The header row of a Chinese size chart, read left to right
A Chinese size chart is a table of abbreviations rather than a table of sizes. The header row carries 5 or 6 terms that repeat across almost every listing, and once those terms are read correctly the numbers underneath become checkable instead of decorative.
- 衣长, garment length: usually measured from the collar seam or the high shoulder point down to the hem.
- 肩宽, shoulder width: seam to seam across the back, not across the front and not around the body.
- 胸围, chest: a circumference, or half of one where the listing says 胸宽 or 1/2 胸围.
- 袖长, sleeve: shoulder seam to cuff on a set-in sleeve, and centre back to cuff on a raglan.
- 腰围 and 臀围, waist and hip: circumferences again, and again halved in a fair number of listings.
- 裤长 and 前档, trouser length and front rise: the outseam and the crotch depth, both taken flat.
Most charts use 围 for a circumference and 宽 for a flat width, but the 2 characters get used loosely, and a listing will sometimes label a flat measurement as a circumference. That single confusion sits at the origin of most size complaints that go nowhere.
The fix costs about 1 minute. Before comparing anything, find the chest or waist row and ask whether the number given could plausibly wrap around a human body, because 104 could and 52 could not describe the same shirt.
What each term covers, and where the tape starts
Every term answers a physical question, and the question is easier to remember than the term itself. Where a tape starts and where it stops is the entire content of a definition, and 2 sellers can both be honest while measuring different spans.
| Term on the chart | What it names | The trap it hides |
|---|---|---|
| 衣长 garment length | collar seam to hem, or high shoulder point to hem | the starting point moves the figure by 2 or 3 cm on the same shirt |
| 肩宽 shoulder width | seam to seam across the back | a drop shoulder garment has no seam to measure from |
| 胸围 chest | a circumference, or half of one | a halved figure compared against a full one doubles the error |
| 袖长 sleeve | shoulder seam to cuff, or centre back to cuff | raglan and set-in sleeves are not the same measurement |
| 前档 front rise | crotch seam to waistband, taken flat | a low rise and a high rise differ by several cm at the same waist |
The third column is why a chart and a garment can both be accurate and still not match. A 2 or 3 cm shift in a starting point is invisible in the table and very visible on a body, which is why the [sizing table](/table/sizing/) compares definitions before it compares numbers.
Length is the row where sellers differ most, because the starting point is a choice rather than a standard. A shirt measured from the collar seam and the same shirt measured from the high shoulder point can report 2 figures 3 cm apart, and both of them are honest.
One habit prevents most of this. Write the definition next to the number whenever you copy a chart into your own notes; 5 rows copied with their terms take 10 minutes and turn a later argument about fit into a reading exercise.
Three misreadings that move you a whole size
Three misreadings account for most of the wrong sizes people order, and all 3 come from reading the number without the term printed above it.
- Reading a halved chest as a full circumference, which turns a 104 cm garment into a 52 cm one on paper.
- Reading a body measurement as a garment measurement, which removes the ease the garment was cut with.
- Reading a flat width as a circumference, which repeats the first mistake on the waist row instead of the chest row.
The first mistake is the expensive one. A chest row reading 52 on a chart that means half the circumference describes a 104 cm garment, and against a 102 cm chest that leaves 2 cm of ease, which is tight but wearable; comparing 52 against 102 instead makes the garment look impossible and pushes you 2 sizes up.
Quieter still is the 2nd misreading, where a chart of body measurements tells you who the garment is for while a chart of garment measurements tells you what the garment is, and a single listing rarely states which of those conventions it is using.
Before comparing numbers, decide whether the chart describes the body or the garment. The 2 conventions differ by the ease built into the cut.
Working the terms against a shirt that already fits you
Take a shirt that already fits and measure it flat. The 4 numbers worth writing down are the chest, the shoulder, the sleeve and the length, and the whole exercise takes about 5 minutes with a tape and a flat surface.
- Lay the shirt flat, button it, and smooth the front without stretching the fabric.
- Measure the chest 2 cm below the armhole, seam to seam, then double the figure.
- Measure the shoulder from one seam to the other across the back.
- Measure the sleeve from shoulder seam to cuff, and the length from collar seam to hem.
Now put the chart beside those 4 figures. If the chart reads 52 for the chest and your doubled measurement is 104, the chart uses half-circumference and the garment matches the shirt you own; if the chart reads 104 while your own doubled figure is also 104, the same garment is simply being described in the other convention, and the 2 charts are 1 doubling apart.
Carry a 2 cm tolerance with you. Cut fabric and knit fabric both move between the sample and a production run, so a difference under that threshold is not evidence of anything, while a difference of 4 cm is worth a question before the item ships.
Write the 4 figures down where you will find them again, which in practice means in the order notes rather than in a photo roll. The next time you buy from the same seller, those 4 numbers turn a 5 minute measurement into a 30 second comparison.
Where the terms stop being comparable at all
Some garments have no comparable measurement in the first place, and no chart can fix that. Stretch knit, drop shoulder construction and elastic waists each change what a flat number means, and in all 3 cases the table answers a question nobody asked.
- A knit that stretches 4 cm across the chest fits a range of bodies, so its flat figure describes the relaxed state only.
- A drop shoulder has no shoulder seam, so the shoulder row measures something else or is left blank.
- An elastic waistband measures differently flat and worn, which is why some charts publish a range instead of a figure.
The same limit applies to the measurements a chart almost never carries, which are armhole depth and the rise of a garment as worn. Where a garment depends on those, the useful evidence is the [size comparison tool](/rig/size-compare/) plus 2 or 3 photographs of the item on a body, not another table.
Two more cases are worth naming, because both look like chart problems and neither is one. Shoes sold in Chinese sizes and trousers sold with a rise figure depend on measurements a seller rarely takes, and no amount of reading the table replaces asking for the 1 figure that decides the fit.
Where the terms run out, ask a question rather than guessing. A seller asked for the armhole depth in cm will usually measure it, and that answer is worth more than 4 copied rows of a chart that has travelled between listings.
What to send the agent before the item ships
Questions belong before the item ships, and in an agent order that means the moment you hand the link over. 2 short messages cover most of the risk, and neither of them requires the seller to do any work.
The first of the 2 asks for the size chart as an image rather than as text, because an image keeps the original terms while a re-typed table loses them. The second asks whether the figures describe the body or the garment, and where the tape starts on the length row.
What those 2 messages buy is a paper trail rather than certainty. Sellers answer size questions at very different levels of detail, and a reply stating that the figures describe the garment is worth keeping even when it turns out to be wrong, because it fixes what was represented at the point of sale.
Keep both replies with the order. If the item arrives and the chart turns out to have described the body rather than the garment, those 2 replies are the difference between a claim with evidence and a complaint without any, which is why the question belongs at the point where you [hand the link over](/steps/paste-link/).
A third message is worth sending on anything over 1 kg, and it asks for the weight of the item as packed. Weight decides the freight you pay later, and it is 1 of the few numbers a seller can give you that no chart contains.
A measurement without its definition is not data. Copy the term with the number every time a chart goes into your notes.
Worked example: a chart figure of 52 for 胸围 describes half the circumference on most listings, so the 104 cm garment it implies leaves 2 cm of ease on a 102 cm chest — which makes the doubling convention, not the size label, the thing that decides the order.
This note explains the mechanics; the list is where the items are.