Convert clothing sizes between US, UK, EU, German, Italian and Japanese labels for women's dresses and tops, men's suits and shirt collars.
By AdminDrafted with AI writing toolsUpdated Checked examples: 5
Women's dresses, tops and coats: US 8 corresponds to Italy 44 (letter size M) in the published chart.
| Letter | US | UK | EU / France | Germany | Italy | Japan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 2 | 6 | 34 | 32 | 38 | 7 |
| S | 4 | 8 | 36 | 34 | 40 | 9 |
| M | 6 | 10 | 38 | 36 | 42 | 11 |
| M | 8 | 12 | 40 | 38 | 44 | 13 |
| L | 10 | 14 | 42 | 40 | 46 | 15 |
| L | 12 | 16 | 44 | 42 | 48 | 17 |
| XL/1X | 14 | 18 | 46 | 44 | 50 | 19 |
| 1X/2X | 16 | 20 | 48 | 46 | 52 | 21 |
| 2X | 18 | 22 | 50 | 48 | 54 | 23 |
| 3X | 20 | 24 | 52 | 50 | 56 | 25 |
| 3X | 22 | 26 | 54 | 52 | 58 | 27 |
| 4X | 24 | 28 | 56 | 54 | 60 | 29 |
US 8 is row 4 of 12 in the Women's dresses, tops and coats chart.
Chart: sizeguide.net women's international conversion chart.
Italy: 44; letter size M.
Clothing size labels in the US, UK, EU (French), German, Italian and Japanese systems convert by table lookup for three garment types: women's dresses, tops and coats; men's suits and jackets; and men's dress-shirt collars. The converter finds the chart row holding the size entered, then reads the target system's column. Women's sizes and suits come from the sizeguide.net charts, collars from Wikipedia's neck-girth table.
Use it when buying from a foreign retailer. The default, a women's US 8, shares a row with UK 12, Italy 44, France 40, Germany 38 and Japan 13, letter size M. A size between rows, such as US 9, moves up to the next row, US 10.
The charts record labelling conventions, not body measurements, and brands cut differently. When a retailer publishes the chest, waist and hip measurements a size fits, compare those instead.
In the sizeguide.net women's chart, UK sizes are US + 4, France US + 32, Germany US + 30 and Italy US + 36. So a US 8 is UK 12, France 40, Germany 38 and Italy 44 (letter size M). These are label conventions for dresses, tops and coats; brands vary.
The women's chart lists even US sizes from 2 to 24, UK 6 to 28, and the same offsets hold on every row:
There is no single EU women's size: a US 6 is France 38, Germany 36 and Italy 42. Letter sizes run S for US 2 and 4, M for 6 and 8, L for 10 and 12, then XL/1X at 14 up to 4X at 24.
US and UK suits share one number, roughly the chest in inches: a 40 is cut for about a 40 in (101.6 cm) chest. European sizes add 10, Italy uses the same numbers as the rest of Europe, and Japan adds 2.
So a US 40 suit is EU and Italy 50 and Japan 42, letter size M. The suit chart runs from US 30 to 50.
A collar size is the neck girth: inches in the US and UK, centimeters in Europe and Japan. The chart pairs 15 in with 38 cm, 16¼ in with 41 cm and 17 in with 43 cm, across 14 to 18½ in (36 to 46 cm).
Collar labels are not exact inch conversions: 15 in × 2.54 is 38.1 cm and 17 in is 43.18 cm, yet the labels read 38 and 43. Use the length converter for a measured neck and the chart for the label.
Women's rows follow the sizeguide.net women's chart. Suit rows follow the sizeguide.net men's chart, with Italian suit sizes equal to EU sizes per tailorsizeguide.com.
Collar rows follow Wikipedia's men's shirts by neck girth table, with Italian collar sizes per hemden.de.
| Garment | Size | From | To | Converted label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women's | 8 | US | Italy | 44 |
| Women's | 10 | UK | US | 6 |
| Women's | 9 | US | Italy | 46 |
| Men's suits | 40 | US | Italy | 50 |
| Men's collars | 16 | US (in) | EU (cm) | 41 |
| Men's collars | 15 | US (in) | EU (cm) | 38 |
The women's chart has only even US sizes, so a US 9 moves up to the next row, US 10, which is Italy 46. A 16 in collar likewise moves up to the 16¼ in row and reads 41 cm.
Each brand sets its own body measurements for a size number, and vanity sizing has shifted labels over time, so the same number can now fit a larger body.
The European standard EN 13402-3 addresses this by labeling garments with the body measurements, in centimeters, they are made to fit.
When a retailer publishes chest, waist and hip measurements for each size, compare your own measurements with those instead of relying on a converted label.
For shoes, use the shoe size converter, and for bras the bra size calculator.
Checked against: sizeguide.net women's chart row: US 8 = UK 12 = IT 44 = FR 40 = DE 38 = JP 13 (M)
Checked against: sizeguide.net women's chart row: UK 10 = US 6
Checked against: sizeguide.net: US 40 = EU 50 = JP 42 (M); tailorsizeguide.com: Italy 50 = US 40
Checked against: sizeguide.net men's shirt chart: US 16 = EU 41 (Wikipedia's chart lists 41 cm as 16¼ in, the next row up)
UK 12. In the sizeguide.net women's chart for dresses, tops and coats, UK sizes are US sizes plus 4, so US 8 = UK 12 = Italy 44 = France 40 = Germany 38 = Japan 13, letter size M. The same British sizes are used in Australia and New Zealand.
There is no single EU number. French sizes, also used in Belgium, Spain and Portugal, are US + 32; German sizes, used in Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, are US + 30; Italian sizes are US + 36. A US 6 is therefore France 38, Germany 36 and Italy 42 (sizeguide.net).
EU 50, and Japan 42. US and UK suit sizes follow chest girth in inches, so a 40 is cut for roughly a 40 in (102 cm) chest. In the sizeguide.net chart, European suit sizes are the US number plus 10, and the same European numbers are used for Italian, French, German and Spanish suits.
Collar size is neck girth: inches in the US and UK, centimetres in Europe and Japan. The chart pairs 15 in with 38 cm, 16¼ in with 41 cm and 17 in with 43 cm (Wikipedia, Clothing sizes). A US 16 is not a chart row, so the converter moves up to 16¼ in and returns EU 41.
Because each brand sets its own body measurements for a size number. Vanity sizing has also shifted labels over time, so the same number now fits a larger body. The European standard EN 13402-3 tackles this by labelling garments with the body measurements, in centimetres, that they are made to fit.
This calculator includes 5 worked examples with independently sourced answers. They run in the test suite, and you can run them here too.