345 [Buy From Allen Edmonds]
Overview
Another offering from Allen Edmonds, these brogues came with the same selection of widths and sizes. A much more versatile and laid-back choice, they’re stylish brogues with flashy rust-red Dainite soles.
How To Wear
Despite being a a more casual dress shoe, these brogues are surprisingly versatile and can be integrated into a wide variety of dress codes. For instance, they look superb with jeans or chinos but they’re also fantastic with suits. This is especially the case when throwing in a bit of tweed with you attire.
Best Colors
Although they’re only available in the one colour, what makes these shoes so versatile is their complexity. The calfskin leather uppers have a distressed vintage effect, which gives a hue or light and dark brown. Meanwhile, the rust red Dainite sole is contrasted by a tan welt for extra visual interest.
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- Style: Oxford Shoes
- Formality: Business Professional
- Pricing: $279 [Buy From Johnston & Murphy]
Overview
Johnston & Murphy usually offer a few widths with their shoe models. However, the ones with the greatest selection are these classic Hyde Park Oxfords. At a slightly lower price than the Fifth Avenues above, you get a traditional Goodyear welt construction with a fibreglass shank.
How To Wear
The Hyde Park can be pretty much worn like the Fifth Avenue. You could argue that they’re more formal as they don’t feature any broguing ornamentation. However, we’d say that they fit in the exact same dress codes.
Best Colors
Made from European calfskin, you can choose between either black or tan. Although tan is an attractive and casual colour, we find that black is by far the best option for this shoe style as it’s a more formal design.
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- Style: Penny Loafers
- Formality: Business Casual
- Pricing: $345 [Buy From Allen Edmonds]
Overview
For a more casual slip-on dress shoe, these penny loafers from Allen Edmonds are delightfully comfortable and stylish. A lighter and more discreet shoe, they also feature the Dainite soles and Goodyear construction that we come to expect from the brand.
How To Wear
More laid-back than the other entries on this list, we’d say that this is a shoe that can’t be worn for anything more formal than business casual. Throw on a sport jacket and chinos and they’ll look stunning. Otherwise, you could consider denim or corduroy instead.
Best Colors
Whilst there’s a black option, this would be too dressy for us given the shoe style. However, you could opt for the tan or burgundy leathers, which are more laid back and versatile.
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- Style: Derby / Bluchers
- Formality: Casual
- Pricing: $365 [Buy From Wolverine]
Overview
A rugged yet stylish boot that’s fit for formal wear, the Original 1000 Mile boot from Wolverine is a classic. With a selection of widths and a rounded toe, they’re a comfortable fit for those with wider than average feet.
How To Wear
Extremely versatile, we find that these boots fare well as both casual and semi-formal business footwear. For instance, you’ll see Paul rocking these in a suit in the review linked below.
Best Colors
We love the calfskin Cordovan colour, which is a blend of oxblood burgundy and brown. For us, this is far more versatile and stylish. However, you can opt for black or other shades of brown instead.
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- Style: Oxford
- Formality: Business Professional
- Pricing: $420 [Buy From Allen Edmonds]
Overview
Another boot that will accommodate wider feet, it’s no surprise that we conclude this list with another offering from Allen Edmonds. The Sullivan Street is a stylish dress both that features pebbled leather quarters whilst the uppers below are smooth calfskin with a balmoral cap toe.
How To Wear
This combination of full-grain and pebbled leathers render the shoes somewhat versatile in the dress code department. They’re a very middle-of-the-road choice that can be worn from business casual to even more relaxed black tie optional events.
Best Colors
For a more casual and laid-back shoe, opt for the brown leather. However, we’re quite fond of how the juxtaposition in leather materials works when in black.
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Wide Feet & Tight Shoes
At Bespoke Unit, we’re firm advocates for a proper fit before anything else. For us, this is absolutely essential not only for looking your best but for also ensuring optimal comfort.
Whilst we often put an accent on the way a suit should fit, this logic also applies to footwear. In fact, it’s probably doubly important because ill-fitting shoes have the potential of being a health hazard too!
We’re often tempted to go for a stylish shoe and persevere in wearing it despite it not fitting properly. Whether it’s because returning it would be too complicated or it was the only size left, we’ve all done in at least once in our lives.
