Clothing Size Converter

A UK 12 is roughly a US women's 8, using the common offset where UK sizes run about 4 numbers higher than US for the same body. EU sizes run even higher, about 32 more than US, so that same body is close to an EU 40. The exact match still depends on the brand's own chart.

Often it is vanity sizing, not your body. In the 1937 Sears catalog a size 14 dress had a 32-inch bust. By 1967 that same bust was labeled a size 8, and by 2011 a size 0, according to a New York Times comparison. Brands relabel garments smaller over the decades because smaller numbers sell better.

The practice of labeling clothes with a smaller size number than the body measurement would traditionally call for, because shoppers respond better to smaller numbers. The US dropped its official clothing size standard in 1983, and without regulation, brands were free to size however they wanted, which is when the drift accelerated.

Around a US women's 8, a UK 12, an EU 40, or a size Medium, based on standard size charts. Bust measurement alone doesn't account for body shape or a specific brand's cut, so treat this as a solid starting point rather than a guarantee, especially for fitted styles.

No. Letter sizes (XS through XXL) are a rough label, not a regulated measurement, so a Medium at one brand can be a Small or a Large at another. This converter shows the body measurement range behind each letter, which is a more reliable comparison point than the letter alone.

They measure different things by convention: women's US apparel sizing traditionally runs on its own numbered scale (0, 2, 4...), while men's jackets and suits use the actual chest measurement in inches (38, 40, 42...) and men's casual tops mostly use letters. That's also why converting between the two genders isn't just adding or subtracting a fixed number.

No, on purpose. Pants are sized by waist and inseam, and dress shirts by neck and sleeve length, both different systems from general apparel's bust or chest based sizing. Folding those into the same chart risked getting a genuinely different system wrong, so this converter covers tops, blouses and dresses only.

It follows standard published size-chart values, the same reference figures most retailers start from, converted through the body measurement each size represents. It won't match every brand exactly, since clothing sizing isn't regulated or standardized, but it's accurate for the industry-standard chart, which is a reliable starting point.

For women's apparel, UK numbers run about 4 higher than US for the same body, while EU numbers run about 32 higher, so a US 8 is roughly a UK 12 and an EU 40. The scales just use different reference points; they're not measuring the body any differently underneath.

It's a reliable starting point for choosing a size to order, based on standard published charts, but treat it as a guide rather than a guarantee, because cut and fit still vary by brand and style. When a retailer publishes its own size chart for a specific item, that chart is more accurate than a general converter like this one.