Why a 3/4-Length Design Just Makes Sense for Children's Insoles

When we first thought about creating the Arch Angels Children's Insole, one of the first things we needed to decide was whether the insole would be a full-length insole or a 3/4-length insole. There's advantages to both, but ultimately we decided that a 3/4-length design simply made the most sense for a children's insole due to the many advantages that this design would have over a full-length design.

A full-length insole would require you to purchase a new insole with each new shoe size your child wears.

It should come as no surprise that children grow quickly. And so do their feet. In fact, the average child can outgrow their current shoes in as little as every 3-4 months up until their later elementary school years, and even then, they're still expected to need larger shoes every 5-6 months until early on into high school.

With a full-length insole, the insole would need to be trimmed such that the forefoot of the insole would perfectly align with the forefoot bottom inside of the shoe. This way, the insole wouldn't slide backwards or forwards inside the shoe during wear, and your child wouldn't feel a gap between the tip of the insole and the end of the shoe. This isn't a problem with adult insoles, since adults typically don't outgrow their shoe size, but with a growing child we would have a bit of a problem.

The issue occurred to us when we asked ourselves: What would happen when a child outgrew their current shoe? The answer: You'd need to buy a brand-new insole, simply because the current one wouldn't fit the larger shoe. The size 11 insole your child had been wearing would now need to fit a size 11½ shoe, requiring a new purchase; all for you to need to do the same thing when they outgrew those. If you did this every time you purchased a new shoe for your child, from size Toddler 6 through Youth 5, you'd have to purchase around 25 total pairs of insoles.

That just didn't make sense.

So we went with a 3/4-length design instead. By doing this, we can maximize the number of shoe sizes that each size insole would cover. For instance: We've designed our "Children 11-12" insole to cover children's shoe sizes 11, 11½, 12, and 12½. This way, rather than buy 4 pairs of insoles (one for each shoe size), you can instead buy one insole that works in all 4 shoe sizes.

One insole. Multiple shoes.

A 3/4-length insole also allows you to move one insole between multiple shoes, unlike a full-length insole.

Think back to the example before, regarding how a full-length insole would need to be trimmed to fit the shape of your child's shoe. Well, not only would this render the insole useless once your child outgrew those shoes, but it also means that you'd need a different insole for each shoe your child wears. Every shoe is going to have slightly different dimensions (heel-to-toe inside length, forefoot shape, width, etc.), meaning that unless your child has multiple, identical shoes, an insole trimmed to fit one shoe is unlikely to work in another shoe.

This is especially true given that brand vs. brand sizing varies the most in children's footwear. A women's size 8 shoe is pretty consistent across major brands; but a child's 11 shoe from two different brands can be noticeably different.

Ultimately, what a 3/4-length insole offers here is the ability to not have a single insole tied to a single shoe. Since you're not trimming your 3/4-length insole, it can be moved from one shoe to another quickly, easily, and without fit problems. It doesn't matter if it two of the same size shoe from different brands, two different shoes from the same brand, or even two completely different sizes (so long as it's close to the insole shoe size range); a 3/4-length insole will fit each of them just as well.

3/4-length insoles also just generally tend to work better in children's shoes.

Unlike adult shoes, children's shoes have a few characteristics that tend to make 3/4-length insoles a better choice, too.

The first of these is the fact that not all children's shoes have removable insoles. For a full-length insole to fit and work properly, you want to first remove the existing shoe insole in order to give the new insole plenty of space to fit correctly. If you can't remove the existing insole, your new insole might not fit correctly at all.

Given that not all children's shoes come with removable insoles – especially smaller sizes for toddler's and young children – this would be a bit of an issue. Since a 3/4-length insole simply sits atop the existing insole, however, a 3/4-length insole would work equally well in a shoe with removable insoles as they would in a shoe without.

Also: Have you tried getting a child's shoe on their feet? It can be difficult! Especially trying to get the shoe all the way onto their foot. You've probably spent enough time trying on shoes to make sure that they fit right, and replacing the insides of the shoe with a completely different insole might cause a fit issue that you hadn't expected. With a 3/4-length insole, though, you're not taking up much more room, especially in the toes where having room tends to matter the most.

Ultimately, we liked how well a 3/4-length insole would work in both a Toddler's size shoe and a Youth size shoe.

The heel and arch matter the most.

When we considered what we'd lose by not having a full-length insole, the answer was simply, "Not the most important parts."

See, we heavily prioritize support for the heel and arch of the foot. By cradling the heel, we provide a natural base for the foot to increase stability, enhance control, and absorb impact shock on the heel of the foot. Then, by pairing this with an arch support, we ensure that the foot follows a natural step motion with the proper amount of foot rotation, pronation, and weight distribution. While a full forefoot might add some additional cushioning and toe support, we ultimately can help control this simply though the heel-and-arch design of a 3/4-length insole.

Given that we had already noted that a 3/4-length insole would work better for versatility and longevity, we decided that designing a full-length insole just for some forefoot padding and toe support ultimately wasn't worth everything else that we'd give up by doing so.

Let us know if you have any questions.

We're always happy to answer any and all questions that you might have. We're proud of our product, are confident that you'll find them an excellent choice, and invite you to ask us any questions or share any feedback that you might have.