Knickers Manufacturing and Sizing: UK Terminology, Blocks and What to Specify (2026)

Quick answer. Knickers is the British English term for women’s underwear, and it is the word a buyer in the UK, Ireland, Australia or New Zealand is most likely to use. The garment is the same one a US buyer calls panties, but three things follow the term: the size system, the labelling convention and the way the brief is written. A programme that specifies only in US terms tends to stall at the sample stage.

1. The term, and why it matters commercially

• Knickers. British English for women’s underwear. Standard in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
• Panties. The US equivalent — the word most US and many European buyers use.
• Briefs or undies. Also current in British usage, with “briefs” more common in retail and “undies” in informal speech.
• A second meaning. In sport and some older usage, knickers also refers to knee-length breeches. In an underwear context the meaning is clear, but stating the category removes the ambiguity.

The commercial consequence is straightforward: the same product is searched, briefed and quoted under two different words. A page or a quotation written only in US terms is invisible to a UK buyer using the term they grew up with.

2. What follows the term into the specification

• The size system. UK sizing runs 8, 10, 12, 14 and so on — a different scale from the US 2, 4, 6 or the EU 36, 38, 40. The three are not interchangeable labels on one chart.
• The pattern block. A UK block and a US block differ in rise and hip proportion, so a range sold in both needs two grades rather than one relabelled.
• The labelling convention. Fibre content and care information are required in both markets, but the format and the mandatory wording differ.
• The brief itself. A tech pack written in US terminology and sent to a supplier who works mainly with UK buyers invites a round of clarification rather than a sample.

3. Size: the part that most often goes wrong

• Confirm the system explicitly. UK 12, US 6 and EU 38 are different garments, and a chart that lists them side by side implies a conversion that does not hold across a whole range.
• Grade per system. Each system has its own increments, so a grade built on one system cannot simply be relabelled into another.
• Check the ends. The smallest and largest sizes in a UK band are where a US-derived block shows first.
• Expect a second block for extended sizes. Extending a band usually needs a re-graded set rather than more sizes on the same block.

4. The specification decisions

• Silhouette by measurement. Brief, bikini, hipster, boyshort and thong are cut differently in both markets — state leg opening and rise rather than the name.
• Gusset and lining. Its own fibre and construction; the item that accounts for most comfort complaints.
• Fabric, blend and weight. Fibre, blend ratio and weight in g/m², with a small elastane percentage for recovery.
• Waistband and leg-opening elastic. Both stress points, both cost lines.
• Labelling. Fibre and care content in the format the destination market requires, with the size stated in that market’s system.

5. MOQ, lead time and development

• Minimum. Around 2,000 pieces per style and colour, with trials from about 1,000.
• Two-market ranges. Selling the same style in the UK and the US doubles the grading commitment, not the minimum — the pattern and grading cost scale with markets, the fabric does not.
• Sampling. 7–10 days on a stock block, 12–18 days for full custom development.
• Bulk production. 45–60 days after pre-production sample approval, 30–40 days on a repeat.
• Sea freight. 30–35 days to Europe or the UK.
• Peak season. August to October adds 10–15 days.

6. Common errors

• Treating UK, US and EU sizes as one chart. They are different increments and different blocks.
• Briefing in one market’s terminology. A tech pack that names neither the size system nor the market invites the wrong sample.
• Assuming the gusset transfers. It is usually a different fibre from the body and it belongs on its own line in either market.
• Overlooking the labelling format. The content is required in both markets, but the required wording is not identical.
• Relabelling rather than regrading. A US block with a UK label produces a garment that measures correctly and fits wrongly.
• Forgetting the second market’s minimum. Selling into two markets multiplies the grade count, which is where the cost sits.

7. How to compare two quotations

• Size system named. UK, US or EU, stated rather than implied.
• Silhouette by measurement. Leg opening and rise, not the style name alone.
• Gusset and lining on their own line. Fibre and construction stated.
• Labelling format stated. Which market’s convention the price includes.
• Minimum basis, trade term and validity. Per style and colour, FOB and the port, plus how long the figure stands.

Published: 2026-10-13 · Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. — OEM & ODM underwear sourcing partner

Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — OEM/ODM underwear sourcing and supply-chain partner in Xiamen, China; in the trade since 2009, incorporated in 2013. Based in the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear cluster, Fujian Province, south-east China.