Pants sizing - I am so confused
 

Ok, I have a pair of "Polo" jeans, the size tag reads as follows:
D 42
F 44
I 46
GB 16
USA 12
RSA 40

Huh? I am totally confused. Am I the only one?

I think these figures reflect the fact that the "average sized woman" varies from country to country. European countries use the same basic sizing system, but they scale it up or down depending on the average size of the population. People are larger in Germany than in France, so an item of clothing that gets labelled 44 (large) in France would get a label of 42 (medium-large) in Germany. In Italy people are still smaller, so that same item of clothing would get labelled 46 (extra-large). Based on the figures you provided, Russian women are even larger (on average) than German women.

In U.K. they have their own sizing system, which is generally four numbers up from U.S. sizes.

F.

No, no you are not.

Because even in the same store, the same brand of jeans, labeled the same size, can fit differently. I've kind of given up on trying to make sense of it -- and that's not even bringing in any of the other country's sizing. Forget it! :dizzy:

It's because the jeans are made for the international market. The manufacturers intend them to be sold in different countries so they are posting the size equivalencies for that particular pair of trousers (which is actually really really helpful when you're not native to the country where you're buying clothes). So a German 42 is a French 44 which is an Italian 46 which is a UK 16 which is a US 12.

There are different sizing styles for different countries. If they were just marked a (US) size 12 for example, it would be confusing for people in the UK because a UK 12 and a US 12 are NOT the same size. And a size 12 would mean very little in Germany (D) or France (F) or I (Italy) or South Africa (RSA).

Just pick the country where you know your size and follow that size. For example, I don't know my South African Size but I do know my US size so that's the number I should be looking out for.

They're a 12. We've adjusted our sizing twice since the Fifties (I believe). The UK has not.