Dress & Jean Size Calculator
Enter your bust, waist, and hips for a US dress size with UK and EU equivalents, or your waist, hips, and inseam for a jeans W size and length. Then pick your body shape for the cut that will suit you best. Free, no signup, and nothing leaves your browser.
A dress size calculator turns your bust, waist, and hips into a US size, sizing to the largest of the three: a 36-28-39 figure is about a US 8 (UK 12, EU 38). Jeans use waist and inseam in inches, so a 29-inch waist and 30-inch inseam is roughly a W28 Regular. Brands vary; treat results as a starting point.
Ranges compiled from Lee's published women's size chart, BlitzResults (which follows ASTM D5585-11), and Sizely. They describe typical US sizing; individual brands run larger or smaller. All calculations happen in your browser and no measurements are stored.
How to Measure Your Bust, Waist, Hips, and Inseam
The calculator is only as good as the numbers you give it. Four measurements, five minutes, and you can size almost anything online with confidence.
Get a soft tape measure and a mirror
Use a flexible sewing tape, not a metal one. Measure over underwear or close-fitting clothes, stand naturally, and keep the tape level all the way around. A mirror helps you see the back.
Measure your bust
Wear the bra you would wear under the dress. Wrap the tape around the fullest part of your bust, across the nipple line, and breathe normally. The tape should be snug, not squeezing.
Measure your natural waist
Bend to one side; the crease that forms is your natural waist, usually an inch or so above the navel. Wrap the tape there. For jeans, also note the measurement where your waistband usually sits, which can be lower.
Measure your hips
Stand with your feet together and wrap the tape around the fullest part of your hips and seat, keeping the tape level. This is the measurement that most often decides a size.
Measure your inseam for jeans
Lay a pair of jeans that fit well flat and measure from the crotch seam straight down the inner leg to the hem. No good pair? Stand barefoot and measure from the crotch to the floor, then subtract about an inch if you want the hem off the ground.
Enter the numbers above
Pick Dress or Jeans, choose inches or centimeters, and type the measurements in. You get a US size with UK and EU equivalents, or a W size with a length, plus a note when you fall between sizes.
Measure twice, and measure for the garment
Dress charts assume your natural waist. Jeans charts assume the waist where the waistband sits, which on a mid-rise pair can be an inch or two lower and larger. If you are sizing both, take both numbers. Our inseam measuring guide covers hem length for flats and heels, and the Body Shape Calculator turns the same bust, waist, and hip numbers into your shape.
Women's Dress Size Chart: US 0 to 24 by Measurements
Find the row where your bust, waist, and hips fit. When they split across rows, which is normal, the largest measurement decides the size for fitted styles. UK and EU columns use the same conversion as our Size Converter.
| US | Letter | Bust (in) | Waist (in) | Hips (in) | Bust (cm) | Waist (cm) | Hips (cm) | UK | EU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | XS | 32-32.5 | 26-26.5 | 34.5-35 | 81-83 | 66-67 | 88-89 | 4 | 30 |
| 2 | XS | 33-33.5 | 27-27.5 | 35.5-36 | 84-85 | 69-70 | 90-91 | 6 | 32 |
| 4 | S | 34-34.5 | 28-28.5 | 36.5-37 | 86-88 | 71-72 | 93-94 | 8 | 34 |
| 6 | S | 35-35.5 | 29-29.5 | 37.5-38 | 89-90 | 74-75 | 95-97 | 10 | 36 |
| 8 | M | 36-36.5 | 30-30.5 | 38.5-39 | 91-93 | 76-77 | 98-99 | 12 | 38 |
| 10 | M | 37-37.5 | 31-31.5 | 39.5-40 | 94-95 | 79-80 | 100-102 | 14 | 40 |
| 12 | L | 38-39 | 32-33 | 40.5-41.5 | 97-99 | 81-84 | 103-105 | 16 | 42 |
| 14 | L | 39.5-40.5 | 33.5-34.5 | 42-43 | 100-103 | 85-88 | 107-109 | 18 | 44 |
| 16 | XL | 41-42.25 | 35-36.25 | 43.5-44.5 | 104-107 | 89-92 | 110-113 | 20 | 46 |
| 18 | XL | 42.75-44 | 36.75-38.5 | 45-46.5 | 109-112 | 93-98 | 114-118 | 22 | 48 |
| 20 | XXL | 44.5-46 | 39-40.75 | 47-48.5 | 113-117 | 99-104 | 119-123 | 24 | 50 |
| 22 | XXL | 46.5-48 | 41.25-43 | 49-50.5 | 118-122 | 105-109 | 124-128 | 26 | 52 |
| 24 | 3XL | 48.5-50 | 43.5-45.25 | 51-52.5 | 123-127 | 110-115 | 130-133 | 28 | 54 |
Ranges compiled from Lee's women's size chart and cross-checked against BlitzResults and Sizely. Typical US ranges; brands vary by a size or more. EU numbering also differs between charts: ours uses US + 30 (US 8 = EU 38), while some retailers label the same body EU 40.
