Clothing Size Converter

How the systems line up

The national systems are not independent scales that have to be looked up against each other. For womenswear they are the same ladder with different numbers painted on the rungs, and the gaps are fixed all the way up:

So an American 8 is a British 12, a German 40, a French 42 and an Italian 44 — one garment, five numbers. The German figure is the useful one to remember, because it is the only one that tracks the body: a German 40 is cut for a 94 cm bust, and each step of two in that number is four centimetres of bust, waist and hip.

Menswear is simpler and more honest about itself. The British and American number is the chest measurement in inches — a 40 is a forty-inch chest — and the European number is a flat ten above it. Britain and America agree here; it is womenswear where they diverge.

Why sizes do not really convert

Every other tool on this site converts between definitions. An inch is exactly 2.54 centimetres by international agreement, so a height conversion is arithmetic and the answer is the answer. A clothing size is not a definition. It is a label a manufacturer chose, and no standard compels anyone to use it the way the chart above says.

The practical consequence is worth stating plainly, because most size charts do not. One step on any of these scales is about four centimetres. The spread between two shops selling the same nominal size routinely exceeds that — which means the difference between brands can be bigger than the difference between sizes. A chart that converts your label perfectly can still send you the wrong garment.

That is not a reason to ignore the numbers, but it is a reason to treat them as a starting point. The measurements in the charts below are the part that means something: a bust or chest figure describes a body the same way in every country and every decade. Where a retailer publishes the measurements of the actual item, those beat this page.

Women's clothing size chart

Generated from the offsets above rather than transcribed, so no row can disagree with the converter.

Men's clothing size chart

The British and American column is the chest measurement itself, which is why it needs no separate inch column.

Frequently asked questions

Is a UK 12 really a US 8?

As a number, yes, and reliably so: every published chart puts a UK size four above the American one, all the way up the range. As a garment, not necessarily. The offset describes how the two countries number their sizes, not how any particular shop cuts its clothes, so the label will convert cleanly even when the fit does not.

Why does the same size fit differently in different shops?

Because each brand cuts to its own block and nothing obliges them to agree. One size step is about four centimetres of bust or chest, and the spread between two shops at the same nominal size routinely exceeds that — so the difference between brands can be larger than the difference between sizes. This is why the measurements matter more than the label, and why a retailer’s own size guide beats any general chart including this one.

Why are Italian sizes such big numbers?

Italian womenswear numbers the same garment four higher than the German scale that most of Europe uses, and French sizing sits two higher. An Italian 44, a French 42 and a German 40 are the same size; only the counting differs. None of the three is more correct than the others, which is the whole problem with size labels as a way of describing a body.

Does halving my chest measurement give my European size?

Only near the middle of the range. A 38 inch chest is 96.5 cm, and half of that is 48, which is exactly the European size — but the rule drifts at both ends. At a 32 inch chest it reads about 41 against a real size of 42, and at 48 inches about 61 against a real 58. The European men’s number is a flat ten above the inch figure, which holds everywhere the halving rule does not.

What should I do if I fall between two sizes?

Measure, then check the actual garment. The sizes on this page step about four centimetres apart, so being between them is common rather than unusual, and which way to go depends on the cut and the fabric rather than on the numbers. Most retailers publish the measurements of the specific item; where they do, that chart answers the question and this one cannot.

Related tools

Taking your measurements? The height converter and the weight converter handle feet and inches to centimetres and kilograms to stone. The full list of tools is on the homepage.