Shoes and socks.

Shoes

No article specifying fencing shoes was found in the FIE Material Rules (August 2026) text read for this site. The FIE's clothing articles cover jacket, breeches, socks, plastron, glove and mask, and the national uniform is defined as socks, breeches and jacket (m.25.3.a), with no shoe in the list.

British Fencing does address footwear, in two documents with slightly different wording:

• The Safety Guidelines, 23rd edition (approved 25 June 2026, 1.7) say indoor trainer-type shoes should be worn. British Fencing lists a 24th edition, Board approved in September 2026, which could not be read, so the section numbers on this page are from the 23rd.
• The Equipment by Activity page (updated 2 October 2026) says indoor trainer-type shoes are required.

No shoe standard or rating from any body was found for this site: British Fencing's indoor-shoe wording is the only footwear rule on record here, and no rule found requires fencing-specific shoes.

Footing in the research and the venue rules

The IOC's fencing injury chapter (Harmer, 2010) lists injuries from the piste among the three main inciting factors in the literature, and reports that slipping, tripping or stepping off the edge of the piste accounted for between 9.6% (Carter and colleagues, 1993) and 37% (Gambaretti and colleagues, 1992) of injuries in those two studies. British Fencing's Safety Guidelines (23rd edition, 4.1) put the responsibility on the venue side: the floor must not put fencers at risk of slipping and cables should present a low tripping risk. An injury needs medical care; injury research is in the safety section.

Socks

FIE rule (Material Rules, August 2026)

• With breeches, the fencer wears socks covering the legs up to the breeches, held so they cannot fall down (m.25.5.b to m.25.5.d).
• A turn-over of 10 cm in national colours is allowed.
• Both socks must match in design and colour.
• Socks are part of the national uniform with breeches and jacket (m.25.3.a).

British Fencing

• For FIE and European Fencing Confederation events (13 March 2026), socks must stay up and fully cover the legs, and must match in team events.
• The Safety Guidelines (23rd edition, 1.7) say socks must be covered by the breeches with no bare skin showing.
• In lessons and classes, epee fights must not include the legs as target unless the pupil wears at least 350 N breeches and long socks (4.4.2).

USA Fencing

USA Fencing's Athlete Handbook 2023-2024 listed knee socks among the clothing required at domestic tournaments, alongside a standard uniform, plastron and a glove covering half the forearm. The 2026-2027 handbook (2.17.1) says fencing in warm-up trousers is not permitted and uniforms may not have rips, tears or holes.

Trousers instead of breeches

The FIE's 800 N clothing rule names trousers as well as breeches (m.25.3.c), and breeches fasten below the knee (m.25.5.a). British Fencing sets out when full-length trousers may replace breeches below FIE level:

• If both fencers use non-electric foil blades, or size 0 blades at any weapon, breeches may be replaced by full-length trousers of sufficiently strong material with openings closed, except in BF-licensed competitions (Safety Guidelines, 23rd edition, 1.3.vi).
• British Fencing's safety guidelines page (dated 29 April 2025) says tracksuit trousers may be worn over 350 or 800 N breeches at non-FIE events if tapered or straight cut with openings closed.
• The Equipment by Activity page (2 October 2026) says that under no circumstances is sparring in shorts acceptable.

Leg cover for young fencers is on youth equipment levels.