The quick rules
| Conversion | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Women's clothing | ||
| US to UK / AU | add 4 | US 8 = UK 12 |
| US to EU (French, Spanish) | add 32 | US 8 = FR 40 |
| US to EU (German, Dutch, Nordic) | add 30 | US 8 = DE 38 |
| US to Italian | add 36 | US 8 = IT 44 |
| Men's clothing | ||
| Jacket chest, US / UK to EU / IT | add 10 | 40 = EU 50 |
| Trouser waist inches to EU / DE | add about 16 | W32 = EU 48 |
| Collar inches to cm | shop pairs | 15.5 = 39 |
| Shoes | ||
| Women's US to UK | subtract 2 | US 8 = UK 6 |
| Men's US to UK | subtract 1 | US 10 = UK 9 |
Based on: the most widely published mappings. The individual charts on this site give every size, and brands still vary.
United States
US women's clothing uses even numbers (0, 2, 4 ... 20) for the regular "misses" range, with separate petite (P) and plus or women's (W) ranges. Juniors' sizes, aimed at teens, use odd numbers (1, 3, 5 ...) and a straighter cut. US sizes have drifted larger over the decades, which is one reason vintage and modern labels disagree. Men's clothing in the US is sized by body measurements in inches: chest for jackets, neck and sleeve for shirts, waist and inseam for trousers. Shoes use separate men's and women's scales.
United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand
UK women's sizes are four numbers above US sizes (UK 12 = US 8), and Australia and New Zealand use the same numbers as the UK. Men's tailoring uses the same inch-based chest, collar and waist sizes as the US. UK shoe sizes are their own scale: one below US for men and two below US for women in most charts.
Continental Europe
There is no single European clothing size. Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Scandinavia share one women's scale; France, Spain, Belgium and Portugal use a scale two numbers higher; Italy uses one four numbers higher again. So one woman can be a 38 in Berlin, a 40 in Paris and a 44 in Milan without changing at all.
Men's tailoring across Europe uses a number roughly equal to half the chest in centimeters (a 100 cm chest is about a 50), which is why US 40 = EU 50. Shirt collars are in centimeters. Shoes use Paris points, the same in every European country and the same for men and women.
There is also a European standard, EN 13402, that labels clothes by body measurements in centimeters (for example a pictogram showing chest and waist), rather than by an arbitrary number. Uptake has been patchy, but if you see centimeter measurements on a European label, they describe the body the garment is meant for.
Japan
Japanese women's sizes use odd numbers, with 9 as the standard medium, and often a letter for proportion and height. Japanese ranges are built around a smaller average frame than US or European ones, so the commonly printed conversion (JP 9 = US 4) understates the difference on the body for many shoppers; compare measurements in centimeters where you can. Men's clothing often uses S, M, L with chest and height ranges. Japanese shoes are sized in centimeters of foot length.
South Korea
Korean women's clothing has long used 44, 55, 66, 77 and 88, where 55 is roughly a small and 66 roughly a medium. Many brands now label by bust in centimeters instead (85, 90, 95). Men's tops are commonly labeled by chest in centimeters: 95 is roughly a medium, 100 a large and 105 an extra large. These are approximate correspondences; Korean cuts also tend to be narrower through the shoulders than US ones.
China
Chinese labels following the national standard (GB/T 1335) show height and chest or waist in centimeters plus a body-type letter: 170/88A means a garment for someone about 170 cm tall with an 88 cm chest. The letter describes the difference between chest and waist, from Y (the largest difference, slim waist) through A and B to C (the smallest difference). For bottoms, the second number is the waist. Many Chinese online shops also print letter sizes, which often run one or two sizes smaller than US letters, so the centimeter figures are the safer guide.
Letter sizes around the world
S, M and L look universal, but they are not. A US medium is often an L or XL from a Japanese, Korean or Chinese brand, and some European brands map one letter to a single numeric size where US brands map it to two. When a garment is sold in letters only, look for the brand's centimeter chart rather than assuming your usual letter.
Buying from another country
- Find out which scale the shop uses: a reference row in its size chart (for example "EU 36 = UK 8") tells you French or German.
- Compare measurements, not labels, especially with Asian brands.
- Check the return policy before ordering across borders; returns from abroad can cost more than the item.
- Use the converter for the label and the measuring guide for the numbers behind it.
For the full tables, see the women's size chart, men's size chart and shoe size conversion.