I hate to break it to you, but welcome to the land of tiny feet. You have two options when looking for bigger-sized shoes in South Korea as a foreigner. You can either shop locally (good luck!) or choose to have everything shipped in from overseas. Like most of Asia, clothing sizes and shoe sizes are suited to the local population — which happens to be more on the petite side. For those bigger folk, like me, who come in at a towering 5’10 ft and with feet to match, I’ve had my work cut out for me. And boy, do I love shoes. One would think that the unavailability of shoe sizes here would curb my shopping addiction, but no, the extra challenge just made me extra sleuthy.

How large do shoe sizes go in Korea?

Unfortunately, you’ll find that most women’s shoes in Korea range from sizes 220-255 or a US 5 to US 8.5. For us, bigger-footed folk, we’re left gawking at the men’s shoe section which leaves us with some pretty frumpy shoes.

It’s not a complete dead end to find shoes in “bigger” American sizes in Seoul, but it takes a little effort. Most stores don’t carry shoes bigger than a US 8 in stores unless you hop over to unisex sneakers and boots or the men’s section, so if you’re looking for feminine styles, you will probably have to order them online. Once every blue moon, you may be able to find feminine women’s shoes in larger sizes at international stores like Zara.

To be honest, I tend to order my shoes online from overseas because I’m very finicky about leather quality and fit. Most of the women’s shoes made in Korea are made in China with synthetic leather.

What’s My Shoe Size in Korea?

The following chart is a good estimate for your shoe size in Korea, but I would check the individual store for size references. For example, I’m typically a US size 10 shoe or an EU 41, but I can sometimes fall under the Korean shoe size, 265 or 270, depending on the store. The chart below isn’t totally accurate.

Shipping Big Shoes from Overseas

The problem with shopping overseas is that you’re hit by import taxes if your purchase exceeds 150,000 KRW (including shipping).

Many savvy shoppers in South Korea with friends or family living abroad can ship them their latest hauls and have their tags removed and under-declare their purchases at customs as used or as samples. You could do that, but it can be burdensome and not totally legal.

You could also use a package forwarding service to accept packages locally and have them sent to you in South Korea. Box Oregon, OhMyZip, and FishIsFast are some popular parcel forwarding services from the US to South Korea.

Plus-Sized Shoe Stores in Korea

International Brands that Carry Western Sizing in Korea

International brands like H&M, COS, & Other Stories, Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Charles & Keith also have bigger shoe sizes on their websites and occasionally in-stores.

Unfortunately, I wish it were true for all international stores. Camper, Clarks, and even Aldo Shoes in South Korea don’t carry extended sizes as they do elsewhere in the world. The bottom line for them is that it’s not profitable to carry these sizes when there is not enough demand.

List of International Stores Located in Korea

Repetto

Made in Spain, these luxury shoes can cost a pretty penny. They’re best known for their ballerina slippers, and their Korean store carries sizes up to an EU 41. Their Rodeo Branch in Gangnam is located at Seokjeon Building, 12, Seolleung-ro 157-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Zara

You can usually find up to a size EU 39 in stock in-stores, but anything bigger (like European 41/US size 10) are online-only. The good news? If you buy your shoes online, you can still return them in-store if the fit or quality is off. There are a few physical locations scattered around Seoul like on Gangnam-daero, Garosu-gil, or Myeongdong.

H&M

H&M offers clothing, accessories, sportswear, seasonal swimwear, and lingerie. There are many locations scattered across Seoul — most notably in Myeongdong and Apgujeong. H&M Sinsa (Apgujeong) location is 21 Apgujeong-ro 12-gil, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

The clothing size at H&M used to be a Western fit, but they recently switched their sizing to Asian (petite) fit as the standard with Western fit labeled with a T for Tall (see sizing chart here). They may not carry all sizes in stock at their physical retail locations, but extended sizing is available online.

Nike

Fortunately, sneakers are one of those things that can be easily worn unisex even if the label says they’re for men. Women-specific shoes are still capped to around KR 255, but there’s nothing wrong with going for a slightly chunkier men’s sneaker occasionally.

COS

COS stocks premium minimalist styles and leather goods from their parent company, H&M. They have size EU 41 (US 10) shoes on their Korean website! Stock is limited though.

& Other Stories

& Other Stories — another branch of their parent company, H&M — sells premium on-trend fashion and accessories. They carry shoe sizes up to EU 40 (US 9.5).

