What size breeches am I across brands?

Our women's breeches page says it plainly: breeches are sized by waist, some brands label in US waist sizes and some in EU sizes, and many styles also come in letter sizes, long and tall lengths and extended sizes.

For this page we read the size charts we hold for three makers: R.J. Classics' ladies' pants chart, Kerrits' breeches and riding tights charts, and Fair Play's breeches charts, which you can reach from our Fair Play page. They don't contradict each other. They speak different dialects, and the table below lists the four you'll meet most.

Our Barn Talk on European riding sizes goes deeper on the EU side, so here we stay on how the labels compare and how to measure.

Those are the patterns in the charts we read, not rules every maker follows.

R.J. Classics' ladies' pants chart lists waist beside each size, then hips, a regular inseam and a long inseam. Size 28 is a 28 inch waist and 37 inch hips; size 32 is a 32 inch waist and 41 inch hips. Kerrits' chart uses letters, each with a range. M is a 29 to 32 inch waist and 38 to 41 inch hips, and beside the letters it lists a US size, so M is also US 8 to 10. Kerrits adds that its measurements refer to your body measurements and not the exact measurements of the garment.

Now look at EU numbers. Fair Play's breeches charts label EU 34 to 44 as XS to XXL and give centimeters: on its Marley 2.0 chart, EU 38 (M) is a 74 cm waist, 92 cm hips and a 70 cm inseam. Even inside one maker the numbers move from style to style. EU 38 is 90 cm hips on its Johanna chart, 92 on Marley 2.0 and 93 on Inesa, with inseams of 70, 70 and 71 cm. Our Fair Play page carries these charts. That is why a conversion from one chart can't be carried to another, and why you should always open the chart for the style in front of you.

The table takes each size from R.J. Classics' ladies' pants chart, with its waist and hip inches, and shows where those measurements fall on Kerrits' chart. Kerrits' bootcut and riding tights charts carry the same waist and hip ranges.

Read it as a reading aid built from two published charts, not a promise that two pairs of pants will fit alike. They are different cuts from different makers, and neither chart says anything about how one fits compared with the other.

Three things stand out. At waist 32 and hips 41, you are at the top of Kerrits' M and the start of its L, so two letters fit the same numbers. At the small end, R.J. Classics' sizes 22 and 24 fall below the smallest waist on Kerrits' chart (25 inches), so no Kerrits letter matches them. And at the large end, the R.J. Classics ladies' pants chart stops at a 36 inch waist while Kerrits' goes to a 44 inch waist in its 2X. R.J. Classics' separate ladies' plus chart, 18W to 24W, covers waists of 39 to 48 inches. The same body can sit on one chart and off the edge of another.

Kerrits' chart gives the same three steps, and it works with any maker that publishes measurements.

Kerrits makes the key point on its chart: the numbers are body measurements, not the garment's measurements. So measure yourself, not a pair that already fits. Wear what you'd ride in, keep the tape level, and measure twice.

• Waist: around the smallest part of your waist, with the tape parallel to the floor.
• Hips: around the widest part of your hips, with the tape parallel to the floor.
• Inseam: the inside length of your leg, from the crotch to the bottom of your ankle.
• Rise: from the top front of the waistband to the crotch seam, which matters most for high-waisted breeches.

It is a real dilemma, and riders solve it in different ways.

The charts we read list waist, hips and inseam. None of them lists a thigh measurement. If your thighs are where you struggle, say so when you ask the maker or a retailer about a style, because the chart can't answer it for you. Charts can also overlap at the edges, as Kerrits' does at 32 inches between its M and L, so landing between two sizes doesn't mean you measured wrong.

Here is one rider's version of the problem:

Equinavia's guide defines rise this way and says a good starting rule is torso length: a longer torso and higher waist tend to sit better in high-waisted breeches, and a shorter torso and lower waist in low or mid-rise ones.

Length is its own choice. R.J. Classics' ladies' pants chart lists a regular inseam of 26 and a quarter inches in every size, and a long inseam of 28 and a quarter inches from size 24 up. Kerrits' bootcut and riding tights charts list a body inseam of 30 to 32 inches in every size and print no separate tall or petite length. Those are different styles from different makers, so don't line the numbers up; the point is that length can be a separate option from waist size, and some charts don't offer it.

We take this up in our Barn Talk on breeches for petite, tall and plus-size riders.

Fair Play's page says fit comments vary by style, and the same is true on our own women's breeches page, where one rider says a style runs large by at least a full size and another suggests ordering a size down in a denim style. Each is one rider on one style.

Reviews can help, as a tiebreaker after your tape and the chart, not instead of them. They are a crowd's view of one style, not a verdict on a brand, so read what riders say about the style in front of you.

• Which labels does this brand use: waist numbers, letters, US numbers or EU numbers?
• Measure waist, hips and inseam, and rise if you want a high-waisted style, in the clothes you'd ride in.
• Open the chart for that style, not just the brand. Check whether it lists body or garment measurements.
• Look at the edges: does your waist or hips sit between two sizes, or beyond the largest or smallest row?
• Check the length options on the style's chart before you check the waist; some charts list one inseam for every size.
• Use Find Your Fit on our women's breeches page to jump to waist, letter, and long and tall sizes.
• Treat reviews as a tiebreaker, one rider and one style at a time.