Clothing size conversion, honestly explained
Search “US to EU size conversion” and you will find ten charts that disagree. That is not because the math is hard — it is because there is no law behind any of it. EU 40 from one brand fits like EU 42 from another. Conversion charts are conventions, and the only number that never lies is a measurement in centimeters.
The three measurements that matter
- Chest/bust (cm): for tops, measure the garment flat, pit to pit, and double it. Body measurements run 2–4 cm smaller than garment measurements for a regular fit.
- Foot length (cm): heel to longest toe, standing, at day’s end. The single best predictor of shoe fit — more reliable than any US/EU letter-number pair.
- Height (cm): for kids’ clothing, height beats age every time. Age bands assume a growth curve your child has not read.
Common conversion midpoints (starting points, not gospel)
| Garment | US | EU | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s top M | 38 | 48 | Italian cuts run one size small vs US |
| Women’s top M | 8 | 38 | UK 12 sits between the two |
| Unisex shoe | 9 | 42–43 | Check the brand’s own chart — ranges overlap |
For store owners: publish cm, not letters
Returns shrink dramatically when product pages show garment measurements in centimeters alongside letter sizes. The chart studio generates exactly that: an editable table with your real measurements, output as lightweight embeddable HTML or a clean printout.