A US 8, a UK 12, a German 38, a French 40 and an Italian 44 can all be the same dress. Clothing sizes are national conventions rather than measurements, and no single official standard converts between them. Brands also cut differently, so two labels with the same number can be up to a size apart. What does carry across borders is your body: bust or chest, waist and hip in centimeters. This guide explains what each country's numbers stand for, gives the conversion tables SamemaS uses, and shows how to read a size chart so you can order with fewer returns.
Step one: measure yourself in centimeters
Every chart, and every conversion below, starts from body girths. Use a soft tape, keep it level and snug but not tight, and measure over thin clothing:
- Bust (women): around the fullest part of the bust, tape level across the back.
- Chest (men): around the fullest part of the chest, under the arms, while breathing normally.
- Waist: around the natural waist, the narrowest part of the torso.
- Hip: around the fullest part of the hips and seat.
Write the numbers down in centimeters. If your tape shows inches, multiply by 2.54 (the only exact number in this whole subject) or use the length converter. These are body measurements, and a good brand chart lists body measurements too. The flat garment measurements some shops give ("pit to pit") are something else: they include the ease the designer added for movement.
What each country's number means
United States and United Kingdom
Women's US and UK dress sizes are offsets from bust girth in inches. Wikipedia's summary of the conventions gives US size ≈ bust (in) − 28 and UK size ≈ bust (in) − 24. The UK number is therefore 4 higher than the US number for the same body: a US 6 is a UK 10. (Some older advice, including an earlier version of this page, said UK sizes run two numbers smaller. For standard dress sizes that is wrong.)
US sizes were tied to a government body-measurement table in 1958, but it was voluntary from 1970 and withdrawn in 1983. ASTM's later voluntary table (D5585) has not been widely adopted, and Wikipedia notes that sizes have drifted larger over the decades, a trend known as vanity sizing. In practice, each US brand runs its own chart.
Continental Europe: three scales, not one
"EU size" on a shopping site usually means the French scale, but Germany and Italy use different numbers for the same body. The rules in the SamemaS table, taken from Wikipedia's comparison table, are:
- Germany (DE): US + 30, so a US 8 is a DE 38.
- France and Spain (FR / ES): US + 32, so a US 8 is an FR 40.
- Italy (IT): US + 36, so a US 8 is an IT 44.
Italian numbers are higher, but the clothes are not cut smaller because of it: an IT 44 is meant for the same body as an FR 40. Any difference in fit comes from the brand, not the country. Wikipedia also gives bust-in-centimeter formulas (IT ≈ bust ÷ 2, FR ≈ bust ÷ 2 − 4, DE ≈ bust ÷ 2 − 6). For a 91 cm bust they give IT 45.5, FR 41.5 and DE 39.5, about 1.5 numbers above its own comparison table (IT 44, FR 40, DE 38), which is a good example of why no two charts agree exactly. SamemaS follows the comparison table.
Japan: JIS L 4005 and L 4004
Japanese women's sizes follow JIS L 4005. Dress sizes are odd numbers from 3 to 31, each with a nominal bust girth: 3 is 74 cm, 9 is 83 cm, 15 is 92 cm, 31 is 124 cm. The standard has also used a hip-type letter (Y, A, AB, B adding 0, 4, 8 or 12 cm of hip) and a height letter (PP, P, R, T for about 142, 150, 158 and 166 cm), so a full code reads like "13-Y-P". A 2023 revision added SS and larger L sizes and, according to Fashionsnap's report, dropped the rarely used body-type classification. SamemaS picks the JIS size whose nominal bust is closest to the US size's bust.
Men's garments fall under JIS L 4004. Japanese retailers widely publish letter bands by chest girth (S 80 to 88 cm, M 88 to 96, L 96 to 104, LL 104 to 112, then 3L, 4L, 5L). We could not check these against the text of the standard, so the SamemaS men's table labels its JP column "approx.".
EN 13402: the European standard that labels the body
EN 13402, "Size designation of clothes", takes a different approach: instead of a code number, the label shows the body measurements the garment fits, in centimeters, and the standard defines a language-neutral pictogram for showing them. Part 1 (2001) defines the measurements, Part 2 (2002) picks the primary measurement for each garment type (where men's garments use chest girth, women's use bust girth), and Part 3 (2004) sets the size steps. Proposals for a short code in Part 4 were never adopted. Wikipedia describes EN 13402 as common for children's clothing in Europe, while few countries have followed it for adults. If you see a label like "chest 96 to 104 cm", that is the system working as intended: compare it with your tape measure directly.
