Dear Markus, Good letter! I hope you get results from it.
Some time ago (3 years ?) I saw an ISO standard for clothing sizes. It suggested that we use centimetre differences of 1�cm, 2�cm, and 4�cm for clothing. As I remember it, the 1 cm differences were for neck sizes; the 2 cm differences were for sleeve and leg lengths and the 4 cm differences were for chest and waist sizes. In the reference you quote: http://www.ansi.org/public/news/2002july/what_my_size.html the diagrams seem to use the 4 cm spacing for menswear but the spacings for womenswear seem to be at 1 cm intervals. Cheers, Pat Naughtin CAMS Geelong, Australia on 2002-09-26 04.36, Markus Kuhn at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I just sent the following to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and some > people on http://apparelandfootwear.org/4col.cfm?pageID=174 : > > Dear Mr. Mellian, > > I read with great interest on > > http://www.ansi.org/public/news/2002july/what_my_size.html > > a progress report about the -- in my eyes *very* needed and desireable > -- standardization of clothing labels based on real body measurements. > > The above text didn't say anything on ASTM's current plans on which > units to prefer. > > I am very curious: Do you believe that there is a realistic chance that > the upcoming new US clothing label standard will use exclusively > centimeter dimensions? > > I'd appreciate your (private, inofficial) views on this, simply out of > personal curiousity as a UK consumer who frequently buys US clothing and > has a keen interest in standardization. > > I would certainly hope that your committee will specify cm-only labels. > > The main reasons are: > > - as a consumer, I find the dual labeling still found frequently on > UK clothes confusing and inconvenient, as I always end up thinking of > my body dimensions in *both* units and then start to mix them up > > - doubling the number of dimensions listed would make the label less > readable (smaller fonts have to be used for the digits) > > - the U.S. exports significant amounts of clothing abroad and today > even very metric countries are still swamped with US jeans labeled in > inches only > > - the European Union will complete its metrication effort by > requiring all products to use metric-only labels from 2009 > > - an inch-based label would add conversion cost for both industry and > consumers when the US finally decides to fully adopt standard units > of measurement, which I believe/hope can still be expected within this > or early next decade > > - for certain dimensions (shirt neck girth or shoe length), the unit > inch is clearly to much too large, whereas integer centimeter > dimensions seem to offer an almost ideal resolution > > Best regards, > > Markus
