How to read French lingerie sizing — wherever you're shopping from
French maisons don't follow US, UK, German, Italian, Australian or Japanese sizing charts. A practical conversion cheat sheet for clientele around the world.
How to read French lingerie sizing — wherever you're shopping from
French maisons don't follow the Anglo-Saxon chart, the Italian chart, or the Japanese chart. These are the conversions you actually need before ordering from Aubade, Chantelle, Simone Pérèle, Eres or Lise Charmel — no matter where you're writing from.
Bras — band size
French bands run in 5 cm increments (80, 85, 90…). Anglo-Saxon bands run in inches (32, 34, 36…). Germany, Italy and Japan measure straight from the underbust in centimetres; Australia runs its own numbered scale.
| France | US / UK | Germany / Japan | Italy | Australia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 34 | 70 | 2 | 10 |
| 85 | 36 | 75 | 3 | 12 |
| 90 | 38 | 80 | 4 | 14 |
| 95 | 40 | 85 | 5 | 16 |
| 100 | 42 | 90 | 6 | 18 |
| 105 | 44 | 95 | 7 | 20 |
Bras — cup size
A through D reads the same most places. Beyond D, each market forks.
| France | US | UK / Australia | Continental Europe / Japan |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | A | A | A |
| B | B | B | B |
| C | C | C | C |
| D | D | D | D |
| E | DD | DD | E |
| F | DDD / E | E | F |
| G | F / G | F | G |
| H | G / H | FF | H |
Watch out: a French 90E doesn't fit like any other market's "E" — UK, US, German, Japanese charts each cut it differently, and individual maisons fine-tune their own grading on top. Read the maison's table before you check out.
Briefs
French maisons use numeric sizes 0–6, while other markets juggle letters, numbers and apparel-style sizing.
| France | US | UK / Australia | Germany | Italy | Japan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | XXS | 6 | 32 | 38 | 7 |
| 1 | XS | 8 | 34 | 40 | 9 |
| 2 | S | 10 | 36 | 42 | 11 |
| 3 | M | 12 | 38 | 44 | 13 |
| 4 | L | 14 | 40 | 46 | 15 |
| 5 | XL | 16 | 42 | 48 | 17 |
| 6 | XXL | 18 | 44 | 50 | 19 |
Practical tips, wherever you're ordering from
- Read the maison's own size chart. Aubade, Chantelle, Simone Pérèle, Eres — each publishes its own grid in cm and inches. Check it before confirming the order.
- Measure yourself twice. French maisons tend to fit a little narrower at the rib than most non-French brands. If you're floating between two bands, start with the smaller one.
- When in doubt, go up a band and down a cup. French grading is reliable; you can always size down after the first fitting.
- International returns are slow. Depending on your country, a return can take two to three weeks. Getting the first order right is the biggest time-saver.
Next: how to buy French lingerie from abroad or browse the directory of maisons.