International shopping means meeting several size systems in one basket: US numbers, UK numbers, European and Italian numbers, men’s suit sizes in chest inches or in a European scale, and shirts by neck size in inches or centimetres. This converter handles three of the most common cases, women’s dresses, men’s suits and men’s dress shirts, using the comparison tables on Wikipedia’s Clothing sizes page.
How to use the clothing size converter
- Choose the garment type: women’s dresses and suits, men’s suits and jackets, or men’s dress shirts.
- Pick the system your size is in.
- Type the size. Women’s sizes go up in twos; use fractions with a space for shirt necks, such as 15 1/2.
- Read the equivalent sizes. They are labelled in the result boxes.
Clothing size conversion formulas
men’s suits: EU = UK/US chest (in) + 10
men’s shirts: EU neck (cm) ≈ UK/US neck (in) × 2.54, rounded
Each rule is read from the Wikipedia comparison tables (retrieved 2026-10-15) and cross-checked with the sizeguide.net women’s conversion chart, which gives the same UK, French, German and Italian offsets. The tables below are the rows the converter uses.
Women’s dresses and suits
| US | UK | Germany (DE) | France (FR) | Italy (IT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 4 | 30 | 32 | 36 |
| 2 | 6 | 32 | 34 | 38 |
| 4 | 8 | 34 | 36 | 40 |
| 6 | 10 | 36 | 38 | 42 |
| 8 | 12 | 38 | 40 | 44 |
| 10 | 14 | 40 | 42 | 46 |
| 12 | 16 | 42 | 44 | 48 |
| 14 | 18 | 44 | 46 | 50 |
| 16 | 20 | 46 | 48 | 52 |
| 18 | 22 | 48 | 50 | 54 |
| 20 | 24 | 50 | 52 | 56 |
| 22 | 26 | 52 | 54 | 58 |
| 24 | 28 | 54 | 56 | 60 |
Men’s suits, jackets and overcoats
| EU / Russia | UK / US (chest, in) | Chest (cm, calculated) |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | 30 | 76 |
| 42 | 32 | 81 |
| 44 | 34 | 86 |
| 46 | 36 | 91 |
| 48 | 38 | 97 |
| 50 | 40 | 102 |
| 52 | 42 | 107 |
| 54 | 44 | 112 |
| 56 | 46 | 117 |
| 58 | 48 | 122 |
| 60 | 50 | 127 |
| 62 | 52 | 132 |
| 64 | 54 | 137 |
Men’s shirts by neck size
| EU / Japan (neck, cm) | UK / US / AU (neck, in) | Neck (in, decimal) |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | 14 | 14.2 |
| 37 | 14 1/2 | 14.6 |
| 38 | 15 | 15.0 |
| 39 | 15 1/2 | 15.4 |
| 40 | 15 3/4 | 15.7 |
| 41 | 16 1/4 | 16.1 |
| 42 | 16 1/2 | 16.5 |
| 43 | 17 | 16.9 |
| 44 | 17 1/2 | 17.3 |
| 45 | 18 | 17.7 |
| 46 | 18 1/2 | 18.1 |
Worked example
A woman wears a UK 12 and orders from a German shop.
- The row for UK 12: US 8, Germany 38, France 40, Italy 44.
- A man in a UK 38 suit is an EU 48: EU / Russia 48.
- A shirt neck of 39 cm is UK / US / AU 15 1/2 in.
Notes
- There is no “EU size” for women. Sizeguide.net points out that European countries have their own size systems: German sizes are also used in Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Scandinavia, and French sizes in Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
- Brands vary by at least a size, and charts disagree at the edges.
- Letters: for S, M and L see the Letter Size to Number Converter (S/M/L) converter.
- Jeans, bras and shoes have their own converters: Jeans Size Converter, Bra Size Converter (US/UK/EU/AU/FR/JP), Shoe Size Converter (US/UK/EU/JP).
Use this page as a quick guide, not a promise of fit.
Sources
Every figure above comes from these pages, read directly on the dates shown. Brand names are used only to identify published charts.
- Wikipedia — Clothing sizes (women’s dresses, men’s suits and shirts comparison tables) — checked 2026-10-15
- Sizeguide.net — women’s international clothing size conversion chart (cross-check) — checked 2026-10-15
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert UK clothing sizes to US?
For women’s dresses, subtract 4: a UK 12 is a US 8. For men’s suits the UK and US use the same chest size in inches, so a 40 is a 40. Men’s shirt neck sizes also match between the UK and US.
What is the EU size for a US dress size?
There is no single EU size. On Wikipedia’s table Germany uses US + 30, France US + 32 and Italy US + 36, so a US 8 is German 38, French 40 and Italian 44.
How do men’s suit sizes convert?
The UK and US size is the chest in inches, and the European size is 10 higher: a UK/US 40 is an EU 50. The table steps in twos, from UK/US 30 (EU 40) to 54 (EU 64).
How is a shirt neck size converted?
EU shirt sizes are the neck in centimetres and UK/US sizes are in inches, so a 39 is a 15½. Wikipedia’s table rounds some sizes, for example 40 is 15¾ and 41 is 16¼.
Are these conversions exact?
No. Brands use their own size charts, and many differ by a size. These are general tables; use the maker’s own chart and measurements where you can. For letter sizes see Letter Size to Number Converter (S/M/L).