American Women's Club of London Conversions

Clothes and Shoe Sizes

Women's Regular Clothing Sizing
As a rule, most UK women's sizes are 1 or 2 sizes up from US sizes, so if you wear a 10 in the States you will probably wear a 12 or 14 in the UK.

Men's Clothing Sizing Chart
Men's sizes are by and large the same in the UK as in the US.

Kid's Clothing Sizing Chart
UK kid's clothing sizes are very similar to US sizes. They are often more closely matched with the age of the child so if the clothes are sized to fit a 6 month old they really will - not a 3 month old as they might in the States.

Shoes Sizing Chart
Both men and women's shoe sizes tend to be 1 to 2 sizes down from US sizes so if you wear a 9 in the States you will probably wear a 7 or 8 in UK sizes….but you'll probably have to try them on to know for sure!

Understanding your Oven

Making friends with your oven can help your transition to UK living a lot smoother! Basically the Celsius temperature is about half the Fahrenheit temperature. One suggestion is to bring an oven thermometer with you (in Fahrenheit) so you can tell what the temperature is in your oven.

Another facet of ovens in the UK (and Europe) is the concept of fan assisted cooking. Some ovens offer the option of fan assistance and some just give you the fan assistance all the time - you will need to check the manual that comes with the oven to know for sure. Make sure your landlord provides you with appliance manuals! Fan assistance is supposed to be an energy saving measure that helps you achieve good cooking results at a lower temperature (thus using less energy). As a rule, having the fan assisted option on will greatly increase the temperature in your oven (so you need to set the controls lower than called for in the recipe) and will shorten cooking times.

Here's some help:

	Slow	Slow	Mod	Mod	Mod hot	Mod hot	Hot	Hot	V hot
Fahrenheit	275	300	325	350	375	400	425	450	475
Celsius	140	150	165	180	190	200	220	230	240
Gas Mark	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Weights and Measures

Most English recipes use weight to determine quantities instead of volume as in the States. For that reason, most English recipes will call for so many grams or ounces of an ingredient instead of so many cups or tablespoons. To make matters more confusing, the English sometimes use Imperial measurements and sometimes use Metric so you will need to understand both to be able to follow any recipe. Do remember that unless otherwise stated, most teaspoon or tablespoon amounts assume a HEAPING tablespoon or teaspoon - not a level measure as you would expect in the States. You may find that purchasing a kitchen scale will help greatly in trying to follow UK (and European) recipes.

Weights

There are approximately 2.2 pounds per 1 kilogram so about 500 grams of mince (hamburger) is about 1 pound. The conversion for pounds to grams is to multiply # of pounds X 453.6 for # of grams. Remember there are 1000 grams per 1 kilogram!

Dry Measures - Pounds to Grams

Pounds	.25	.5	1	1.5	2	2.5	3	5	10
Grams	113.5	227	453.5	680.5	907	1.15 kg	1.4 kg	2.25 kg	4.5 kg

Dry Measures - Ounces to Grams
(To convert ounces to grams multiply # of ounces X 30 for # of grams)

Ounces	.25	.5	1	2	4	8	12	16	32
Grams	7	15	30	60	120	240	360	480	1 kg

Liquid Measures

Fluid ounces are the same but while 8 fluid ounces equals one cup in the States, 10 fluid ounces equals one UK cup (or ½ Imperial pint). An Imperial pint is 20 fluid ounces while 16 fluid ounces make up one American pint. Sometimes metric measurements are used so this information is included as well: (To convert quarts to liters multiply # of quarts X .95 for # of liters)

Liquid

Ounces	2	4	6	8	10	16	20	32
US liq. Cups	¼	½	¾	1	1 ¼	2 (1 US pint)	2½	4 (1 US qt)
UK liq. Cups					1	1.6	2 (1 UK pt)	3.2
Milliliters	60	120	180	240	300	480	600	950

1 liter = 1000 milliliters = approx. 1 ¼ US quarts = approx. 2 UK pints

Length Measures (To convert feet to meters, multiply # of feet X .3 for # of meters)

½ inch = 12 mm = 1.2 cm
.4 inches = 1 cm
1 inch = 2.5 cm
12 inches = 1 US foot = 30 cm
36 inches = 1 US yard = 90 cm
40 inches = 1 meter
1 mile = 1760 yards = 1.6 kilometers
.62 mile = 1 kilometer

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