Junior, youth and women's sizes: what's the difference

Youth, junior and women's sizes are three different cuts, not three names for one scale. Youth sizes are children's clothes, chosen by height first. Junior sizes are for teens and young women, in odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7...), with less difference between bust, waist and hips. Women's sizes, also called misses in US stores, use even numbers (0, 2, 4...) or letters, and are cut for an adult figure.

The ranges meet around the early teens, which is where shoppers get lost. A girl can fit a size 14 and a women's XS at about the same chest, and the two garments still sit differently on her.

Three ranges, three shapes

Two naming traps. In some US stores, "women's" means the plus sizes with a W (14W, 16W), and "misses" means the regular range. And "youth" in sportswear often means kids' sizes in letters, Youth S to XL, rather than a teen cut.

Where youth ends and women's begins

Ruban Size's templates show the overlap in numbers. Here is the largest size of the Girls' dresses template next to the smallest women's sizes of the Women's tops and Petite templates, all body measurements:

The chests overlap almost completely. The waist is where the cuts part: in the girls' 14, the waist sits about 13 cm under the chest (79.5 against 66.5, middle to middle); in the petite XXS P and the women's XS, 18 cm. None of Ruban Size's kids' templates lists hips at all: a child's size is a matter of height, then chest or waist.

Junior sizes sit between the two: lengths and proportions for someone near adult height, with less shaping than a women's cut. There is no juniors template in Ruban Size, and no fixed conversion between a junior number and a women's number. Brands publish their own, and they don't agree.

Try the girls' chart below with a height and a chest:

Why a junior 5 doesn't convert to a women's number

You'll find rules of thumb online that pair a junior size with a women's size. They fail for the same reason a medium differs between brands (why a medium isn't the same size everywhere): each brand sets its own measurements, and here the shapes differ too.

A junior and a women's size can share a bust and miss on the hips, because one is cut straighter. A shopper who matches by bust alone may get the right chest and a tight seat, or the right hips and a loose waist. The only conversion that holds is the one between her measurements and your chart.

The same applies at the young end. A tall 12-year-old may be past the girls' range in height while her chest is still a youth size. Height decides kids' sizes (kids' clothing sizes by age and height has the tables); for juniors and women's, girths decide.

What it means for a store

1. Name the range on the product and on the chart. "Juniors", "Girls' 4 to 14", "Women's". A shopper who sees a 7 should know whether it's an age or a junior size.
2. One chart per range. Don't put junior odd numbers and women's even numbers in one table. They are different cuts, and a single chart hides that.
3. Publish the measurements that decide. Height and chest for youth; bust, waist and hips for juniors and women's.
4. Say who it's cut for in one line. "Straighter cut through the waist and hips" tells a woman with curves to check the hips first.
5. Point to the other range. A juniors chart can say which women's chart to try when the hips fall above its largest size.

Lengths follow the same logic as petite, tall and plus sizes: height and girth are separate questions. A petite cut solves short sleeves and legs for an adult figure; a junior cut solves proportions for a younger one.

How Ruban Size handles it

Templates for both ends. The Girls' dresses template runs from 4 to 14 by height, chest and waist, with the note "Choose by height first, then check the chest." Kids (2Y to 12Y) and Boys' trousers work the same way. For women, the Women's tops template has XS to XL with US, UK and EU numbers on rows of their own, and the Petite template is cut for 163 cm (5 ft 4 in) and under. For a juniors line, start from Women's tops and replace the values and the US row with your own.

The right chart on each product. A rule on a tag, a product type or a title that contains "Juniors" attaches the juniors chart to every juniors product, and the girls' chart to the girls' ones. The product rules list the matching products before you save.

Find my size knows who the chart is for. It reads each chart's title and category. Words like kids, youth, junior, girl or boy make it a children's chart: it asks for "your child's measurements", keeps them apart from the shopper's own, and leans on height. That is right for a youth chart. A juniors chart is worn by teens and young women and measured like women's clothes, so give the chart itself a title without those words ("Tops, straight cut"), keep "Juniors" in the product titles and the rule, and check the garment type in the chart's Fit and Find my size tab. The Try it box in the same tab shows the size a shopper would get.

Find my size then compares the shopper's bust, waist and hips with your juniors numbers, not with a women's chart she remembers.

Questions

Are junior sizes the same as women's sizes?

No. Junior sizes use odd numbers and are cut for teens and young women, with less difference between bust, waist and hips. Women's sizes use even numbers and are cut for an adult figure. Compare the measurements in each brand's chart.

What is the difference between youth and junior sizes?

Youth sizes are children's sizes, chosen by height and age, often labeled by age (8, 10, 12) or as Youth S to XL. Junior sizes are for teens who have outgrown kids' clothes, and are chosen by bust, waist and hips.

Can an adult woman wear junior sizes?

Yes, if her measurements fall in the chart. Junior cuts are straighter, so a woman with fuller hips than the chart's should check the hips first, or take the women's size.

What size is a 14 in girls' clothes in women's sizes?

There is no fixed answer. In Ruban Size's templates, a girls' 14 has a 77 to 82 cm chest and a women's XS an 80 to 84 cm bust, so the chests overlap, but the girls' waist is fuller for the same chest. Compare her measurements with the brand's women's chart.