# European suit sizing



## JMatt (Feb 16, 2006)

Most people seem to quote to subtract 10 from a european suit size to get the equivalent U.S. size. Thus a 52 is a 42; 54 is 44; 56 is 46, etc.

It's been explained to me that the european size equals one half of my chest measurement in centimeters. Thus a 54e is for 108 cm, which equals 42 1/2". Here's a chart using this math (U.S. rounded to the nearest 1/2"):

European U.S.
48 38
50 39.5
52 41
54 42.5
56 44
58 45.5
60 47
62 49

It seems that the old "subtract 10" rule can put people off by a full size. Is my chart more accurate than the general rule?

Incidentally, I feel I'm closest to a U.S. 43. Perfect would probably be a 42 3/4. I just successfully bought my first european-sized suit online by going with a 54. Fit awesome!


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## IgorK (Sep 29, 2005)

I would like to congratulate on successful purchase. 

I want to say, that correct definition of size is very important. I not from US. Therefore I am guided by the European clothing sizes. But now I wish to do shopping in US the internet shop. My European size of suits and a coats 52 (regular - 173 cm). And i am going to buy the american size 42. 
I hope, that I'll guess with a size...


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## Daywalker (Aug 21, 2005)

JMatt, your chart is just about correct. The subtract 10 rule is wrong.


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## bigCat (Jun 10, 2005)

JMatt, your chart is right. You did to "substract 10" rule, what Einstein did to Newton's laws.


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## dragon (Jan 28, 2006)

I hate to ask this dumb question but I must.

There is a suit on ebay by canali that is being sold which I think is a good price. The seller advertises it as a 44R(US) but a German size 54R. 

Seller claims that you minus 10 to get the US size. But we all know that is not true and equates to a 42.5 or so but the pants are a 38W. 

My 42 R canali suits or a 54R have a 36W. Am I missing something?


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## pkincy (Feb 9, 2006)

I agree that a e54 from Italy is a US 42. However my experience is that a German or British 54 is closer to a US 44.

Now the next question on the Canali is it German sized or Italian sized and my experience is Italian sized.....i.e., a Canali 54 would be a US 42 or US 42/43.

I have heard it said on AAAC that multiplying by 0.79 will convert from Italian sizing to US sizing. Which makes a 54 a 42.6.

Also my experience is that Rs are a bit bigger than Ls. My 54Rs from Zegna for instance fit looser (broader/wider?) than my 54Ls.

Perry


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## dragon (Jan 28, 2006)

I didn't know that they even had a British and German sizing that is different than a e54. I thought it was all the same. 

Thanks Percy for the clarification.


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## pkincy (Feb 9, 2006)

dragon said:


> I didn't know that they even had a British and German sizing that is different than a e54. I thought it was all the same.
> 
> Thanks Percy for the clarification.


One of the more professional Ebay sellers actually has a conversion chart of sizing that contrasts US/UK/German/Italian/French sizing. That is where I learned of the larger UK/German/French sizing prior to having enough of the garments to form my own opinion. Now that my closet has most of the above garments his chart is pretty much spot on except Corneliani which seems to use the German/UK sizing....i.e., I will wear a e52 on my US 42 body rather than my normal e54 on my US 42 body. Marco Abruzzi is another mfg (less well know however) that also seems to be oversized by a size.

Perry


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## JMatt (Feb 16, 2006)

pkincy said:


> I have heard it said on AAAC that multiplying by 0.79 will convert from Italian sizing to US sizing. Which makes a 54 a 42.6.
> Perry


That's because a euro 54 is 108cm's for the chest.

An inch is 2.54 cm. Since the chest size is centimeters divided by 2, you get 1.27 units per inch instead of 2.54.

.79 (the factor mentioned) times 1.27 (centimeters divided by 2 per inch) = 1 inch.


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## AbrahamFromNewOrleans (Jul 1, 2012)

JMatt said:


> Most people seem to quote to subtract 10 from a european suit size to get the equivalent U.S. size. Thus a 52 is a 42; 54 is 44; 56 is 46, etc.
> 
> It's been explained to me that the european size equals one half of my chest measurement in centimeters. Thus a 54e is for 108 cm, which equals 42 1/2". Here's a chart using this math (U.S. rounded to the nearest 1/2"):
> 
> ...


thanks for this timely information. I was able to purchase a Zenga linen sports coat with this info.


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## CharlesFerdinand (Jun 18, 2010)

As an anglophile Belgian, buying British stuff via internet and making the occasional purchase here, my advice would be: only trust actual measurements. Not only is there no exact correspondence between conventional sizes (as Jmatt's table shows), there is also quite some difference between brands and national preferences (Germans tend to design for a different kind of man that Italians), not to mention vanity sizing. So, unless you happen to know the brand, do not trust labelled sizes.


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