Women's Jeans Size Chart: W Sizes, US Sizes, and Lengths
Most women's jeans carry a waist size in inches (W23 to W40 here) and many retailers also list the numeric US size. The body waist that fits each W runs a little larger than the label, and the hip column matters as much as the waist.
| Jeans size (W) | US size | Letter | Waist (in) | Hips (in) | Waist (cm) | Hips (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W23 | 00 | XXS | 23.5-24.5 | 33-34.5 | 60-62 | 84-88 |
| W24 | 0 | XXS | 24.5-25.5 | 34-35.5 | 62-65 | 86-90 |
| W25/26 | 2 | XS | 25.5-27.5 | 34.5-36.5 | 65-70 | 88-93 |
| W27 | 4 | XS | 27.5-28.5 | 37-38.5 | 70-72 | 94-98 |
| W28 | 6 | S | 28.5-29.5 | 38-39.5 | 72-75 | 97-100 |
| W29 | 8 | S | 29.5-30.5 | 39-40.5 | 75-77 | 99-103 |
| W30 | 10 | M | 30.5-31.5 | 40-41.5 | 77-80 | 102-105 |
| W31 | 12 | M | 31.5-32.5 | 41-42.5 | 80-83 | 104-108 |
| W32 | 14 | L | 32.5-33.5 | 42-43.5 | 83-85 | 107-110 |
| W33 | 16 | L | 33.5-34.5 | 43-44.5 | 85-88 | 109-113 |
| W34 | 18 | XL | 34.5-36.5 | 44.5-46.5 | 88-93 | 113-118 |
| W36 | 20 | XL | 36.5-38.5 | 46.5-48.5 | 93-98 | 118-123 |
| W38 | 22 | XXL | 38.5-40.5 | 48.5-50.5 | 98-103 | 123-128 |
| W40 | 24 | XXL | 40.5-42.5 | 50.5-52.5 | 103-108 | 128-133 |
Source: BlitzResults and Sizely women's jeans size charts (identical tables). Lee's bottoms chart shows the same pattern, with the labeled waist about an inch below the body waist it fits.
Inseam Lengths: Short, Regular, Long, and Tall
| Length | Inseam (in) | Typical height |
|---|---|---|
| Short (S) | 28-29 | up to about 5'3" |
| Regular (R) | 30-32 | 5'4" to 5'7" |
| Long (L) | 33-34 | 5'8" to 5'10" |
| Tall (T) | 35 and up | 5'11" and taller |
| Your height | Common inseam (in) |
|---|---|
| up to 5'3" | 28 |
| 5'4" to 5'5" | 30 |
| 5'6" to 5'7" | 32 |
| 5'8" to 5'10" | 34 |
| 5'11" and taller | 36 |
Length labels are not standardized. Sizely lists 28 in as petite, 30 in as short, 32 in as regular, and 34 in as long; NYDJ groups 28-30 in as Petite, 30-32 in as Regular, and 33-36 in as Tall. The height table is BlitzResults' women's guide. Heels change the inseam you need, so measure for the shoes you will wear; our inseam guide covers flats versus heels.
Why Sizes Differ by Brand (and Decade)
If you own a size 6 dress, a size 10 dress, and a pair of W29 jeans that all fit, nothing is wrong with you. The United States has had no binding clothing-size standard for decades. According to Wikipedia's summary of the history, the 1958 commercial standard CS 215-58 defined a size 12 as a 34-inch bust, 25.5-inch waist, and 36-inch hips. That standard was abandoned in 1983, and the voluntary ASTM D5585 tables that followed (first published in 1995 and updated through 2011) put a size 8 at a 36.25-inch bust and 29.5-inch waist. On the charts we compiled for this page, that 1958 size 12 bust of 34 inches now lands at a size 4.
This drift is called vanity sizing: the same number gets physically bigger over time. The same Wikipedia article cites Sears catalog data in which a 32-inch bust was a size 14 in 1937, a size 8 in 1967, and a size 0 by 2011. Brands also build clothes on their own fit models, grade up and down from a single sample size, and cut differently for stretch, woven, or rigid fabrics. A fast-fashion label and a heritage denim brand can both be honest and still disagree by a full size.
