Our standard base sizes are stated in centimetres. Lace wig sizes are stated in inches. Mixing the two is the most expensive mistake in this trade, and it happens on almost every first order.
The short answer
A topper or toupee base described as 7 × 10 in our catalogue is 7 × 10 centimetres — about 2.8 × 3.9 inches. It is not seven by ten inches, which would be 17.8 × 25.4 cm, roughly six and a half times the area.
A lace wig described as 13 × 4 or 5 × 5 is in inches, because closure and frontal sizes are an international convention that nobody states in centimetres.
If a quotation ever looks surprisingly cheap or surprisingly large, this is the first thing to check.
Our standard base sizes, in both units
| Centimetres | Inches | Area |
|---|---|---|
| 5 × 8 cm | 2.0 × 3.1 in | 40 cm² |
| 7 × 10 cm | 2.8 × 3.9 in | 70 cm² |
| 8 × 12 cm | 3.1 × 4.7 in | 96 cm² |
| 9 × 14 cm | 3.5 × 5.5 in | 126 cm² |
| 10 × 12 cm | 3.9 × 4.7 in | 120 cm² |
| 12 × 13 cm | 4.7 × 5.1 in | 156 cm² |
| 13 × 15 cm | 5.1 × 5.9 in | 195 cm² |
| 16 × 18 cm | 6.3 × 7.1 in | 288 cm² |
We cut to any size you specify, including on a sample. These eight are simply the ones already set up on the bench, so they carry no extra charge and no extra days.
Why the confusion is built into the industry
Hairpieces grew up in two places at once. Wig caps and lace panels were standardised in the English-speaking trade, so closures are 4 × 4, frontals are 13 × 4, and cap circumference is quoted in inches. Hand-tied bases, on the other hand, were made to order by workshops that measured with the ruler on the bench — and in Vietnam, Korea and China that ruler is metric.
So a single order form can legitimately carry both units. A 5 × 5 closure and a 9 × 14 base are both correct, and they are not in the same measuring system.
How to avoid the error in one line
Write the unit every time, on both sides of the conversation. “6 × 8 inches (15.2 × 20.3 cm)” takes four extra characters and removes the problem permanently.
We now do this on every quotation we send. If you receive a specification from us without units on it, ask — it is our mistake, not yours.
Converting it yourself
One inch is 2.54 centimetres. To go from inches to centimetres, multiply by 2.54. To go the other way, divide.
The trap is that the error compounds across two dimensions. A base quoted in the wrong unit is not 2.54 times wrong; it is 6.45 times wrong by area, because both sides scale. That is why a unit mistake produces a piece that is obviously, visibly incorrect rather than slightly off.
Measuring a head for a topper
Part the hair where the client parts it, and measure the area of thinning from front to back and side to side. Add roughly one centimetre on each side so the base sits under healthy hair rather than at the edge of the gap.
Send us the two numbers and the unit you used. We will confirm both readings back to you before anything is cut.