Clothing sizes vary distinctly from manufacturer to manufacturer, so it’s always a good idea to try before you buy. However, there are some basic rules of thumb that will at least give you an idea of what to take into the changing room.
For women’s clothing, add 28 to the UK size to generate the Spanish size (32 to US sizes). So, a UK size 12 (US 8) becomes a Spanish size 40, while a UK size 8 (US 4) becomes a Spanish size 36.
Men have got it slightly easier, just add 10 to the UK suit size, so that a UK size 38 becomes a Spanish 48 and so on, conveniently this rule also applies when converting US suit sizes into Spanish sizes.
Shoe sizes are tricky, as there’s no international standard and conversions are even less precise than for clothing. As a very rough guide, to convert women’s shoes, add 33 to UK sizes (size 6 becomes size 39), and 30.5 to US sizes (making a US size 6 a Spanish size 36.5).
Spanish bra sizes are measured by centimetres rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 while UK and US sizes are measured by inches. The US go up a cup size when converting to Spanish sizes, so a UK 36C (US 36B) becomes a 95C. See the chart below.
Conversion Chart - Spain/UK/USA
Women's Clothes:
Spain UK USA
32 4 0
34 6 2
36 8 4
38 10 6
40 12 8
42 14 10
44 16 12
46 18 14
Bra Sizes:
Spain UK USA
85A 32A 32AA
90B 34B 34A
95C 36C 36B
100D 38D 38C