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What do old vintage sizes W, WMS, WX, OS and XOS mean?
A puzzling system of sizing was often used on British vintage labels, called the 'Alpha' system.
Vintage sizes such as 'WMS', 'WX', 'OS' and 'XOS' can be difficult to understand these days and the actual sizes varied quite a bit between manufacturers. A vintage sizing comparison chart like the one below can only give approximate guidance. Therefore our advice would be to use this vintage system of sizing as a very rough guide only and use the actual measurements of each garment instead - only that way can you be absolutely sure of accuracy.
- W / WMS size means 'Women's' (Standard)
- WX size means 'Women's Extra'
- OS size means 'Outsize'
- XOS size means 'Extra Outsize'
British made garments displaying the same size regularly had a margin of error of up to 2 inches until 1951 when the BS1445 standard was introduced in order to inspire trust and confidence in sizing for shoppers.
To make matters more confusing still there was a similar but different system in use in mid-century Australia that appears to be finer than the British system and used terms such as XSSW, SSW, SW, W, SOS, OS and XOS.
A British newspaper ad from 1958 showing vintage sizes like WMS, WX and OS.