Clothing size

In clothing, clothing size refers to the label sizes used for garments sold off-the-shelf. There are a large number of standard sizing systems around the world for various garments, such as dresses, tops, skirts, and trousers. Made-to-order garments require measurements to be taken, but these do not need to be converted into national standard form.

History of standard clothing sizes
Before the invention of clothing sizes in the early 1800s, all clothing was made to fit individuals by either tailors or makers of clothing in their homes. Then garment makers noticed that the range of human body dimensions was relatively small. Therefore, sizes were invented to

Horizontal torso measurements include the neck circumference, the shoulder width, the bustline measurements – over-bust circumference, the full bust circumference, the bust-point separation, and the under-bust (rib-cage) circumference – the natural waist circumference, the upper hip circumference and the lower hip circumference.
Vertical torso measurements include the back (neck-waist) length, the shoulder-waist length (not the same as the back length, due to the slope of the shoulder), the bust-shoulder length, the bust-waist length, and the two hip-waist lengths.
Sleeve measurements include the under-arm and over-arm lengths, the fore-arm length, the wrist circumference and the biceps circumference.
However, because of the drape and ease of the fabric, not all measurements are required to obtain a well-fitting dress in most styles.

Standards
International
ISO
There are several ISO standards for size designation of clothes, but most have them are being revised and replaced by one of the parts of ISO 8559 which closely resembles EN 13402:

ISO 3635: 1981, Size designation of clothes – Definitions and body measurement procedure (withdrawn)
ISO 3636: 1977, Size designation of clothes - Men’s and boys outerwear garments. (withdrawn)
ISO 3637: 1977, Size designation of clothes - Women’s and girls outerwear garments. (withdrawn)
ISO 3638: 1977, Size designation of clothes - Infants garments. (withdrawn)
ISO 4415: 1981, Size designation of clothes - Mens and boys underwear, nightwear and shirts. (withdrawn)
ISO 4416: 1981, Size designation of clothes - Women’s and girls’ underwear, nightwear, foundation garments and shirts. (withdrawn)
ISO 4417: 1977, Size designation of clothes - Headwear. (withdrawn)
ISO 4418: 1978, Size designation of clothes - Gloves. (withdrawn)
ISO 5971: 1981, Size designation of clothes - Pantyhose.
ISO 7070: 1982, Size designation of clothes - Hosiery.
ISO 8559: 1989, Garment construction and anthropometric surveys – Body dimensions (withdrawn)
ISO 8559-1: 2017, Size designation of clothes — Part 1: Anthropometric definitions for body measurement
ISO 8559-2: 2017, Size designation of clothes — Part 2: Primary and secondary dimension indicators
ISO 8559-3: 2018, Size designation of clothes — Part 3: Methodology of the creation of the body measurement tables and intervals
ISO/TR 10652: 1991, Standard sizing systems for clothes

Asia

China
GB 1335-81
GB/T 1335.1-2008 Size designation of clothes - Men
GB/T 1335.2-2008 Size designation of clothes - Women
GB/T 1335.3-2008 Size designation of clothes - Children
GB/T 2668-2002 Sizes for coats, jackets and trousers
GB/T 14304-2002 Sizes for woolen garments

Japan
JIS L 4001 (1997) Sizing systems for infants' garments
JIS L 4002 (1997) Sizing systems for boys' garments
JIS L 4003 (1997) Sizing systems for girls' garments
JIS L 4004 (1997) Sizing systems for men's garments
JIS L 4005 (1997) Sizing systems for women's garments
JIS L 4006 (1997) Sizing systems for foundation garments
JIS L 4007 (1997) Sizing systems for Hosiery and Pantyhose

South Korea
KS K 0050 (2009) Men’s wear
KS K 0051 (2004) Women's wear
KS K 0052 Infants
KS K 0059 Headgear
KS K 0070 Brassiere
KS K 0037 Dress Shirts
KS K 0088 Socks
Russian Federation
GOST R 53230-2008 (ISO 4415-1981) Size designation of clothes. Men's and boy's underwear, nightwear and shirts

Thailand
Wacoal (1981, 1987)

Australia
L9 - Women’s clothing - Apparel Manufacturers Association of NSW - 1959-1970
AS1344-1972, 1975, 1997 Size coding scheme for women’s clothing
AS1182 - 1980 - Size coding scheme for infants and children's clothing

Europe
CEN
The European Standards Organisation (CEN) produced a series of standards, prefixed with EN 13402:

EN 13402-1: Terms, definitions and body measurement procedure
EN 13402-2: Primary and secondary dimensions
EN 13402-3: Size designation of clothes. Body measurements and interng national standards of the 33 member states. It is currently in common use for children's clothing, but not yet for adults. The third standard EN 13402-3 seeks to address the problem of irregular or Vanity sizing through offering a SI unit based labelling system, which will ALSO pictographically describe the dimensions a garment is designed to fit, per the ISO 3635 standard.

