Why Your Size Changes Between Brands (And How to Buy Anyway)
You are a 12 in one shop, a 16 in another, and a large in a third. Nothing about your body changed between those three fitting rooms. What changed was the pattern block each brand cut from, and there is no law anywhere that says those blocks have to agree.
There is no standard, and there never really was
Clothing sizes in the US descend from a 1940s survey of mostly white, mostly young women, standardised into a commercial sizing system that was formally withdrawn as a US standard in 1983. Since then, sizing has been whatever each brand decides it is.
That is not a conspiracy. It is an absence — no regulator stepped in to replace what was withdrawn, so brands cut to whatever fit model and customer they had in mind.
Vanity sizing, and why it compounds
Over the decades many brands quietly relabelled larger garments with smaller numbers, because customers respond well to fitting into a smaller size. The effect compounds: a size 8 today is considerably larger than a size 8 from the 1960s, and brands that resisted the drift now read as “running small” when in fact they simply did not move.
This is why “does it run small?” is a question with no universal answer. It runs small relative to what?
Five reasons the same size fits differently
- Different fit models. Every brand fits its samples on one real body, then grades up and down from there. If that body is not shaped like yours, the grade will not flatter you.
- Different ease. Two brands can use identical body measurements and add different amounts of room. One reads as fitted, the other as relaxed.
- Different grading rules. How much is added per size is a choice. Some brands add evenly; others add more to the waist than the bust as sizes increase.
- Different fabric. A four-way stretch knit and a woven cotton at the same measurements fit nothing alike.
- Different target customer. Sizing follows who the brand thinks it is selling to, which is why the same number behaves differently across market segments.
How to buy anyway
Measure yourself once, properly, and write it down
Bust, waist, hips, and your height. Keep it in your phone. Ten minutes now saves every future order. The method is in our measuring guide.
Read the garment chart, every time
Even within a single brand. Even within a single category. A fitted bodysuit and a tiered skirt are not sized on the same logic.
Know which measurement is load-bearing
For most dresses it is the bust. For skirts and trousers it is the hips. Size for the one that cannot be adjusted or forgiven, and accept ease elsewhere.
Factor in the fabric
High-stretch knits give you a size of tolerance in either direction. Wovens give you none. When in doubt on a woven, go up.
Ignore the letter entirely
The most freeing habit. The letter is marketing. The chart is information.
Why we size the way we do
Our range runs XS to 7XL and our fitted cuts are closer to international sizing than to US high-street sizing, which means many customers take one size up from what they expect. We would rather say that plainly than let you find out after you have ordered.
Everything is made to order, so there is no bin of returns to pick a replacement from. That raises the cost of a sizing mistake for both of us, and it is why we would rather over-explain than under-explain.
Questions we get
Should I just order my usual size?
Only if you have checked it against the chart. Your usual size is a summary of other brands decisions, not a measurement.
Why do sizes differ between your own products?
Because a wrap dress, a tube top set and a pair of yoga shorts are engineered differently. The chart on each product page reflects that garment specifically.
Is there a universal conversion chart?
No, and any chart claiming otherwise is approximating. Convert through measurements in centimetres or inches, never through size labels.
