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 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
There are several ISO standards related to Size designation of clothes:
ISO 3635: 1981, Size designation of clothes – Definitions and body measurement procedure
ISO 3636: 1977, Size designation of clothes - Men’s and boys outerwear garments.
ISO 3637: 1977, Size designation of clothes - Women’s and girls outerwear garments.
ISO 3638: 1977, Size designation of clothes - Infants garments.
ISO 4415: 1981, Size designation of clothes - Mens and boys underwear, nightwear and shirts.
ISO 4416: 1981, Size designation of clothes - Women’s and girls’ underwear, nightwear, foundation garments and shirts.
ISO 4417: 1977, Size designation of clothes - Headwear.
ISO 4418: 1978, Size designation of clothes - Gloves.
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
ISO/TR 10652: 1991, Standard sizing systems for clothes
The European Standards Organisation (CEN) has also produced a series of standards, prefixed with a 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 intervals (2004)
EN 13402-4: Coding system (2006)
intended to replace the existing 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.
The United Kingdom has an existing standard for women's clothing BS 3666:1982, however this 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. Similarly a standard for men exists: BS 6185:1982 Specification for size designation of men's wear
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.
Numerous other national standards exist e.g.
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
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
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
Germany: DOB-Verband (1983).
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
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)
US:
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)
The common US misses sizes have not had stable dimensions. 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). There is no mandatory clothing size or labelling standard in the U.S, though a series of voluntary standards have been in place since the 1930s.
External websites exist to aid conversion between the different systems.
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.
Dress sizes are calculated as follows:
Standard dress size = (Bust Circumference cm / 2)
Dress sizes are calculated as follows:
Standard dress size = (Bust Circumference cm / 2) - 4
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
Chest / Suit sizes are calculated as follows:
Standard Size Code = ( Chest Circumference cm + 1) / 2
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