Germany
DOB-Verband (1983)

France
AFNOR NF G 03-001 (1977) - Human body - Vocabulary - Pictogram;
AFNOR EXP G 03-002 (1977) - Women Measures
AFNOR EXP G 03-003 (1977) - Men Measures
AFNOR EXP G 03-006 (1978) - Measures of babies and young children
AFNOR EXP G 03-007 (1977) - Size designation of clothes for men, women and children
AFNOR NF G 03-008 (1984) - Tights - Sizes - Designation - Marking

United Kingdom
BS 3666:1982 Specification for size designation of women's wear
BS 6185:1982 Specification for size designation of men's wear
BS 3666:1982, the standard for women's clothing, is rarely followed by manufacturers as it defines sizes in terms of hip and bust measurements only within a limited range. This has resulted in variations between manufacturers and a tendency towards vanity sizing.

Former Yugoslavia
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Serbia still use the JUS (F.G0.001 1979, F.G0.002 1979, F.G0.003 1979) standards developed in the former Yugoslavia. In addition to typical girth measurements clothing is also marked to identify which of 5 height bands: X-Short, Short, Medium, Tall, X-Tall, and body types: Slim, Normal, or Full, it is designed to fit.

North America

United States
CS-151-50 - Infants, Babies, Toddlers and Children's clothing
CS 215-58 - Women's Clothing (1958)
PS 36-70 - Boys Clothing (1971)
PS 42-70 Women's Clothing (1971)
PS 45-71 - Young Men's clothing,
PS 54-72 - Girls Clothing
ASTM D5585-95, (2001)
ASTM D6829-02, (2008)
ASTM D5585-11, (2011)
ASTM D6240-98,
ASTM D6960-04, Women's Plus sized (2004)

There is no mandatory clothing size or labeling standard in the U.S, though a series of voluntary standards have been in place since the 1930s. The U.S. government, however, did attempt to establish a system for women's clothing in 1958 when the National Bureau of Standards published "Body Measurements for the Sizing of Women's Patterns and Apparel." The guidelines of the book was made a commercial standard and was even updated in 1970. But the guide was eventually degraded to a voluntary standard until it was abolished altogether in 1983. Private organization ASTM International started to release its own recommended size carts in the 1990s.

Since then, the common US misses sizes have not had stable dimensions. Clothing brands and manufacturers size their products according to their preferences. For example, the dimensions of two size 10 dresses from different companies, or even from the same company, may have grossly different dimensions; and both are almost certainly larger than the size 10 dimensions described in the US standard. Vanity sizing may be partly responsible for this deviation (which began in earnest in the 1980s).

Women
Comparison tables

United States	0	2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24
UK	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20	22	24	26	28
Germany	30	32	34	36	38	40	42	44	46	48	50	52	54
France	32	34	36	38	40	42	44	46	48	50	52	54	56
Italy	36	38	40	42	44	46	48	50	52	54	56	58	60
Korea	44	44	55	55	66	66	77	77	88	88

Women's clothing sizes

USA	4	6	8	10	12
UK	8	10	12	14	16
France	36	38	40	42	44
Japanese	7	11	15	17	21
Bust	32"	34"	36"	38"	40"
	81 cm	86 cm	91 cm	97 cm	102 cm
Waist	24"	26.5"	29"	31"	33"
	61 cm	67 cm	74 cm	79 cm	84 cm
Hip	35"	37"	39"	41"	43"
	89 cm	94 cm	99 cm	104 cm	109 cm

Women’s blouses and sweaters

EU	40	42	44	46	48	50
UK	34	36	38	40	42	44
US	32	34	36	38	40	42

Children’s junior misses dresses and coats

EU	28	30	32	34	36	38	40	42
UK	3	5	7	9	11	13	15	17
US	1	3	5	7	9	11	13	15

Korean casual / underwear (KS 051 - 2009)

