Chapter 21 - International Clothing Sizes

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the various clothing size systems used in different countries. The US standard clothing sizes were developed from statistical data in the 1940s and 1950s, by using physical measurements gathered during and after World War II. However, the original system drifted toward larger and fatter people on average, which made the current numbers six sizes smaller than the original standard, which led to the original size 6 becoming size 0 today. The EN 13402 is a European standard used for labeling the sizes of clothes that are exported. It is based on body dimensions, measured in centimeters, and is expected to replace many older national dress-size systems, most likely before the year 2010. This system has four parts where EN 13402-1 focuses on terms, definitions, and body measurement procedure; EN 13402-2 focuses on primary and secondary dimensions describing which of the measurements are used for what kind of garment; EN 13402-3 focuses on measurements and intervals; and EN 13402-4, which is still under review, will define a compact coding system for clothes sizes. This compact coding system was originally intended for industry use in databases, stock-keeping identifiers, and customer catalog ordering numbers. The European Association of National Organizations of Textile Traders (AEDT) has also proposed a five-character alphanumeric code, which would consist of the three-digit centimeter figure of the primary body dimension, followed by one or two letters that code a secondary dimension.