I have never worn a dress, but I've learned that dress sizes are worse than feeble guidance. They have become, for certain brands and items, a sales lever. And

I have never worn a dress, but I've learned that dress sizes are worse than feeble guidance. They have become, for certain brands and items, a sales lever. And a subtly cruel one one at that. Menswear brands creep ever closer to parity. Measure waist and leg on a pair of new Levi's sometime! I like European shoe sizing for putting everyone on scale: men, women, adults, children, everyone. But I understand those sizes refer to last length, rather than foot length. The higher numbers lend a sense of precision, but the limiting factor is what shoe lasts the manufacture uses, not how they number them. Europeans measure in Paris points, or 2/3 of a centimeter. The US and UK measure in barleycorns, or 1/3 of an inch. 1/3 * 1 in * 2.54 cm per in = 0.847 cm, which is very close. And there are often half sizes. There is a pretty, clean, uniform system, Mondopoint, which makes a lot more sense. Basically nobody uses it. Ski boots, I'm told. The wiser online sellers publish fit tables based on heel-toe length, Imperial and metric. When they offer different widths, they publish tables with ball circumferences. Not linear widths, like Brannocks measure.