Every listing carries its own flat-measurement chart. This page explains how those numbers were taken so you can compare them with something you already own.
Measurements are taken flat, with the garment laid out and any stretch relaxed, and are given in centimetres. Bust and chest are measured across the front at the widest point and doubled.
Compare the chart against a garment you already like rather than against a size label, because labels differ between makers. Where your measurements fall between two sizes, take the larger for anything fitted and the smaller for anything loose — and read the fit note on the listing, since we say which is which. If you sit between two, take the larger.
Hand-measured garments vary, so every chart carries a tolerance of around one and a half centimetres. Where a fabric stretches, the chart gives both the relaxed and the stretched measurement, which matters on knitwear and on anything with an elastic waist.
Measure around the fullest part, keeping the tape level under the arms and not pulling it tight. A tape that rides up at the back reads short, so check in a mirror or ask someone to check the line for you. If the tape slopes at the back you will read two or three centimetres small, which is the most common measuring error we see.
Find your natural waist by bending sideways: the crease that forms is it. Trouser charts use the waist, skirt charts can use either, and the listing says which. For trousers and skirts the listing states which of the two drives the size, because a straight-cut pair sits on the waist and a low-rise pair does not.
For tops, length runs from the shoulder seam to the hem. For bottoms, the inseam runs from the crotch seam to the leg opening.
Flat measurements are the only ones a customer can reproduce at home: the garment is laid on a table and measured across, not around. Where a chart gives a circumference it says so explicitly, because a doubled flat measurement is not the same as a body measurement and confusing the two is what produces a return. If a chart ever reads suspiciously large for the stated size, it is a circumference — the points column will confirm it.
Take the larger size on anything close-fitting or unlined, and the smaller on loose, straight-cut pieces where a little extra room simply reads as a relaxed fit. For relaxed and boxy cuts, size down. Where a chart shows the two sizes are nearly identical apart from the hem, pick on length. And if you are still unsure, write to us with the measurement you want and we will tell you which column to choose.
Take the garment you like, lay it flat, and measure it the way we measured ours: across the chest, across the waist, down the length. Do not pull the fabric taut, because a stretch knit measured under tension reads several centimetres wider than it wears.
Match numbers rather than a label. Where chest points at one size and length at another, decide which matters more for how you will wear it — and if you would rather not guess, send us the measurements and we will pick the column for you.
Questions about this page? Write to [email protected] and we will answer within one business day.