Buy Clothes and Shoes From a Shop Abroad in the Right Size

To buy clothes and shoes from an online shop in another country, measure yourself first and convert from those numbers. The size you wear at home is a weaker starting point, because each country counts sizes differently. Emojar's clothing size converter and shoe size converter take a bust, chest, neck, waist or foot measurement and show the matching US, UK, EU and other sizes. The length converter handles garment measurements given in inches, the Country Explorer confirms the shop's currency and the codes a checkout form asks for, and the percentage difference calculator tells you how much cheaper the foreign shop is, if it is. All five run in your browser, and nothing you type is sent anywhere.

This guide follows one order. Mara lives in Germany and wants three things from a UK online shop: a dress for herself, running shoes, and a dress shirt for her partner. The shop lists UK sizes, with US sizes on some items.

Which currency and codes does the shop's country use?

Before you look at sizes, check what you'll be paying in. Open the Country Explorer and type the currency code from the price tag, such as GBP, into Search countries. The search also takes a country name, a capital, an ISO code like DE or a calling code like +44. Click the United Kingdom card and the details list the currency as British Pound (GBP), the calling code +44 and the ISO alpha-2 code GB.

The same card is useful for your own address. Checkout forms abroad often want a two-letter country code and an international phone number. Mara opens Germany and uses the copy buttons next to ISO alpha-2 (DE) and Calling code (+49). The whole dataset of 250 countries and territories is part of the page, so searching and filtering don't send anything to a server.

How do you find your dress size in UK sizes?

Measure the fullest part of your bust in centimeters. Then open the clothing size converter, pick Women’s dresses & tops, and enter the number in the bust measurement box with the unit set to cm.

Mara measures 90 cm. The converter picks the smallest size that fits, allowing 1% for rounding in the chart, and the result reads "Your closest size (round up if between sizes):" with the 92 cm row: letter M, US 8, UK / AU 12, EU / DE 38, FR / ES 40, IT 44 and JP 11. She wears a 38 at home, and the chart agrees that a UK 12 is the same size. The row is highlighted in the full chart below, so she can see that UK 10 sits one step down at 88 cm.

You can also go from a label. Set Size system to UK / AU and Your size to 12, and the result line reads "UK / AU 12 is:" with the same row. The offsets are fixed across the chart: UK is US + 4, EU is US + 30, French is EU + 2 and Italian is EU + 6.

What if the size chart only lists inches?

UK and US shops often give garment measurements in inches. The dress Mara likes has a length of 38 in. In the length converter, enter 38, set the units to inches and centimeters (⇄ swaps them), and the answer is 96.52 cm. The table under the result shows the same value in every other length unit. One inch is exactly 2.54 cm, so a measuring tape in centimeters works fine against a chart in inches once you convert the numbers.

You don't need the length converter for body measurements in the size converters. Each one has a cm and in unit choice next to the measurement field and does the conversion itself.

How do you convert a men's shirt size from a neck measurement?

Dress shirts are sized by neck circumference. In the clothing size converter, switch to Men’s dress shirts. The measurement box changes to a neck measurement.

Mara's partner measures 15.5 inches. That is about 39.4 cm. With the unit set to in, the converter lands on the row with letter M, US / UK 15.5 and EU 39. A UK shirt labelled 15.5 is the one to order. For jackets, the Men’s suits & jackets chart works from a chest measurement: US and UK sizes are the chest in inches, and EU sizes are about half the chest in centimeters. Men’s trousers & jeans uses the waist, and the note under the chart explains that jeans are labelled W (waist) × L (inside leg) in inches.

How do you pick a shoe size from your foot length?

Stand on a sheet of paper in the evening, mark your heel and longest toe, and measure the distance. Open the shoe size converter, choose Women, Men or Kids, and type the length into the foot length box.

Mara's foot is 24.3 cm. Shoes round strictly up, because a shoe can't be shorter than the foot, so the converter skips the 24 cm row and highlights 24.5 cm: US 7.5, UK 5.5, EU 38, foot length 9.6 in and Mondopoint / JP 245 mm. The running shoes are listed in UK sizes, so she orders a 5.5.

US women's sizes run about 1 to 1.5 larger than men's for the same foot. If a unisex shoe is labelled in men's sizes, switch the chart to Men and enter the same foot length again. For kids, US sizes end in C (toddler) or Y (youth), and UK sizes restart at 1 after 13.

Under every chart there's a reminder that these are standard conversions and brands cut differently. When the shop has its own size chart, compare your measurement against it too.

Is the foreign shop actually cheaper?

The same running shoes cost €89.90 in a German shop. Once Mara has worked out the UK shop's total in euros, including shipping and any charges the shop lists at checkout, she has €79.50. Open the percentage difference calculator and enter 89.90 as Value A (first / original) and 79.50 as Value B (second / new).

With the default two decimal places, the absolute difference is 10.40, the percentage change from A to B is -11.57% (decrease), and the symmetric percentage difference is 12.28%. Each figure comes with its formula worked out. The percentage change is the number to use here, since the German price is the one she's comparing against: the UK order is 11.57% cheaper. The symmetric figure compares the two prices against their average, so it stays the same if you swap A and B.

If the saving shrinks to a few euros, remember that a return to another country usually takes longer and may cost more.

FAQ

Is a UK dress size the same as a US size?

No. On the chart, a UK size is the US size plus 4, so a US 8 is a UK 12 and an EU 38.

Should I round up or down if I'm between sizes?

Round up. The clothing size converter picks the smallest size that fits your measurement, and the shoe size converter always rounds up so the shoe isn't shorter than your foot.

Do the size converters work in inches?

Yes. Next to the measurement field there's a unit choice for cm or in. Foot lengths also appear in inches in the shoe chart.

Does the Country Explorer look anything up online?

No. The full country dataset is part of the page, so search, filters and the copy buttons all work in your browser.

More converters and lookups are in Unit Converters, Reference & Learning and Calculators.