How a tabi should fit.

ARTOIS tabis run true to size. If you wear a 41 in most leather shoes, order a 41.

The exception is the same one that applies to any leather shoe: if your usual size is usually a little tight, go up rather than down. Leather stretches across the width as it breaks in, but it does not get longer.

Sizes vary between makers, so the reliable number is the length of your foot in centimetres.

• Stand on a sheet of paper with your heel against a wall, wearing the socks you'd wear with the shoes.
• Mark the paper at the tip of your longest toe — for some people that's the second toe, not the big one.
• Measure from the edge of the paper at the wall to the mark.
• Do both feet, in the afternoon. Feet swell over the day, and one is usually slightly longer.

Use the larger of the two numbers. If you email it to us, we'll tell you which size to take.

Your big toe sits in its own compartment, separated from the other four. It should feel snug against the seam but not pressed into it, and the split should sit in the natural gap between the toes rather than on top of one.

The first few wears feel odd in the way a new grip feels odd. After that most people stop noticing it entirely, and start noticing how much of the ground they can feel.

Go up. A tabi that is slightly long is a shoe you can wear with a thicker sock; a tabi that is slightly short puts your big toe against the end of its own compartment, and that one does not break in.

Regular socks are fine, and most people wear them. Split-toe tabi socks sit cleaner against the shape and stop the fabric bunching at the split, so they're worth trying if you wear yours often.

Whatever you choose, wear the same thickness when you measure.

New leather is firm. Wear your pair for an hour or two at home the first few days and build up from there. The toe split and the heel soften and shape to your foot.

What's normal: firmness across the top, a little resistance at the split, some tightness that eases within a week or two.

What isn't: your longest toe touching the end, pain at a single point rather than general snugness, or a heel that slips more the longer you wear them. That's a sizing problem, not a breaking-in problem — get in touch rather than pushing through it.

You have 30 days from delivery to return them. Try them on indoors, on a clean floor, and keep the box until you're sure. The FAQ has the steps.