Dress size	3XS	XXS	XS	S	M	L	XL	XXL	3XL	4XL
Bust (cm)	70	75	80	85	90	95	100	105	110-115	120-125

Japanese dresses sizes (JIS L 4005 - 2001)

Dress size	3	5	7	9	11	13	15	17	19	21	23	25	27	29	31
Bust (cm)	74	77	80	83	86	89	92	96	100	104	108	112	116	120	124

Japanese dresses length modifiers

Modifier	PP (double-petite)	P (petite)	R (regular)	T (tall)
Subject Height (cm)	142	150	158	166
Additional hip girth (cm)	0	0	2	4

Japanese dresses fit modifiers

Modifier	Y	A	AB	B
Additional hip girth (cm)	0	4	8	12

e.g. a dress marked 13-Y-PP or 13-Y-P would be designed for someone with an 89 cm bust and 89 cm hips, while a dress marked 13-B-T would be targeted at a taller individual with 105 cm hips, but the same 89 cm bust. The B fitting adds 12 cm and the T height modifier 4 cm to the base hip measurement 89 + 16 = 105 cm. Additionally there are a set of age based waist adjustments, such that a dress marketed at someone in their 60s may allow for a waist 9 cm larger than a dress, of the same size, marketed at someone in their 20s. The age based adjustments allow for up to a 3 cm increase in girth, per decade of life.

Italian sizes (ITA)
Dress sizes are calculated as follows:

Standard dress size = (Bust Circumference cm / 2)
French sizes (FRA/BEL)
Dress sizes are calculated as follows:

Standard dress size = (Bust Circumference cm / 2) - 4
Germanic sizes (DE/AT/NL/SE/DK)
Dress sizes are calculated as follows:

Standard dress size (Height 164–170 cm) = (Bust Circumference cm / 2 ) - 6
Short dress sizes (Height <164 cm) = Standard dress size / 2 Tall dress sizes (Height >170 cm) = Standard dress size * 2

Women's clothing sizes (DE/AT/NL/SE/DK) hide

Short Size codes < 164 cm	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Standard size codes < 170 cm	32	34	36	38	40	42	44	46	48	50	52	54
Tall size codes 170 cm	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	100	104	108
International	XS		S		M		L		XL		XXL
EU Tops	76	80	84	88	92	96	100	105	110	116	122	128
EU Bottoms	60	63	67	70	75	80	84	88	94	100	106	112
Shoulder Width (cm)	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	14	14	14	14
Arm length (cm)	58	59	59	60	60	61	61	61	61	62	62	62
Bust (cm)	74–77	78–81	82–85	86–89	90–93	94–97	98–102	103–107	108–113	114–119	120–125	126–131
Waist (cm)	58–61	62–64	65–68	69–72	73–77	78–81	82–85	86–90	91–95	96–102	103–108	109–114
Hips (cm)	80–84	85–89	90–94	95–97	98–101	102–104	105–108	109–112	113–116	117–122	123–128	129–134
Inside Leg (cm)	103	104	105	106	107	108	109	110	111	112	113	114

Men

Comparison tables

Men's shirts

UK & other EU / Japan	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
UK / US / AUS	14	14½	15	15½	15¾	16¼	16½	17	17½	18	18½
Japan	S	S	M	M	L	L	LL,XL	LL,XL	LL,XL
Korea	90		95		100		105		110

Men's sports shirts, T-shirts

EU	36	37/38	39/40	41/42	43/44	45/46
UK / US	XS	S	M	L	XL	XXL
	84 cm	92 cm	100 cm	108 cm	116 cm	124 cm

Men's sweaters, jackets

EU	38/40	42/44	46/48	50/52	52/54
UK / US	S	M	L	XL	XXL

Men's suits, suit jackets, blazers, overcoats

EU/Russia	40	42	44	46	48	50	52	54	56	58	60	62	64
UK / US	30	32	34	36	38	40	42	44	46	48	50	52	54
Japan	32	34	36	38	40	42	44	46	48	50	52
Korea	80	85	90	95	100	105	110	115	120	125	130
SML	XXS	XS	S	S	M	M	L	L	XL	XXL	XXXL

Men's jeans, slacks, pants, trousers: Waist

EU	64/68	68/72	72/76	76/80	80/84	84/88	88/92	92/96	96/100	100/104	104/108	108/112	112/116
Italy	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55
UK / US	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	36	38	40	42	44

