Every word on a size chart
51 sizing terms, from bust to Mondopoint: what each means, how it is measured, and how it shows up on a size chart, with values from the Ruban Size templates.
B
- Back length
- The length down the center of the back: from the collar seam to the hem on a coat, from the base of the neck to the base of the tail on a dog.
- Band size
- The number in a bra size, which comes from the underbust measurement.
- Barleycorn
- An old English unit of length, a third of an inch (8.47 mm), and the step between two whole UK or US shoe sizes.
- Big and tall
- A men's size range that grows both ways: a larger chest and waist than regular sizes, and a longer body and sleeves.
- Body length
- The length of a top, shirt or dress, from the top of the shoulder beside the collar down to the hem.
- Body measurements
- Measurements taken on the person, with a soft tape around the chest, waist or hips or along the leg, that a size chart matches to a size.
- Brannock width
- The width scale of the Brannock foot-measuring device, on which one shoe width letter is 3/16 in (about 4.8 mm) across the ball of the foot.
- Bust
- The distance around the fullest part of the bust, with the tape level all the way round.
C
- Chest
- The distance around the fullest part of the chest, under the arms, with the tape level.
- Collar size
- The length of a shirt's collar, button to buttonhole, which matches the neck measured with one finger under the tape.
- Cup size
- The letter in a bra size, set by the difference between the bust and the underbust.
E
F
- Fit preference
- How a shopper likes clothes to fit, snug, regular or loose, as opposed to how a particular item is cut.
- Fit scale
- A fixed scale of five steps, from runs small to runs large, that shows shoppers how an item fits compared with its size chart.
- Foot length
- The distance from the back of the heel to the tip of the longest toe, measured standing.
- Foot width
- The distance straight across the widest part of the foot, at the ball, measured standing.
G
- Garment measurements
- Measurements taken on the product itself, usually laid flat on a table, rather than on the person who will wear it.
H
- Half chest (pit to pit)
- A garment's chest measured laid flat, straight across from one armpit seam to the other: half its circumference.
- Hand circumference
- The distance around the hand at the knuckles, with the thumb left out.
- Head circumference
- The distance around the head, just above the eyebrows and the tops of the ears, at its fullest.
- Hips
- The distance around the fullest part of the hips and seat, feet together, with the tape level.
I
L
- Leg opening
- The width of a pant leg at the hem, measured laid flat, or the circumference of the hem.
M
- Mondopoint
- A shoe sizing system that names a shoe by the length of the foot it fits, in millimeters.
N
- Natural waist
- The narrowest part of the torso, usually a little above the belly button, where body charts take the waist.
O
- Outseam
- The length of pants along the outside of the leg, from the top of the waistband to the hem.
P
- Paris point
- The unit of EU shoe sizes: two thirds of a centimeter (6.67 mm), so each whole EU size is about 6.7 mm longer than the one before.
- Petite
- A size range cut for shorter people: the same chest, waist and hips as regular sizes, with shorter sleeves, legs and torso.
- Plus size
- Women's sizes for a bust, waist and hips beyond a brand's regular range, often with labels of their own such as 1X to 4X or 14W to 28W.
R
- Ring circumference
- The length around the inside of a ring, equal to the circumference of the finger it fits.
- Ring inner diameter
- The distance straight across the inside of a ring, from one inner edge to the other.
- Rise
- The distance on a pair of pants from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband, at the front or the back.
- Runs small
- An item runs small when it fits smaller than its size chart says, so shoppers usually need the next size up.
S
- Shoulder width
- The distance across the top of the back, from the bony tip of one shoulder to the other.
- Sister size
- A bra size with the same cup volume on a different band: one band down and one cup up, or one band up and one cup down.
- Size chart
- A table that matches each size to its measurements, so a shopper can find the size that fits their own numbers.
- Size grading
- Building a whole size range from one sample size by adding or taking away set amounts at each measurement, size by size.
- Size guide
- The size chart plus everything that makes it usable: how to measure, how the item fits, advice between sizes and often a size finder.
- Size recommender
- A tool that turns what a shopper knows about their body into one size of a store's chart, ideally with the reason and how sure it is.
- Size system
- A shared way of naming sizes, by country or product type, such as US, UK and EU dress sizes or the UK, US and EU shoe scales.
- Sleeve length
- The length of the arm or sleeve, from the shoulder point (or the center back of the neck, on dress shirts) to the wrist.
- Stretch
- How much a fabric gives under tension, which lets a garment fit close to the body, or even smaller than it, and still be comfortable.
T
- Tall
- A size range with longer legs, sleeves and body for the same chest, waist and hips as regular sizes.
- Thigh
- The distance around the upper leg at its fullest, just below the crotch, or the width of a pant leg at that height.
- Tolerance
- The margin allowed between a measurement on a garment's spec or size chart and the same measurement on the garment actually made.
- True to size
- An item is true to size when it fits the way its size chart says, so shoppers can take the size the chart gives them.
U
- Underbust
- The distance around the ribcage, just under the bust, measured snugly.
V
- Vanity sizing
- Labeling clothes with a smaller size than their measurements would get on an older or stricter scale, so the number on the label flatters.
W
- Waist
- The distance around the waist, on body charts the natural waistline, the narrowest part of the torso.
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