Are VFFs any different between gender styles? What about wide feet? [FAQ]

It's a common question: for the same size foot (measured in inches or whatever), if you grab the correct numerical size to fit that foot in both women's and men's Vibram Five Fingers (assuming a size exists for both genders — there is some overlap), is there a difference between genders?

The answer is "yes."  And don't take my word for it, this is what Vibram said about it directly to one member of the VFF fan community:

[T]he woman’s shoe have a more narrow fit in the heel and the ball of the foot.  The men’s widths are wider.

Original post with updates:

[Updated at 3:50 pm]  I received the following question from a member of the facebook birthday shoes / Vibram fivefingers fan group:

I wish i could help but i do not have VFF's yet. I do have a question about size though...

I measure at 10 1/4 in. I really had my heart set on the womens clasicVFF's but they don't go big enough for my big feet! :)

My question is should I get the mens? I am worried that they will be to wide for me. Any thoughts?

Thanks so much!

An interesting question, here was my response:

Kristi,

Hey - I have a couple thoughts about this:

I talked to a couple where both have sprints. Based on the girl's eyeballing the two pairs of Sprints, the men's appear no wider than the women's.

There are no "wide" versions of VFFs. Vibram has said (though I can't put my finger on where) that people with wide feet should have no problem wearing regular VFFs b/c the way fivefingers are made allows them to expand widthwise without problem. About 40% of those who have responded to my survey (so far - if you haven't already, please take the fivefingers sizing/fit survey here!  Only takes about five minutes.) have wide feed, and none of them cite it as a problem.

Update 3:50 pm: Per Seret's comment below, women's VFFs may indeed be more narrow than men's:

Although they had the Men's size in stock, my husband prefered the Women's KSOs. He has narrow feet. So the oppisite can be true for Kristi. Try the Men's! They look the same, except when it comes to color in different styles. Right now, my husband and I now have matching blue KSO Ninja Feet!

So the jury is still out (or maybe in?).

Admin note: I got the grey KSOs, but secretly want the crazy blue ones!