Size guide

Every product page carries the measured spec for the size you have selected - chest, waist, inseam, shoulder - taken flat off the garment itself rather than off a body. This page explains how to use those numbers and get the size right first time.

1. The one method that works

Measure something you already own and like the fit of, then match the numbers.

This beats measuring yourself, and it beats guessing from a size label. A garment you already wear has already answered the question of how you like things to sit; all that remains is to find the piece here with the closest numbers.

It takes about two minutes and it is the difference between one parcel and two.

2. How to measure a garment you own

Lay it flat on a table, not on a bed, and smooth it out without stretching it.

• Chest: across the garment from armpit to armpit, then double it.
• Waist: across the narrowest point, then double it.
• Length: from the highest point of the shoulder straight down to the hem.
• Shoulder: from the seam at one shoulder across the back to the other.
• Sleeve: from the shoulder seam to the end of the cuff.
• Inseam: along the inside leg from the crotch seam to the hem.

Our specs are given the same way, so the two sets of numbers are directly comparable.

3. What the numbers are not

They are measurements of the garment, not of the body that fits it.

A 40 inch chest on a product page does not mean it fits a 40 inch chest. A relaxed shirt might measure 44 to fit the same person a fitted one fits at 41. This is why matching against something you own works and comparing against your own chest does not.

4. Between two sizes

The fit notes on each product say which way to go, because it genuinely differs by cut.

• A boxy or relaxed piece usually works at the smaller size.
• A fitted or tailored piece usually works at the larger.
• Anything you intend to layer over usually works at the larger.
• Anything knitted will relax slightly with wear and usually works at the smaller.

Where a product runs noticeably small or large for its label, the page says so. A return that one sentence could have prevented is a failure of that sentence.

5. Denim

Rigid denim relaxes about half an inch in the waist over the first month. Our fit notes account for that, so take the size the note recommends rather than sizing up for comfort - a waist that is comfortable on day one is a waist that is loose by day thirty.

Denim with elastane in it does not do this to the same degree, and the fabric panel on the page says which you are looking at.

Inseam is given unhemmed where a style is sold unhemmed, and the page says which.

6. Knitwear

Knitted pieces measure smaller flat than they wear, because the fabric gives.

Take the measured chest as a minimum rather than a target. A merino crew measuring 40 across will wear comfortably on a 40 chest; a woven shirt measuring 40 will not.

7. Outerwear

Measure over what you intend to wear underneath.

A coat that fits perfectly over a shirt is a coat that does not close over a knit. If you plan to layer, measure the layered combination and match that.

8. Shirts

Two numbers matter more than the rest: the shoulder and the chest.

A shoulder seam should sit at the edge of your shoulder, not down your arm and not above it. Shoulders are the one thing an alteration cannot fix cheaply, so match them first and let the body be adjusted later if you want it closer.

9. International sizes

Where a product is sized S to XL, the measured spec is the authority and the letter is a label.

Where a product is sized by number, the number follows the convention of US and the measured spec is still the authority. If you normally buy in a different system, ignore the number and match the measurements.

10. If it still arrives wrong

Send it back. That is what the window is for, and nobody will ask you to justify it.

If you tell us what was wrong - too short in the body, too tight across the shoulder - it goes into the notes for the next run of that pattern. A good proportion of the fit notes on this site were written by somebody's return.