What this means in practice: measure yourself, keep the numbers in your phone, and use a calculator like this one to get a starting size. Then read the brand's own chart when it publishes one, because that chart describes their fit model, not the industry. Reviews that mention runs small or runs large are the final tiebreaker.
Converting Your Size Between US, UK, and EU
The numeric conversions are simpler than they look. UK dress sizes run four numbers above US (a US 8 is a UK 12), and EU sizes on our charts run 30 above US (a US 8 is an EU 38). Australia uses the UK numbers. That said, some charts and European retailers label the same body two numbers higher, so a US 8 may appear as EU 40. When a shop shows body measurements next to its sizes, trust the centimeters over the label.
Jeans are easier to convert than dresses because most of the world sells them by waist and inseam in inches, the W and L on the tag. If a European brand lists numeric sizes instead, a W28 is about a US 6, which becomes a UK 10 or EU 36. Our Size Converter handles dresses, tops, pants, men's, and kids' sizes across US, UK, EU, and AU, and our Bra Size Calculator covers the one measurement dress charts leave out: cup volume.
Last tip for dresses specifically. Fitted sheaths and structured bodices need all three measurements to agree, so size to the largest and tailor. Wrap dresses, fit-and-flare cuts, and knits forgive a one-size spread between bust and hips, which is why they turn up in every one of our body shape guides.
Sources and References
Lee women's size chart (misses 00-30, bottoms, plus)
Lee Jeans
Our dress size by measurement ranges (US 0-24) are compiled from this chart
Women's clothing sizes: measure and convert
BlitzResults (references ASTM D5585-11)
Cross-check for the dress chart and source of the US/UK/EU numeric conversion
Women's jeans size chart and jeans size calculator
BlitzResults
Source of the W size waist and hip ranges and the women's height-to-inseam table
Women's jeans size chart and international dress size chart
Sizely
Confirms the W size ranges and lists common inseams of 28, 30, 32, and 34 inches
Finding the right inseam length
NYDJ
Petite, Regular, and Tall inseam bands used to define our length labels
Vanity sizing
Wikipedia
History of the 1958 standard, its 1983 withdrawal, ASTM D5585, and the Sears size 14 example
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Frequently Asked Questions
What dress size am I if my bust is 36, waist 28, and hips 39 inches?
On a typical US chart you are a US 8 (M), which converts to UK 12 and EU 38. Your bust and hips both land in the size 8 range, while a 28-inch waist is closer to a size 4, so a fit-and-flare or wrap style will fit straight off the rack and a sheath may need the waist taken in. Brands vary, so treat this as your starting point and check the retailer chart when one is published.
How do I find my jeans size from my waist measurement?
Women's jeans are labeled by waist in inches (W) and length in inches (L). On the BlitzResults and Sizely charts, the body waist that fits each W size runs about half an inch to an inch and a half larger than the number on the label, so a 29-inch waist usually wears a W28 and a 31-inch waist a W30. Check your hips too: if they fall in a larger range than your waist, size up or look for a curvy fit.
What is the difference between a dress size and a jeans size?
Dress sizes use the US numeric misses scale (0, 2, 4 and so on) and are set by your bust, waist, and hips together. Jeans sizes are usually written as waist and inseam in inches, for example W28 L30, although many retailers also sell jeans in the numeric scale, where a W28 is about a US 6. Our calculator shows both so you can shop either way.
What do W and L mean on jeans?
W stands for waist and L for leg length, both in inches, and they always appear in that order. A W30 L32 pair is cut for a roughly 30 to 31 inch body waist and has a 32-inch inseam, which is the Regular length on most charts. Short is usually 28 to 29 inches, Long 33 to 34, and Tall 35 and up, although brands name these bands differently.
Why am I a different size in every brand?
Because there is no mandatory standard. The US government size standard from 1958 was abandoned by manufacturers in 1983, and the voluntary ASTM D5585 tables that followed are optional. Brands also grade their own fit models and many have shifted numbers downward over time, a practice known as vanity sizing. According to Wikipedia's summary of catalog data, a 32-inch bust was a size 14 in 1937, a size 8 in 1967, and a size 0 by 2011. The measurements on your tape are the constant; the number on the label is not.
Should I size up or down when I am between sizes?
For woven, non-stretch dresses and rigid denim, start with the larger size your measurements call for and have the loose area taken in; letting out is rarely possible. For stretch knits, wrap dresses, and stretch denim, the smaller size often fits because the fabric gives. Lee's own guidance is the same: if your chest or waist falls between sizes, choose the larger one.
Keep Going: Shape, Fit, and Wardrobe
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