MediPeds Extra Wide Socks

The mistake this page exists to prevent costs people a packet of eight. A sock that will not come past the widest part of the calf is short of width, and shoe size is length: going up two sizes gives you a longer foot and a cuff that is no bigger round. What changes here is the leg of the sock — more yarn knitted into the top and more stretch in it — while the foot stays the standard width for whichever shoe-size range you pick.

Two things follow from a wider cuff and both are worth knowing before you order. It has less to hold on to, so it slides more readily than a standard one; on this page the cushioned version is the one to take where that matters, because the padded sole is what holds the sock still inside a shoe, and the plain ribbed knit here has less of that grip to offer. And the top edge, being wider, sits flatter — which is the point of it, and the reason people who move to this shelf tend not to move back. The podiatrists' association puts the general case better than a sock catalogue can: appropriate shoes and socks go a long way in reducing risk, which is an argument for measuring rather than guessing.