A Comparative Study of National Standard and Sizing Survey between the UK and South Korea

In the infant and childrenswear market, some unsolved issues exist such as unsatisfactory fitting,
size discordance, growing rate of return at the online markets despite the various trials and
research from garment manufacturers, governments, and academia. Studies about national
standards and sizing surveys for childrenswear also have been presented but these data are
modified, revised and altered when they are adjusted into rapidly changing body sizes. In this
sense, an updated sizing study using the recent data is required. The comparative approach in
this study has been used in a cross-national comparison to achieve a variety of objectives. The
UK and South Korea being Western and Eastern countries are selected due to their distinctive
differences of ethnic, anthropometric and geographic aspects. The comparative materials of the
UK and South Korea were their national industrial standards (British Standards and Korean
Industrial Standards) and national sizing surveys for children (6th SizeKorea and Shape GB)
which were collected electronically from their official websites. A systematic descriptive study
of the industrial standards and sizing surveys in the UK and South Korea was conducted at the
first stage. Next, new empirical works were presented from the existing collected materials and
the comparison data was provided as textual data as well as tables and graphs. Children and
young adults aged 7 to 17 were selected to identify conditions of the anthropometric comparison.
It was found that national standards for infants and childrenswear in the UK and South Korea
have distinctive differences with regard to terminology, size designation of clothes, body
measurements, and specification of dimension and sizing intervals. In comparing the sizing
surveys, the 6th SizeKorea survey measured more subjects than the Shape GB survey and it also
provides raw data of result with more body measurements. Some measurement terminology and
methods of both countries did not correspond with their national standards and also differ
between the two countries distinctively. It is expected that this study will help to develop an
improved sizing system with the potential to cross continents and the development of an
international sizing standard as to further assist global garment manufacturers and international
consumers.