Two size charts can put the same child in different sizes without either being wrong, because they are not measuring the same thing. One publishes the child's body. One publishes the space inside a boot. One publishes nothing but an age. Working out which kind you are holding is most of the job.
What a chart's centimetres actually refer to
Across the charts behind the winter kit on this site, the numbers are one of three things.
- Body measurements. Height, chest, waist and hips taken on the child. The row names the body that size is cut for, not the dimensions of the garment.
- Insole length. The space inside the boot, which is longer than the foot that goes into it.
- Age bands. No measurement at all.
A chart that gives a chest figure without saying whether it describes the child or the garment laid flat is not one you can act on, because those are two different numbers for the same garment.
What each chart publishes
| Chart | What its numbers are | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Perlimpinpin two-piece snowsuit | Height, chest and waist on the body | Sizes 2 to 12, from 83 cm |
| Deux par Deux merino-blend base-layer set | Height, chest, waist and hips on the body | Sizes 2/3 to 12/14, from 82 cm |
| Deux par Deux baby one-piece snowsuit | Height, chest, waist and hips on the body | Sizes 6m to 24m, from 61 cm |
| Deux par Deux Brown Sugar winter boots | Insole length inside the boot | Sizes 8T to 6Y |
| Deux par Deux baby knit hat | Maker age bands, checked against a general body-height ladder. No head chart is published | 3/6m to 18/24m |
| Deux par Deux TEKNIK mittens | Age bands, checked against a numeric body-height ladder. No hand chart is published | Sizes 2/3 to 15/16 |
| Nanö body and hand charts | Height, chest, waist, hips, body circumference and outside leg length; hand length and hand circumference by age band | Sizes 3m to 8; hand bands from ages 2-4 to 14-16 |
The last row is a chart Habier has read and holds rather than one attached to something on this site. No product listed here is sized from it today.
Why being between sizes in one brand says nothing about another
The charts start in different places. The Perlimpinpin snowsuit chart begins at 83 cm and the Deux par Deux base-layer chart at 82 cm, while the Deux par Deux baby snowsuit chart begins at 61 cm and stops at 86 cm. A child who is off the bottom of one chart can sit in the middle of another.
The labels are different systems rather than different numbers. Perlimpinpin sells single labels such as 3 and 5. The base layer sells paired labels such as 2/3 and 4/5. The baby suit sells month labels such as 18m. A 4 and a 4/5 are not half a size apart. They come from different ladders.
Some rows carry two sold sizes at once. Perlimpinpin puts 3X and 4 on one row of its chart, and 6X with 7 on another. The chart publishes nothing that separates them, so no amount of careful reading will tell you which of the two to order.
One chart is not measuring the child at all. The Deux par Deux boot chart lists insole length, and the maker's own method is to measure the foot standing, add about 2 cm, then read that line. A foot length taken straight to that chart returns a smaller size than the maker's own method returns.
Some products publish only an age. Deux par Deux sizes its TEKNIK mittens by age band and publishes no hand chart. Perlimpinpin states on its own chart that age is for reference only.
What this changes when you read a chart
Take the measurement the chart asks for, read that product's own chart, and stop there. A size that fits in one brand is a fact about that brand. It is not an input to the next one.
Next, how to take the measurements the charts ask for. For a size on each piece of the kit against its own maker chart, send the measurements through the Fit Finder.