However, there are some people that are obliged to endure discomfort due to having wider than average feet. Many people don’t feet the sizing norms and couldn’t afford custom shoes. Therefore, we have to make do with what we can find on our budget.
Health Hazards Of Wearing Narrow Shoes
Whilst it might seem harmless at first, wearing narrow shoes that pinch can cause severe discomfort in the long run. Furthermore, they may provoke disorders and irreversible damage to your feet!
Blisters
Probably the least menacing consequences of wearing tight shoes, blisters are a frustration at best and agony at the worst. Often caused by friction in the shoe, it becomes more prevalent if they’re too tight as you don’t have any wiggle room.
To make matters worse, blisters will have difficulty in healing if they have no space to breathe and the rubbing persists. This can render the experience particularly painful.
Corns
Although their cause is not too dissimilar to blisters, the result is very different. Corns are calluses that tend to develop between the toes or on the sides of your feet due to persistant pressure against the skin.
Sometimes a callus can even lead to foot pain but they’re typically quite numb. Nevertheless, they can affect your walking gait or stride. Essentially thickened skin, they can be treated with salicylic acid-based products.
Bunions
Probably one of the more severe complications from wearing tight shoes, bunions or “hallux valgus” can be particularly painful. These usually appear as a bony growth or enlargement on the inside part of the joint at the base of the big toe.
Whilst sometimes a genetic disorder, bunions are infamously caused by tight and uncomfortable shoes. Furthermore, the big toe’s joint may further become misaligned following the onset of the condition.
it’s important to cater to a bunion sooner rather than later as surgical intervention can be a distressing experience. You can learn more about them with our dedicated bunions shoe guide.
Hammer Toes
Narrow or short toe boxes can put constant pressure on the toes. This can then provoke hammer toes, which is when they curl up instead of staying flat. As the toe muscles weaken, the only way to correct this disorder is through surgical treatment.
The onset of a hammer toe can often be anticipated by corns developing on the toe of the toe joint. The constant friction of the toe of the toes against the shoe can be rather painful.
Ingrown Toenails
Although usually caused by trimming your them too short, ingrown toe nails are an extremely painful condition caused by abnormal toe growth. The edge if the nail digs into the skin to the point that it can break it and even cause infections.
Tight shoes can either act as a catalyst or even aggravate this condition due to the constant pressure applied to the nail. The result is a very painful cocktail of factors that may result in distressing surgery.
Crossover Toes
A more extreme disorder, crossover toes are exactly what they sound like. Caused by toe boxes that are far too tight, the toes are pushed together to such an extent that one crosses over another.
Usually, this tends to correct itself when wearing the properly-fitting shoes. However, if the case is severe, surgery may be necessary to repair the damage.
Diabetic Feet
Although not a disorder caused by wearing tight shoes, people who suffer from diabetes will often experience further discomfort from them. High blood sugar can cause nerve damage in the extremities, which makes the hands and feet go numb.
As such, you may not notice any discomfort until it’s too late as you may develop blisters and sores that become infected. If you suffer from diabetes, consider reading out detailed shoe guide for the condition.
Finding The Shoes That Fit Wide Feet
To get started, you can refer to our full guide on how shoes should fit. However, let’s talk about a few specifics for wide feet.
Firstly, consider that it may not just be a question of foot width but foot shape. Not everyone’s feet are the same shape despite uniform sizes and a relatively standardised system.
For instance, not all wide shoe options will fit you as they’re made using different “lasts”, which is the mould used to shape a shoe. Some will have narrower toe boxes or metatarsal shapes that just don’t fit you.
However, remember that toe boxes aren’t two-dimensional so look for both depth and width for the best comfort.
Therefore, it’s important to also find a last that suits you best. Each brand uses different lasts for their ranges so take note of when you find one that works for you.
Similarly, take a note of your foot arches. Some people have foot arches that are lower or higher than average, which can change the way a shoe fits. Whatever the height of their arches, they’ll need the necessary support otherwise, their shoes won’t be comfortable and they may experience discomofrt.
What Next?
Now that you have read about the best men’s dress shoes for wide feet, read some of our related guides to learn more:
Other Shoe Resource:
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