Men's jeans, slacks, pants, trousers: Length

EU	34	36	38	40	42	44	46	48
UK / US	25/26	27/28	29/30	31	32	33	34	36

Men's underwear

EU	1	2	3	4	5
UK / US	S	M	L	XL	XXL

French sizes (FRA/BEL)
Chest / Suit sizes are calculated as follows:

Standard Size Code = ( Chest Circumference cm + 1) / 2
Germanic sizes (AT/DE/NL/DK/SE/FI)
Chest / Suit sizes are calculated as follows:

Standard Size Code (Normale) = ( Chest Circumference cm – 1) / 2
Short / Stocky (Kurz / Untersetzt) = Standard Size Code / 2
Portly (Bauchgrößen) = Standard Size Code + 1
Tall / Lean (Schlank / Lang) = (Standard Size Code - 1) * 2

Men's clothing sizes (AT/DE/NL/DK/SE/FI)

Standard Size Codes	44	46	48	50	52	54	56	58	60	62	64	66	68	70	72	74
Underwear	4		5		6		7		8
International	XXS	XS	S	M	L	XL	XXL	3XL		4XL		5XL		6XL		7XL
Chest (cm)	86–89	90–93	94–97	98–101	102–105	106–109	110–113	114–117	118–121	122–125	126-128	129-132	133-136	137-140	141-144	145-148
Waist size (cm)	74–77	78–81	82–85	86–89	90–94	95–99	100–104	105–109	110–114	115–119	120-124	125-128	129-132	133-134	135-138	139-142
Hip circumference (cm)	90–93	94–97	98–101	102–105	106–109	110–113	114–117	118–121	122–125	126–129
Height (cm)	166–170	168–173	171–176	174–179	177–182	180–184	182–186	184–188	185–189	187–190	191-192	193-194	195-196	197-198	199-200	201-202
Short / Stocky (untersetzte)	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37
Chest (cm)	89–92	93–96	97–100	101–104	105–108	109–112	113–116	117–120	121–124	125-128	129-132	133-136	137-140	141-144	145-148
Waist size (cm)	81–84	85–88	89–92	93–96	97–100	101–106	107–110	111–114	115–118
Hip circumference (cm)	97-100	101–104	105–108	109–112	113–116	117–120	121–124	125–128	129–132
Height (cm)	163-167	166–170	169–173	172–176	175–178	177–180	179–182	181–183	182–183	184	185	186	187	188	189-190	191-192
Portly (Bauchgrößen)				51	53	55	57	59	61	63	65	67	69	71	73
Chest (cm)				100–103	104–107	108–111	112–115	116–119	120–123	124–126	127-130	131-134	135-138	139-142	143-146
Waist size (cm)				102–107	108–111	112–117	118–121	122–125	126–129	130-132	133-136	137-140	141-146	147-150	151-154
Hip circumference (cm)				108–111	112–115	116–119	120–123	124–127	128–132	133–137
Height (cm)				168–172	170–174	172–176	174–178	176–180	178–182	180–184
Tall size (schlanke)		90	94	98	102	106	110	114	118	122
Chest (cm)		88–91	92–95	96–99	100–103	104–107	108–111	111-114	115-118	119-122
Waist size (cm)		74–77	78–81	82–85	86–89	90–93	94–98	100-104	105-109	110-114
Hip circumference (cm)		92–95	96–99	100–103	104–107	108–111	112–115	116-119	120-123	124-127
Height (cm)		175–179	178–182	181–185	184–188	186–190	188–192	193-197	196-200	199-203

Size dividers
Size dividers are used by clothing stores to help customers find the right size. Like index cards, they are found on racks between sizes. There are three basic types: the rectangular, round and the king size. Among the stores that use them are Marshalls and TJ Maxx.

Travel
Many voyagers like to shop for clothes abroad. Some types of clothes might be significantly cheaper in another country, and often you can find things that you're unable to find in your home country.

When buying clothes abroad (or from a foreign online store) you may however run into a number of different systems for clothing sizes. In some stores (let alone in open-air markets and similar places) there are not facilities available for trying clothes, so having a reference of the local size system at hand can be useful.

In some cases clothes are marked by letters like S(mall), M(edium), L(arge), XL (extra large) and so on — souvenir t-shirts are often marked this way. However these do in practice vary — for example clothes of a certain size sold on the Asian market are often a bit smaller than American equivalents. Finally, clothing markings may be faulty or entirely missing.

Source from Wikipedia