Clothing Size Converter

How to use Clothing Size Converter

1. Choose the garment type and the scale you know.
2. Enter your size.
3. Read the equivalents, then check the brand’s measurements before ordering.
4. No standard governs clothing sizes — conversions are conventions, not rules.
5. Chest, waist, hip and inside leg predict fit; a size label does not.
6. Asian lettered sizes commonly run one to two sizes smaller than Western equivalents.

Clothing sizes are not standardised anywhere

There is no legal or industry standard behind a women’s size 10. Manufacturers set their own measurements, and a study of high-street retailers has repeatedly found the same nominal size varying by several inches in the waist between brands. UK sizes run about 4 above US for women; EU sizes run about 30 above US. Those offsets are conventions rather than rules, and plenty of brands ignore them.

Vanity sizing, and why old clothes seem to shrink

Sizes have drifted larger for decades: a garment labelled size 8 today is several inches bigger than one labelled size 8 in the 1960s, because flattering a customer sells clothes. The practice is well documented and shows no sign of stopping, which means a size that fits from one era tells you little about another, and it is one reason vintage shopping requires measurements rather than labels.

Measure and compare against the garment chart

The numbers that actually predict fit are chest or bust, waist, hip and inside leg. Measure with a soft tape over light clothing, keeping it level and not pulled tight. Then use the specific brand’s size chart, which nearly all publish — those charts are the only place sizes are defined, and comparing your measurements against them is far more reliable than any cross-country conversion.

Where lettered sizes come from

S, M, L and XL are ranges rather than measurements, and the ranges differ by brand, country and garment type. A medium in a fitted shirt and a medium in an oversized sweatshirt are not the same measurement even from the same manufacturer. Asian lettered sizes commonly run one to two sizes smaller than European or American ones, which is the most frequent surprise in online ordering.