Clothing sizes

In clothing, clothing size refers to the label sizes used for garments sold o-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 t individuals by either tailors or makers of clothing in homes. Then garment makers noticed that the range of human body dimensions was relatively small. Therefore sizes were invented as a crucial, and underappreciated, step in the mass production of garments.[1]

Types of measurements in standard sizes

Standard sizes take into account the combinations of body measurements of the general population: 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-tting dress in most styles.

Standards
There are several ISO standards related to Size designation of clothes: ISO 3635:1981 Size designation of clothes Denitions and body measurement procedure ISO 4416:1981 Size designation of clothes Women's and girls' underwear, nightwear, foundation garments and shirts ISO 5971:1981 Size designation of clothes Pantyhose ISO 8559:1989 Garment construction and anthropometric surveys Body dimensions ISO/TR 10652:1991 Standard sizing systems for clothes The European Union has produced a standard EN 13402 intended to replace existing standards in the member countries. It is currently in common use for childrens clothing, but not yet for adults. The United Kingdom has an existing standard for women's clothing BS 3666:1982, however this is rarely followed by manufacturers as it denes sizes in terms of hip and bust measurements only within a limited range. [2] This has resulted in variations between manufacturers and a tendency towards vanity sizing.[3] The standard sizes have not had stable names, however. For example, the dimensions of two size 10 dresses from dierent companies, or even from the same company, may have grossly dierent 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). The new European standard EN 13402 seeks to address this problem, since it is an absolute scale and mandatory; there is no mandatory clothing size standard in the U.S. In the US there exists a US standard clothing size. External websites exist to aid conversion between the dierent systems. [4]

Men
Men's shirts

UK & other 36 EU / Japan UK / US / AUS Japan[5] Korea[5] Men's sports shirts, T-shirts EU UK / US Men's sweaters, jackets EU UK / US Men's suits, overcoats EU UK / US Men's jeans, slacks, pants, trousers: Waist 48 38 36 XS 14 S 90

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46 18

14 15 S M 95

15 15 16 16 17 M L 100 L

17 18

LL,XL LL,XL LL,XL 105 110

37/38 39/40 41/42 43/44 45/46 S M L XL XXL 118cm 124cm 1

94cm 110

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

50 40

52 42

54 44

56 46

58 48

60 50

62 52

64 54

EU 64/68 68/72 72/76 76/80 80/84 84/88 88/92 92/96 96/100 100/104 Italy 43 UK 27 / US Men's jeans, slacks, pants, trousers: Length EU UK / US 34 36 38 40 42 32 44 33 46 34 48 36 25/26 27/28 29/30 31 44 28 45 29 46 30 47 31 48 32 49 33 50 34 51 36 52 38

Men's underwear EU UK / US 1 S 2 M 3 L 4 XL 5 XXL

Women
Women's dresses and suits United States 00 0 UK France Italy Women's clothing sizes UK USA Japanese Bust Waist Hip Womens blouses and sweaters EU 40 42 44 46 48 50 UK 34 36 38 40 42 44 US 32 34 36 38 40 42 Childrens junior misses dresses and coats 8 2 7 32" 24" 35" 10 4 38 9 34" 27" 37" 12 6 40 11 36" 29" 39" 14 8 42 13 38" 31" 41" 16 10 44 15 40" 102cm 33" 81cm 43" 4 6 2 8 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28

32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60

Continental 34

81cm 86cm 91cm 97cm 61cm 66cm 71cm 76cm

89cm 94cm 99cm 104cm 109cm

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

See also
Anthropometry BWH EN 13402 metric clothes sizes US standard clothing size Petite size Vanity sizing Size zero Shoe size Brassiere measurement

References
1. ^ Civilization: The West and the Rest with Niall Ferguson. 3-hour Documentary on PBS-TV. May 2012 2. ^ See table of sizes . 3. ^ Stephanie Cliord: One size ts nobody: seeking a steady 4 or a 10 , New York Times, 2011-04-24 4. ^ [1] 5. ^
ab

Dress Size Converter, 2013-04-09 "Men's Clothing, Size Conversion Chart South-Korea" .

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