Women's size conversion chart
These rows are copied from the SamemaS women's clothing size converter. Bust (in) = US + 28; UK = US + 4; DE = US + 30; FR / ES = US + 32; IT = US + 36.
| Letter | US / CA | UK / AU | DE | FR / ES | IT | JP (JIS) | Bust (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XS | 2 | 6 | 32 | 34 | 38 | 5 | 76 |
| S | 4 | 8 | 34 | 36 | 40 | 7 | 81 |
| S | 6 | 10 | 36 | 38 | 42 | 11 | 86 |
| M | 8 | 12 | 38 | 40 | 44 | 15 | 91 |
| M | 10 | 14 | 40 | 42 | 46 | 17 | 97 |
| L | 12 | 16 | 42 | 44 | 48 | 19 | 102 |
| L | 14 | 18 | 44 | 46 | 50 | 23 | 107 |
| XL | 16 | 20 | 46 | 48 | 52 | 25 | 112 |
| XL | 18 | 22 | 48 | 50 | 54 | 27 | 117 |
| XXL | 20 | 24 | 50 | 52 | 56 | 29 | 122 |
Men's jackets and suits
Men's tailoring is simpler. A US or UK suit size is the chest girth in inches: a 40 fits a 40 inch (102 cm) chest. Continental sizes (EU, IT, FR) add 10, so a US 40 is an EU 50, which is also roughly the chest in centimeters divided by two. Rows from the SamemaS men's clothing size converter:
| Letter | US / UK suit | EU / IT / FR | JP letter (approx.) | Chest (in) | Chest (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XS | 32 | 42 | S | 32 | 81 |
| S | 36 | 46 | M | 36 | 91 |
| M | 38 | 48 | L | 38 | 97 |
| M | 40 | 50 | L | 40 | 102 |
| L | 42 | 52 | LL | 42 | 107 |
| L | 44 | 54 | LL | 44 | 112 |
| XL | 46 | 56 | 3L | 46 | 117 |
| XXL | 48 | 58 | 4L | 48 | 122 |
Two related conventions are outside this table. Shirt collars are sized by neck girth: a 15 inch collar is 38.1 cm, sold as 38 in Europe. For trousers, a common German rule of thumb adds 16 to the waist in inches (a 32 inch waist is a German 48), but it is an approximate German convention, not a European standard, and French and Italian trouser sizes differ.
Letter sizes are not standardized
S, M and L are the least reliable labels of all. No national standard fixes them, and the same letter can cover different bodies from one brand to the next. The SamemaS tables follow common US retail charts: for women, M covers US 8 to 10; for men, M covers suit sizes 38 to 40. Wikipedia's women's comparison table puts each letter one step smaller (M at US 10 to 12 there, S at 6 to 8). EN 13402 defines its own letter bands by girth, and Japanese bands differ again.
That blanket rule has no reliable source. A Japanese M does cover a smaller chest range than a European M, as the chart shows, but numbered JIS sizes are tied to stated bust girths, and many brands print centimeters on their charts. Compare your measurement with the chart instead of guessing a fixed number of sizes.
Worked examples
A 91 cm bust
- Convert to inches: 91 ÷ 2.54 = 35.83 in.
- US size = bust (in) − 28 = 7.83, which rounds to US 8.
- Apply the offsets: UK 8 + 4 = 12, DE 8 + 30 = 38, FR 8 + 32 = 40, IT 8 + 36 = 44.
- Japan: the nearest JIS nominal bust to 91 cm is 92 cm, which is size 15.
- Letter: US 8 is an M on the SamemaS table (an S on Wikipedia's).
A 100 cm chest, buying a jacket
- 100 ÷ 2.54 = 39.37 in, so the nearest suit size is US / UK 40.
- EU / IT / FR = 40 + 10 = 50 (100 ÷ 2 = 50 agrees).
- Letter: M on the SamemaS table and in EN 13402 (94 to 102 cm), but L on Japanese bands (96 to 104 cm).
How to read a brand's size chart
- Check whether the chart lists body measurements or garment measurements. Body measurements compare directly with your tape; garment measurements should be a few centimeters larger than your body for a comfortable fit.
- Find the primary measurement for the garment: bust or chest for tops and jackets, waist and hip for trousers and skirts.
- If you fall between two sizes, look at the secondary measurement (waist or hip) and the fabric. Stretch fabrics forgive more than woven ones.
- Only if the brand gives nothing but country sizes, convert with a table like the ones above, and read customer reviews for notes on fit.
Shoes work the same way, with foot length in place of bust or chest; see our guide to converting shoe sizes.
The short version
- No official standard converts clothing sizes between countries. Brands differ by up to one size.
- Measure bust or chest, waist and hip in centimeters, and compare with the brand's own chart first.
- Women: UK = US + 4, DE = US + 30, FR / ES = US + 32, IT = US + 36. Japan uses JIS bust-based numbers.
- Men's suits: US / UK = chest in inches, EU / IT / FR = US + 10.
- Letter sizes are not standardized; check which convention a chart uses before trusting an M.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Clothing sizes — Wikipedia
- EN 13402 — Wikipedia
- US standard clothing size — Wikipedia
- JIS size revision for clothing (2023) — Fashionsnap