Contents:

Objectives______________________________________2
Chapter I- It's a Historical World
The history of standard clothing sizes________________ 3
Terminology____________________________________4
Types of measurements in standard sizes______________5
Chapter II- It's a Standard World
ISO Standards___________________________________6
The european standards organization_________________ 7
National standards________________________________8
Chapter 3- It's a Systemized World
Sizing codes for women__________________________ 10
Sizing codes for men_____________________________11
Conclusion____________________________________12
Vocabulary____________________________________13
Bibliography__________________________________ 14

Objectives:
1

 To overview of the history of standard clothing sizes

To describe the terminology
To identify the types of measurements in standard sizes
To overview the sizing codes for women
To overview the sizing codes for men
To express my own point of view

Chapter 1 Its a Historical World

The History of standard clothing sizes

The standard sizing system that we use today (which breaks clothes down into
buckets like small, medium, large and extra-large) was initially created in the 1800s to
meet the demand for uniforms for soldiers fighting in the Civil War. Initially soldiers
uniforms were custom-made because, well, thats how clothes were made in the 1800s.
As the Civil War continued and demand for uniforms grew manufacturers decided it
would be more efficient to build factories to mass produce clothing.
Now rather than having a different size garment specifically made for each soldier,
soldiers were grouped into four different size categories, small, medium, large and extralarge. While this only fit 25% of soldiers just right, it didnt matter if the fit was a bit off
for everyone else, as long as they could pick a size and the uniform fit okay they were
ready to head-into battle. The idea was simple, fit didnt matter, making uniforms as
quickly as possible did.
Mass producing womens clothing took a slower path since the demand was much
lower women werent fighting in the Civil War. In fact, womens clothing continued to
be mostly custom-made until the 1920s. Then as the processes for mass production
improved and cities grew, an urban professional class started to develop and soon
womens clothing started to follow the path of mass production.
Fast forward a century later, its 2015 and now people shop for just about everything
online, except for clothes. Only 14% of people buy clothes online, 86% still shop for
their clothes in physical stores. Why is that? The sizing system from the 1800s doesnt
apply today, at Fashion Metric we build technologies that eliminate the ambiguity of the
size.

Terminology
3

Providing clothing that fits the population is a critical issue for any designer and
manufacturer of apparel.
There is no common agreement on terminology to describe the methods or systems
that have been developed to provide a range of sizes to fit the population. For the
purposes of this set of documents a sizing system will be defined as a set of sizes
derived using common assumptions and methods of development, and size categories
within a system will be defined as the various groupings of sizes as they would be
presented in a retail situation. Thus the sizing system most commonly used for ready-towear in the United States makes use of a base size, often fitted to a fit model, and a set of
sizes proportionately graded from this size. Examples of size categories include petite
sizes, plus sizes, etc. The foundation and concepts behind these proportional sizing
systems are derived from 19th century tailor's drafting techniques. The technological
advancements in sewing equipment, mass cutting technologies, distribution technologies,
and mass production methods that were made about the same time contributed to the
development of ready-to-wear using this sizing system as we know it today. Different
technologies and methods of producing and distributing clothing make it possible to
develop sizing systems based on entirely different concepts. A sizing system can be as
simple as one-fits-all or SML, or as complex as a system that provides a custom fitted
garment for each individual.

Types of measurements in standard sizes

4

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
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 hipwaist lengths.

Sleeve measurements
However, because of the drape and ease of the fabric, not all measurements are
required to obtain a well-fitting dress in most styles.

Chapter 2 Its a Standard World

ISO Standards
5

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 - Mens and boys outerwear garments.
ISO 3637: 1977, Size designation of clothes - Womens 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 - Womens 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)

The European Standards Organisation (CEN) has also produced a series of standards,
prefixed with a EN 13402:
6

EN 13402-1: Terms, definitions and body measurement procedure

EN 13402-2: Primary and secondary dimensions
EN 134023: 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.

National Standards

Numerous other national standards exist e.g.

Australia:
L9 - Womens clothing - Apparel Manufacturers Association of NSW - 1959-1970
7

AS1344-1972, 1975, 1997 Size coding scheme for womens 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
8

 Korea:
KS K 0050 (2009) Mens 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

Chapter3 Its a Systemized World

Sizing codes for women

Italian sizes (ITA)

Dress sizes are calculated as follows:
Standard dress size = (Bust Circumference cm / 2)
French sizes (FRA/BEL)
Dress sizes are calculated as follows:
Standard dress size = (Bust Circumference cm / 2) - 4
Germanic sizes (DEU/AUT/NTH/SWE/DNK)
Dress sizes are calculated as follows:
Standard dress size (Height 164170 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

Sizing codes for men

10

French sizes (FRA/BEL)

Chest / Suit sizes are calculated as follows:
Standard Size Code = (Chest Circumference cm + 1) / 2
Germanic sizes (AT/DE/NL/DK/SE/FI)
Chest / Suit sizes are calculated as follows:
Standard Size Code = (Chest Circumference cm 1) / 2
Short / Stocky = Standard Size Code / 2
Portly = Standard Size Code + 1
Tall / Lean = (Standard Size Code - 1) * 2

Conclusion:
11

Does one size really fit all? No, one size fits anybody.
In one store, youre a Size 4, in another a Size 8, and in another a
Size 10.
Of course, if youre going to buy clothes, you want them to be the
correct size. Sometimes this means you have to try things on. At
other times, you might be able to pick out your usual size and just
eyeball the garment to make sure it looks like itll fit.
One size fits all is a phrase used to describe pieces of clothing
or accessories designed to fit all people. Over time, it has also been
used to refer to anything meant to apply in all circumstances.
In reality, one size obviously cannot fit all people. People come in
so many shapes and sizes that it would be impossible to design
something that would truly fit all people. Most one size fits all
items are actually designed to fit most average people

Vocabulary
Demand- cerere
Custom-made- la comanda
12

Path-cale
Assumption-presupunere
Petite-mic
Draft-proiect
Due-datorie
Foundation garments-lenjerie
Hosiery- cioraparie
Surveys-anchete
Intended-destinat
Vanity-ambitie neintemeiata, orgoliu
Girth- circumferinta
Designation-denumire, indicator
Tights-colanti
Headgear-acoperamint de cap
Brassiere- brasiera, sutien
Toddler-copil mic
Stocky-indesat, plin, presat
Portly-corpolent, voinic
Lean-sarac

Bibliography:

13

http://www.teenink.com/opinion/pop_culture_trends/article/11194
3/Since-When-Does-Size-Matter/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/business/25sizing.html?_r=0
http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-most-baffling-things-aboutwomens-clothes/
http://www.sizeguide.net/womens-clothing-sizes-internationalconversion-chart.html
http://www.asos.com/women/dresses-size-guide/?szgid=1&r=2
http://blog.fashionmetric.com/a-brief-history-of-standardapparel-sizing/
http://fashionlawwiki.pbworks.com/w/page/11611137/A
%20History%20of%20Standard%20Clothing%20Sizes%3A%20How
%20sizes%20developed%20and%20why%20the%20same%20size
%20does%20not%20always%20fit
http://time.com/3532014/women-clothing-sizes-history/
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/01/clothing_sizes_
getting_bigger_why_our_sizing_system_makes_no_sense_.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_sizes
http://sizingsystems.human.cornell.edu/index_flash.html

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