An Italian 42 is not an American 42, and a French 42 is neither. Three systems are in use across the houses in this catalogue, none of them is a translation of the others, and the numbers overlap just enough to be genuinely confusing. Here is what converts to what.
Read the tables, then read the warning at the end of them, because the warning is the part that actually saves you a return.
Women’s clothing
Italian houses — Prada, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Gucci, Moschino — label in Italian sizes. Saint Laurent and Balenciaga label in French. The American number is roughly the Italian number minus thirty-six, and the French number minus thirty-two.
| Italian (IT) | French (FR) | US | UK | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 32 | 0 | 4 | XXS |
| 38 | 34 | 2 | 6 | XS |
| 40 | 36 | 4 | 8 | S |
| 42 | 38 | 6 | 10 | S–M |
| 44 | 40 | 8 | 12 | M |
| 46 | 42 | 10 | 14 | L |
| 48 | 44 | 12 | 16 | L–XL |
| 50 | 46 | 14 | 18 | XL |
| 52 | 48 | 16 | 20 | XXL |
Men’s clothing
Men’s tailoring is labelled by chest measurement rather than by an arbitrary number, which makes it the easier of the two. The Italian number is the chest in centimetres divided by two; the American number is the chest in inches.
| Italian / EU | US | UK | Letter | Chest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44 | 34 | 34 | XS | 86–89 cm |
| 46 | 36 | 36 | S | 91–94 cm |
| 48 | 38 | 38 | M | 96–99 cm |
| 50 | 40 | 40 | L | 101–104 cm |
| 52 | 42 | 42 | L–XL | 106–109 cm |
| 54 | 44 | 44 | XL | 111–114 cm |
| 56 | 46 | 46 | XXL | 116–119 cm |
| 58 | 48 | 48 | XXXL | 121–124 cm |
Men’s shirts, by collar
Italian shirts are sized by the collar in centimetres and American shirts by the collar in inches. Where a shirt in this shop carries both, both are listed on its page.
| Collar (cm) | Collar (in) | Letter |
|---|---|---|
| 37 | 14.5 | XS |
| 38 | 15 | S |
| 39 | 15.5 | S–M |
| 40 | 15.75 | M |
| 41 | 16 | M–L |
| 42 | 16.5 | L |
| 43 | 17 | L–XL |
| 44 | 17.5 | XL |
Why the chart is a starting point and not an answer
Every one of these conversions is approximate, and the houses know it. A Saint Laurent 40 is cut narrower than a Dolce & Gabbana 40. Prada knitwear runs close to the body; Balenciaga will cut the same season both very close and deliberately oversized. The chart tells you which shelf to look at. It does not tell you whether the piece will fit.
Three habits beat any chart. Know your own measurements — it takes ten minutes once, and the clothing section lists the house size on every piece so you can compare. Read the composition, because a viscose dress and a wool one in the same size wear differently. And when you are between sizes in anything structured — a blazer, a coat, a dress with a lining — take the larger one, because a tailor can take a seam in and cannot let one out that was never there.
If it is still wrong
You have fourteen days from delivery to start a return, and the piece goes back unworn with its tags. Nobody gets it right every time, and we would rather you sent something back than kept something you do not wear.