Russian and Post-Soviet Sizes

Russian clothing is half your bust

Under the Soviet standard GOST 17522-72, still the base of Russian and CIS sizing, a women's clothing size is half the bust circumference in centimetres. A size 44 is an 88 cm bust, a 46 is 92 cm, a 48 is 96 cm, each step four centimetres of bust. Men's sizes follow the same rule on the chest, so a men's 50 is a 100 cm chest. The number is a measurement, not a label, which is why a Russian size is a reliable guide to fit once you double it back to the body it names.

Why a Russian 44 is a European 38, not 44

The Russian and European numbers look close and mean different things. A Russian 44 is an 88 cm bust, and the German Konfektion scale, the basis of the EU number, sets a women's size at half the bust minus six, so an 88 cm bust is a German and EU 38. That makes a Russian 44 a European 38, six numbers apart, not the same 44. Many retail charts print a Russian 44 as an EU 40 instead, rounding to the nearest common size rather than the body measurement, which is why cross-border charts disagree. The measurement settles it: double the Russian number for the bust, then read that bust as a Western size.

Russian shoes are the foot in millimetres

Footwear went the other way from clothing. The Soviet Union first used the European Paris-point scale, then switched in the 1980s to a metric system under GOST 24382-80 and GOST 11373-88, where the size is the foot length in millimetres in 5 mm steps. That is the 270 stamped inside a boot from the region, a 270 mm foot, which our catalog reads as a men's EU 42 and US 9. Like Mondopoint, it names the foot, so the shoe is built a little longer. The metric stamp is decoded with the other inside-shoe codes in the guide to the numbers inside your shoe, and converted on the centimetre charts.

Russian clothing sizes in Western numbers

What each Russian women's size means as a bust and a Western size:

EU and US are the nearest women's size to that bust in our catalog. Clothing varies by cut, so treat them as a starting point, and see the women's clothing charts for the full range.

Men's sizes work on the chest

Men's clothing follows the same rule on the chest, so a Russian men's size is half the chest circumference in centimetres. A 50 is a 100 cm chest, a Western EU 50 and US 40. Here the Russian number lands close to the EU one, unlike women's sizes, because the German men's scale is about half the chest with no offset, the same measure the Russian rule uses. So a Russian men's 50 is about a European 50, while a Russian women's 44 is a European 38.

Across the CIS, and older Soviet shoes

The GOST rules carried across the former union, so Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and the other CIS states share the same clothing and shoe sizing, and a size from any of them reads the same way. One older trap sits in vintage footwear: before the metric switch of the 1980s the Soviet Union sized shoes on the European Paris-point scale, so a Soviet shoe from before then carries an EU-style number, while a later one carries the metric foot length. If the number is around 30 to 50 it is the European scale; if it is around 200 to 300 it is the foot in millimetres.

How to convert a Russian size

For clothing, double the Russian number to get the bust or chest in centimetres, then match that measurement to a brand's centimetre chart rather than to a remembered Western size. A Russian 46 is a 92 cm bust, a Western EU 40. For shoes, the Russian number is already the foot length in millimetres, so read it straight onto a centimetre chart, a 260 being a 26 cm foot. The body measuring guide shows how to take the bust reading, and why one foot length gives many sizes covers the shoe side.

Frequently asked questions

What is Russian clothing size 44?

An 88 cm bust. Russian sizes under GOST 17522-72 are half the bust in centimetres, so 44 doubles to an 88 cm bust, a Western EU 38 and US 6.

What is a Russian 44 in EU and US?

By the body measurement, an EU 38 and US 6, since an 88 cm bust is a German EU 38. Some charts round it to EU 40, but the measurement gives 38.

Why do Russian size charts disagree on the EU number?

Because some convert by the body measurement, where a Russian 44 is an 88 cm bust and a European 38, and others round to the nearest common EU size. Doubling the Russian number to the bust is the reliable route.

What is a Russian shoe size?

The foot length in millimetres under GOST 11373-88, in 5 mm steps, so a 270 is a 270 mm foot. It is the metric number stamped inside East European shoes.

Is a Russian 46 a medium?

A Russian 46 is a 92 cm bust, a Western EU 40 and US 8, around a Western medium depending on the brand.