Real-World Converters: Shop, Travel & Pack Smarter with Global Size Charts
Published April 28, 2026
You've found a gorgeous jacket on a Korean fashion site. The size says "95". You have no idea what that means. Is it a medium? A large? You guess, order, and three weeks later it arrives two sizes too small. Sound familiar?
This is exactly the kind of problem a standard unit converter can't solve. Metres to feet is a formula. Clothing sizes are not — they're a lookup table that varies by country, brand, and decade. That's why we built the Real-World Converters tab on Converterse: practical tools for the decisions that actually cost you money when you get them wrong.
What's Inside
What Are Real-World Converters?
The main Convert tab handles scientific and engineering units — things with a precise mathematical relationship. One kilometre is always exactly 1,000 metres. One pound is always exactly 453.592 grams.
Real-World Converters handle a different category: things that vary by country and convention rather than following a universal formula. A "Size 10" dress in the US is not the same as a "Size 10" in the UK or Australia, even though they share the number. You can't derive one from the other with arithmetic — you need the actual reference tables used by manufacturers and retailers.
The Real-World tab lives right beside the standard converter on the homepage. Switch between them with a single click — the URL updates to /real-world/shoe-sizes so you can bookmark or share any specific converter.
How to access it
Go to converterse.com → click the 🌍 Real-World tab → pick a category from the tab bar. No sign-up, no app download — and it works offline once loaded.
Women's Clothing Sizes
Women's fashion is one of the most fragmented sizing systems in the world. Seven major regional standards coexist — and they share almost no common logic:
| US | EU | UK | India | China | Korea | Australia |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 (XS) | 32 | 6 | 28 | 155/80A | 44 | 6 |
| 4 (XS) | 34 | 8 | 30 | 160/84A | 55 | 8 |
| 6 (S) | 36 | 10 | 32 | 165/88A | 66 | 10 |
| 8 (S) | 38 | 12 | 34 | 170/92A | 77 | 12 |
| 10 (M) | 40 | 14 | 36 | 175/96A | 88 | 14 |
| 12 (L) | 42 | 16 | 38 | 175/100A | 99 | 16 |
| 14 (L) | 44 | 18 | 40 | 180/104A | 100 | 18 |
EU sizes run roughly 30–32 numbers higher than US sizes. UK sizes run 4 numbers higher. Korean sizes (44, 55, 66…) use a chest-hip grouping convention. Chinese sizes use a body-measurement code like 160/84A — height in cm, bust in cm, and a letter for the bust-waist ratio.
The Indian sizing system (28–44) tracks bust measurement in inches, closer to UK tailoring than US retail. When buying from Indian fashion sites like Myntra or Nykaa, always check the brand's own measurement chart — the number alone is not reliable.
Practical tips
- Korean fast fashion (Shein Korea, Stylenanda) uses Korean sizes (44–100). Korean 55 ≈ EU 36 / US 6.
- EU sizing is the most standardised internationally — German, French, Italian, and Spanish brands all follow it.
- Australian sizing matches UK sizing exactly — a convenient shortcut for AU retailers.
- When in doubt, buy by measurements (bust, waist, hips in cm). Every serious retailer publishes these.
Men's Clothing Sizes
Men's sizing is slightly more predictable, but still far from universal. The core systems use chest measurement — in inches for US/UK, in centimetres for EU and Asia:
| Label | US | EU | UK | India | Korea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XS | 34 | 44 | 34 | 34 | 85 |
| S | 36 | 46 | 36 | 36 | 90 |
| M | 38 | 48 | 38 | 38 | 95 |
| L | 40 | 50 | 40 | 40 | 100 |
| XL | 42 | 52 | 42 | 42 | 105 |
| XXL | 44 | 54 | 44 | 44 | 110 |
Korean men's clothing uses chest measurement in cm — Korean 95 ≈ a Medium in Western sizing. Indian men's clothing follows UK chest-in-inches sizing closely, but Indian cuts tend to run slim. Size up if you prefer a relaxed fit when ordering from Indian brands.
