Last week, I shared the girls clothing size charts and even though my little man is nowhere near boys sizing, I decided to take care of it while I was at it. I had no idea that boys sizes were the same as girls — single digits from size 5 to 8 and then even numbers from 10-16. Which again, do not correspond in any way to ages.
Like I did with the baby clothing size charts, I went to the most common boys clothing brands:
- Target/Cherokee
- Brothers (boy label of Justice)
- The Children’s Place
- Gymboree
- Old Navy/The Gap
- Kohls
Boys Clothing Size Observations
Most clothing manufacturers size their girls clothing by height. Boys clothing on the other hand, offers height and waist charts about half the time. Kohls is still the odd duck, offering waist and inseam rather than waist & height.
The height charts are all pretty similar except that if your child is on the tall side, you may want to check out Brothers. Their sizing starts at size 5 and is a whole inch longer than anyone else for most age ranges.
Target brands run a lot shorter than the others. Gymboree is surprisingly similar to everyone else, but in my experience, it doesn’t seem to shrink as much as Target/Cherokee, or the Children’s Place.
Boys Clothing Sizes & Ages
Also, as I mentioned, boys clothing size charts no longer seem to correspond to age. In addition, they go by single digits from size 5 to 8 and then jump to women-type sizing of even numbers (10, 12, etc). They roughly correspond as follows:
Size 5 – ages 5-6
Size 6 – ages 6-7
Size 7 – ages 7-8
Size 7x/8 – ages 8-9
Size 10 – ages 10-11
Size 12 – ages 11-12
Size 14 – ages 12-13
Size 16 – ages 13-14
Size 18 – ages 14-15
Many brands do not make all those sizes and so I guess that at some point you just shop in the men’s section?
Downloadable Boys Size Charts
You can download a printable copy of the boys clothing size charts from size 4-18. It includes a chart of what size Small/Medium/Large correspond to for each brand, which is totally useful when resale shopping or the recipient of hand me downs!
Hope this helps!
You can also find girls clothing size charts and baby/toddler clothing size charts.