Guides / Clothing / Conversions
EU sizes are not one system
Updated . 6 minute read.
The short answer
There is no single EU clothing size. Women's clothes in Europe are numbered three ways, and the same garment is IT 42, FR 38 and DE 36 (US 6, UK 10). The rule is IT = FR + 4 = DE + 6.
A label or a website that only says “EU” can mean the French or the German number, and “40” on an Italian label is two sizes smaller than 40 on a French one. Find out which numbering the brand uses before you convert anything.
Three numbering systems sit behind one label
All three continental systems start from the same place: half the bust girth in centimetres. Italy uses that number as it is. France subtracts 4. Germany subtracts 6. Sizes go up in steps of 2, and one step is 4 cm of bust.
| System | Used in | Formula | 88 cm bust |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italian (IT) | Italy | bust in cm, divided by 2 | 44 |
| French (FR) | France and Belgium | bust in cm, divided by 2, minus 4 | 40 |
| German (DE) | Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Scandinavia | bust in cm, divided by 2, minus 6 | 38 |
So the same person is a 44, a 40 and a 38 without leaving the continent. None of these is “the” EU size. When a retailer prints “EU”, it has quietly picked one of them.
Women's conversion table: US, UK, DE, FR, IT, AU, JP
Each column below is one garment. The numbers come from a published brand chart that lists all seven systems side by side, and two other retailers' charts agree with it wherever they overlap.
| US | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 |
| DE | 30 | 32 | 34 | 36 | 38 | 40 | 42 |
| FR | 32 | 34 | 36 | 38 | 40 | 42 | 44 |
| IT | 36 | 38 | 40 | 42 | 44 | 46 | 48 |
| AU | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 |
| JP | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 |
Three quick rules fall out of the table. UK and AU are the US number plus 4. FR is DE plus 2. IT is FR plus 4, which makes it DE plus 6.
Who prints which number
These are the cases we could confirm on the brand's own size guide. Treat any brand not listed here as unknown until you have looked at its chart.
- ASOS has a single “EU” row, and it is the French number: UK 8 is EU 36 and IT 40.
- Nike lists EU and FR as separate rows, two apart. Its EU is the German-style number.
- Curvy Kate does the same on its clothing chart: UK 8 is EU 34 and FR 36.
- Self-Portrait labels in UK sizes and shows DE and DK (Denmark) as the same number, two below FR.
- Sandro labels in French sizes and also uses its own 0 to 4: size 1 is FR 36, which it lists as US 4, UK 8, Germany 34 and Italy 40.
Two retailers, both writing “EU 36”, can therefore mean garments one full size apart. On the ASOS chart EU 36 is a UK 8. On a chart that uses German numbering, 36 is a UK 10.
The classic traps
IT 40 is not EU 40
The most expensive mistake is reading an Italian number as if it were French or German. A label that says 40 means three different garments:
| If the 40 is | It equals | And |
|---|---|---|
| Italian | US 4 | UK 8 |
| French | US 8 | UK 12 |
| German | US 10 | UK 14 |
If you wear FR 40 and order IT 40 from an Italian label, you receive a garment two sizes too small. Read as German, the gap is three sizes.
Conversion charts disagree with each other
Nike's women's chart places US 4 to 6 at FR 38 to 40 and EU 36 to 38. Sandro, Self-Portrait and ASOS place US 4 to 6 at FR 36 to 38, one size lower. All four agree that US 4 is IT 40. A generic US to EU converter cannot be right for all of them, which is why the brand's own chart beats any universal table, including the one on this page.
A bare number that is not a size system at all
Some French labels use 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Sandro's 1 is FR 36). A 2 on such a tag is not a US 2: on Sandro's chart it is FR 38, a US 6.
When the tag only says a number
Work out the numbering before you convert:
- Look for a second number on the tag or the care label. “38 / 10” or “F 38, D 36, I 42” settles it at once.
- Check where the brand is from, then confirm on its size guide. An Italian house usually prints IT; a French one FR; a German, Dutch or Scandinavian one the German number. This is a first guess, not proof.
- Use the brand's body measurements. Halve your bust in centimetres: if that lands on the tag number, it is Italian; if it is 4 higher than the tag, French; if 6 higher, German.
Shoes are different, mostly
Continental shoe sizes do not have the three-way split. They all count Paris points, a unit of two thirds of a centimetre, so a 38 is meant to be the same length scale in Milan, Paris and Berlin. The trouble with shoes is a different one: every brand converts US and UK sizes to EU in its own way. Even so, check the chart: Sandro lists its FR 38 shoe beside Italy 37.
The brand by brand numbers are in US to EU shoe size by brand.
What to do
- Find the brand's own size guide and look for a UK or US equivalent next to the number. That tells you which numbering it uses.
- If the site only says “EU”, test it: a chart where EU 36 is UK 8 is French numbering; one where EU 36 is UK 10 is German.
- Convert with the rule, not from memory: IT minus 4 is FR, FR minus 2 is DE, and UK is US plus 4.
- When the brand publishes body measurements in centimetres, use those and ignore the label number.
- Buying from a marketplace that mixes brands? Convert per brand, not once for the whole basket.
Common questions
Is EU 38 the same as FR 38?
Only if the brand's EU means French numbering. FR 38 is US 6 and UK 10. If the brand's EU is German numbering, EU 38 is FR 40, which is US 8 and UK 12. ASOS uses the French numbers in its EU column; Nike lists EU and FR as separate columns two numbers apart. Check the brand's chart for a UK or US equivalent before you trust the number.
What is IT 40 in US size?
IT 40 is US 4 and UK 8 on the Sandro, Self-Portrait, ASOS and Nike charts. On the Sandro and Self-Portrait charts it equals FR 36 and DE 34. It is not the same as FR 40 (US 8) or DE 40 (US 10).
How do I convert Italian sizes to French and German?
Subtract 4 from the Italian number to get the French one, and 6 to get the German one. IT 44 is FR 40 and DE 38.
Are Australian and UK women's sizes the same?
On the ASOS and Self-Portrait charts, yes: AU 8 is UK 8, which is US 4. Both are four higher than the US number.
Do EU shoe sizes have the same problem?
Less so. Continental shoe sizes all count Paris points of two thirds of a centimetre, so there is no separate German, French and Italian scale. Brands still convert US and UK sizes to EU differently, and some publish an Italian shoe size one below the French one.
Sources
Checked on 18 September 2026. Brand charts change: the linked page is the authority, not this one.
- Wikipedia: Clothing sizesUsed for: IT, FR and DE formulas from bust girth; which countries use which numbering; UK = US + 4; Japanese sizes by bust.
- Self-Portrait: size conversion chartUsed for: UK, US, IT, FR, DE, DK, AU and JP on one chart.
- Sandro: size guideUsed for: FR 34 to 42 against US, Germany, Italy and UK; sizes 0 to 4; shoe sizes FR against Italy.
- ASOS: women's size guide, international conversionUsed for: UK, US, EU, IT and AU.
- Nike: women's tops size chartUsed for: separate EU, FR and IT rows.
- Curvy Kate: sizing guideUsed for: clothing sizes UK, US, EU and FR.
- Wikipedia: Shoe sizeUsed for: Paris point definition.
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