Shoe Sizes — The Most Confusing System of All
Shoes may be the single most confusing sizing category. Not only do systems vary by country — they vary by gender within the same country. A US men's 9 and a US women's 9 are different foot lengths. European shoes are sized in Paris points (⅔ cm each), which is why EU sizes increment by 1 but foot length jumps by only 6–7 mm.
| EU | US Men's | US Women's | UK | India (Men) | Foot (cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 4 | 5.5 | 3 | 3 | 22.5 |
| 37 | 5 | 6.5 | 4 | 4 | 23.5 |
| 38 | 6 | 7.5 | 5 | 5 | 24 |
| 39 | 7 | 8.5 | 6 | 6 | 24.5 |
| 40 | 8 | 9.5 | 7 | 7 | 25.5 |
| 41 | 8.5 | 10 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 26 |
| 42 | 9 | 10.5 | 8 | 8 | 26.5 |
| 43 | 10 | 11.5 | 9 | 9 | 27.5 |
| 44 | 11 | 12.5 | 10 | 10 | 28 |
| 45 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 29 |
- US Men's vs Women's: women's sizes run ~1.5 sizes larger than men's for the same foot. US women's 8.5 ≈ men's 7.
- UK is 1 size behind US Men's: US men's 9 = UK 8. Consistent across most brands.
- EU to US Men's: subtract 33–34. EU 42 → US 8 or 9 depending on brand.
- Indian men's follows UK sizing closely — Indian 8 = UK 8 = US men's 9.
- Always measure your foot in cm when ordering internationally. Foot length is the most reliable reference across all systems.
Airline Luggage Weight Limits — 16 Airlines Compared
Checked baggage fees have become one of the biggest unexpected travel costs of the decade. US carriers publish limits in pounds. Most of the world uses kilograms. And the limits themselves vary widely — from budget carriers allowing 15 kg to premium long-haul routes offering 32 kg.
Americas
- American Airlines — 23 kg / 50 lb
- Delta Air Lines — 23 kg / 50 lb
- United Airlines — 23 kg / 50 lb
Europe
- British Airways — 23 kg
- Lufthansa — 23 kg
- Ryanair — 20 kg (add-on)
- easyJet — 23 kg (add-on)
Middle East
- Emirates — 30 kg
- Qatar Airways — 30 kg
- Etihad — 23 kg
India
- Air India — 25 kg
- IndiGo — 15 kg
- Vistara — 15 kg
Asia-Pacific
- Singapore Airlines — 30 kg
- ANA (Japan) — 23 kg
- Qantas — 23 kg
Important
Airline policies change frequently. Budget carriers adjust included allowances regularly — always verify the current limit when booking. These figures are a reference baseline, not a guarantee.
The most common luggage mistake is misreading units. 48 lb might sound close to a 23 kg limit — but 48 lb is 21.8 kg, which is actually under. It also runs the other way: packing to exactly "23 kg" on a US carrier means you're at exactly 50 lb with no margin. The converter shows both kg and lb side by side for every airline. Pack by the lower unit to keep a few hundred grams of buffer.
Coming Soon
Ring Sizes
US → EU, UK, Japan, India. A US size 7 is an EU 54, a UK N½, and a Japan 13. We'll cover all four systems with a diameter-in-mm baseline so you can measure with a ruler.
Hat Sizes
cm → US, EU, UK, India. Hat sizing uses head circumference as the root but converts differently per region. We'll include a measuring guide so you can find your size without a tape measure.
Bra Sizes
US → UK, EU, France, Australia. The UK and US use the same letters but different band numbers. The EU system uses centimetres. France and Italy have their own scale entirely.
Hotel Room Size
m² ↔ sq ft with real-world context. We're mapping room sizes against m²/sq ft numbers — from Tokyo capsule hotels to New York studios — so you can read a listing and immediately know what you're getting.
Why Not Just Search Google?
A Google search gives you a mix of brand-specific size guides, forum posts, and Wikipedia tables — none of which are interactive. You still have to mentally cross-reference your size against the country column you care about, across multiple tabs.
The Real-World Converters show all size systems in a single table row. You scan across and immediately see your equivalent in every country at once. And because Converterse is a PWA that caches on first load, it works offline — check your shoe size on the flight before you land and start shopping. No signal required.