If you sign up for their newsletter and make an account, you can use the code ‘BONJOUR’ for your first purchase online.

Dr. Martens

Dr. Martens in Korea shoe styles are mostly unisex, so it’s easy to find big-sized shoes here. There’s a main branch store in Garosugil at 1F, 544-16, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. More Dr. Martens locations in Korea can be found here.

Online Marketplaces with Shoes in South Korea

You may also have luck on the mega marketplaces, Gmarket.com or Coupang.com, by searching for ‘big size shoes’.

I’ve bought a pair of Crocs that came in from overseas on Coupang. Thank you, global shipping! On why I bought crocs, the simple answer was jangma, or the monsoon season in Korea.

You can also find small, local Korean brands that list their products on both online marketplaces and offer a wider selection of shoe sizes.

List of E-commerce Sites Based in Korea

Coupang.com

Giant e-commerce store in Korea much like Amazon.com where you can find clothing, electronics, food, furniture, and more.

Gmarket

There’s two versions of Gmarket: Gmarket (Korean) and Gmarket Global (English). Both ship to Korea, but the Korean language site has a better selection and better pricing. The English language version of Gmarket is more accessible both in terms of navigation and use with a foreign credit card.

Local Shoe Stores in South Korea

Unisex sneaker styles can be found easily if you’re willing to look at the men’s section at stores like ABC Mart or Musinsa.

List of Shopping Malls in South Korea

Shoopen

Shoopen is a popular offline and online retail store that carries a wide selection of shoes for both men and women. Unfortunately, the women’s shoe sizes for anything bigger than a KR 255 is quite limited, and you’ll be faced with mostly unisex styles. You can always dip into the men’s section to look at boots and sneakers though.

29CM

Korean fashion mall that also carries bigger-sized imported shoes and unisex styles.

WConcept

WConcept is an online Korean marketplace that carries an extensive collection of trendy men’s and women’s clothing. Women’s shoe sizes don’t seem to extend past 250mm but check men’s unisex styles. Tagtraume is one Women’s shoe brand that uses synthetic leather that I’ve noticed that sometimes carries sizes up to a KR 270.

Musinsa

Musinsa is a popular Korean marketplace that carries both men’s and women’s street style clothing. Popular shoe brands include Adidas, Converse, Vans, and Nike. I usually buy unisex shoes like sneakers from Musinsa since most Korean women’s shoe brands do not offer bigger shoe sizes.

Global Yard

Global Yard also sells the Tagtraume brand which uses synthetic leather and carries shoes up to size KR 265-270 (US 10-10.5).

Kumkang Shoes

Korean shoes and accessories store that carries both men and women’s shoes and a very small selection of big-sized shoes offline — often overpriced, but worth mentioning. Sells international brands like Clarks, Bruno Magli, and Renoir. Physical locations all over Seoul.

ABC Mart

Popular Korean shoe store chain (online and offline) that carries both men and women’s shoes. Women’s shoe sizes don’t seem to extend past 250mm but check men’s unisex styles.

List of Extended Size Shoe Stores Based in South Korea

Gabig

Gabig is a plus-sized store in Korea that also carries a small selection of shoes with shoe sizes up to a KR 275.

Babinheel

Babinheel is an affordable women’s Korean shoe store — usually made with faux leather — that stocks shoe sizes up to KR 270.

Big Girl Shoes

Big Girl Shoes is a Korean shoe store — again, usually made with faux leather — that stocks shoe sizes up to 270.

Youbyyeolna

Youbyyeolna is another affordable faux-leather Korean shoe store that stocks shoe sizes up to 270.

Hongyi Showroom (홍이쇼룸)

Hongyi Showroom sells feminine big-sized shoes on Naver Store made with faux-leather up to a size KR 275 (US 10.5-11).

ANDHEEL

ANDHEEL sells big-sized shoes made with artificial leather up to a size KR 270 (US 10-10.5).

CauseU

CauseU sells larger sized shoes in Korea made with artificial leather up to a size KR 260 (US 9).

Small & Big (스몰앤빅)

Nevermind the questionable font choices, Small and Big (스몰앤빅) is an online store that sells custom handmade shoes — made with either synthetic leather or real leather — in bigger sizes — up to a KR 270.

Momojane

Momojane is a shoe store in Korea — mostly made with synthetic leather — that carries shoe sizes up to a KR 265 (US 9.5-10).