Boutique Vastra — Everyday women's wear explained | boutiquevastra.com
Every numeric dress size is a bust measurement in centimetres, and every US or UK tag converts to an EU number at a fixed offset. Here is the full grid.
The numeric grid steps by 4 cm at the bust and 4 cm at the waist. Size 8 is an 80 cm bust, size 10 an 84 cm bust, size 12 an 88 cm bust and size 14 a 92 cm bust. Because the step never changes, an in-between measurement — say 86 cm — tells you exactly how far you sit from each labelled size.
US and UK dress sizes run about three steps ahead of EU numbering. The fixed points: US 6 is EU 34, US 8 is EU 36, US 10 is EU 38 and US 12 is EU 40. Convert through these points rather than guessing, because a one-step error is a full 4 cm at the bust.
A size tag describes the body the dress is cut for, not the dress itself. The garment adds wearing ease: 5–8 cm over the body bust for a fitted dress, 12–15 cm for a relaxed or oversized one. Two size-10 dresses can therefore measure 89 cm or 99 cm across the bust and both be honestly labelled.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
Length is graded on its own scale in 3–5 cm steps: Petite 138–141 cm, Regular 150–153 cm and Tall 163–166 cm, measured from the shoulder seam to the hem. Choose the band by height before worrying about the hem.
When you compare a shop's garment chart with your body, use the same measuring points the chart uses: bust 2–3 cm below the bust line, waist at the narrowest point of the torso, length 15–20 cm above the hem. Mixed reference points are the most common reason a 'correct' size arrives wrong.
Before the first wash, remember the cloth moves: untreated woven cotton shrinks 3–5%, and a knit washed hot and dried flat can grow 2–5%. The fabric page and the care-label page on this site cover both behaviours in detail.
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