In antiquity, systems of measurement were defined locally: the different units might be defined independently according to the length of a king's thumb or the size of his foot, the length of stride, the length of arm, or maybe the weight of water in a keg of specific size, perhaps itself defined in hands and knuckles.
Systems of Measurement: there are two main systems of measurement in the world: the Metric (or decimal) system and the US standard system. ... The US Standard system uses units that have no predictable relationship to each other. For example, there are 2 cups in a pint, but 4 quarts in a gallon.
Local measurements differ from standard measurement (metric) through the westernization of the metric system.
Basically, farmers a while ago decided that learning the metric system was too difficult so they created a new system that catered to them.
In fashion history ; vanity sizing is this odd way to size things that became popularized in and around the 90s. It messed up the way we size garments today. E.g. for pants (or bottoms) you’d measure your natural waist (usually just above your bellybutton) then your hips (usually the largest part of your body) then if your hip measurement is greater than 10 inches past your waist measurement your in good hands, this is standard. If you are more then that, you have a great butt that standard sizes simply cannot contain, add to your waist measurement.
