Korean Clothing Sizes vs. US Sizes: A Conversion Guide

Korean clothing sizes do not look like sizes. A women's top is a 55, a men's shirt is a 100, and a shoe is a 250. None of those numbers resemble anything on an American label, and the conversion is not intuitive.

Here is the whole system, converted, followed by the thing that matters more than any of it.

Women's sizes: 44, 55, 66, 77, 88

The scale runs in elevens, and the rough equivalences are:

• 44 = XS = roughly US 0 to 2
• 55 = S = roughly US 2 to 6
• 66 = M = roughly US 6 to 8
• 77 = L = roughly US 8 to 10
• 88 = XL = roughly US 10 to 12

The numbers are not arbitrary. They are a legacy of a Korean government sizing project from the 1980s that categorized women by an average height and chest circumference, so each number loosely encodes both at once. That origin is also why the scale feels compressed at the top: it was built around a reference population, and it was not designed to keep going.

Two practical notes. 55 is the most-produced size in Korea by a wide margin, so it is the one that sells out and the one that a single-size item is likely to be cut to. And the whole scale runs small: Korean sizes are commonly one to two sizes smaller than the US equivalent, which means the conversions above are a starting point rather than an answer.

Men's sizes are easier

Men's tops are labelled 85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, and the number is chest circumference in centimetres. That makes it the more honest system of the two, because it is a measurement rather than a category.

• 95 = roughly US S
• 100 = roughly US M
• 105 = roughly US L
• 110 = roughly US XL

The same caution applies: Korean men's cuts are generally narrower through the shoulder and chest than American ones at a nominally equivalent size. Sizing up one step is the common advice for a reason.

Shoes are the simplest thing here

Korean shoe sizes use Mondopoint, which means the number is the length of your foot in millimetres. It is unisex, and it is the most rational sizing system in this article.

• 240 = US women's 7, US men's 6
• 250 = US women's 8, US men's 7
• 260 = US women's 9, US men's 8

The gender offset in US sizing, roughly 1.5 sizes for the same foot, is what makes this confusing on American labels and not on Korean ones. To find your Korean size directly, measure your foot in millimetres and round up to the nearest 5.

"Free size" is not one size fits all

Free size is a term borrowed into Korean fashion from Japanese usage, and it means the garment is produced in one single set of measurements. It does not mean the garment is adjustable, generous, or designed to accommodate a range.

In practice a free size item is usually cut somewhere around a 44 to 55, because that is the centre of the domestic market. Treat "free size" as "small, and not negotiable."

The measurement that actually matters

Every conversion above is an approximation, because Korean sizing varies by brand as much as American sizing does, and a 55 from one label is not a 55 from another.

What does not vary is the measurement chart. Nearly every Korean fashion listing includes flat measurements in centimetres: chest, shoulder, total length, sleeve, waist, hip. That chart is the actual size of the garment, and it is the only reliable information on the page.

So the method that works is simple, and it makes the rest of this article mostly unnecessary:

1. Take a garment you already own that fits the way you want.
2. Lay it flat and measure it in centimetres: chest across, shoulder seam to shoulder seam, and total length.
3. Compare those three numbers to the listing's chart.
4. Buy the one that matches. Ignore whether it is called a 55 or a 66.

Three numbers, kept in your phone, and the conversion problem stops existing.

The short version

Women's: 44 is XS, 55 is S, 66 is M, 77 is L, 88 is XL, and the scale is a leftover from a 1980s Korean sizing standard that encoded height and bust together. Men's: the number is your chest in centimetres. Shoes: the number is your foot in millimetres. Everything runs one to two sizes smaller than US equivalents, "free size" means small, and the flat measurement chart in centimetres beats every conversion in this article.

Once the fit question is settled, where to actually buy Korean fashion online covers the platforms. For what to look for once you are there, start with the aesthetics glossary.