SIZING
How to Read a Korean Size Chart
Six numbers, all in centimetres, measured flat. Once you can read them you stop guessing, and you stop returning things.
Korean brands almost never use S, M, L in a way that maps to anything familiar. What they do give you is a table of measurements, and that table is worth more than any size letter.
The six words to learn
- 총장 — total length, from shoulder seam to hem
- 어깨 — shoulder, seam to seam across the back
- 가슴 — chest, measured flat across one side only
- 소매 — sleeve, shoulder seam to cuff
- 밑위 — rise, waistband to crotch seam
- 인심 — inseam
Chest is measured flat, so double it for the full circumference. This trips up more people than any other number.
Measure something you already love. Those six numbers are your size, in any country.
The habit that removes most of the risk
Take the garment you reach for most often. Lay it flat, measure those six things, write them in your phone. Before any order, compare. It takes twenty minutes once and saves every return after that.