Size guides
Why online sizing is broken, and what to do about it
Last updated 31 October 2026
Online fashion has a sizing problem
Online fashion is broken, and sizing is the broken part. There's no universal sizing standard, so each brand sets its own. When you shop online, a size can be very, very different from one brand to the next.
That is why the same number on the label can fit you in one shop and not in another.
What brands told me
I have spoken to over seven brands. Every conversation made me realise the same thing: sizing is not the issue, or at least that is what they think.
Returns cost everyone
Buying things online and having to return them is costly. It costs us as shoppers, it costs the brands, and it costs the planet too. Every item that goes back is another trip and more packaging.
Brands make clothes for their target market
Many brands design for a particular customer and a limited range of sizes. So if a brand's clothes never seem to fit you, it may simply not be made for your shape.
That's not a flaw in your body. It can mean the cut wasn't designed around it.
My advice: measure yourself, and check the chart before you size up
I would highly recommend measuring yourself and comparing your numbers with the brand's size chart. If you're between sizes and the item is one a tailor can alter, I'd consider the larger size, because a tailor can usually take fabric in more easily than let it out. That doesn't work for everything: stretch fabrics, knits, lined or structured pieces and anything with little spare seam are hard to alter, and tailoring costs money. Check the returns policy first.
Choose for your body shape, not the trend
Our bodies are different, in all shapes and all sizes. Don't always go off the trend. Go off your body shape. Every body shape is beautiful.
For example, I'm a pear shape, and some dresses make me look like a massive tent. Sometimes I need something that gives me a waist. So when you look for clothes, try to think about what looks good on your body shape.
Where Misure One fits in
Misure One is the fit app Kees and I are building for pants and jeans. You add your measurements, paste a link to a product, and get a size recommendation for that item. You don't need it to use this advice. If you'd like to measure yourself first, start with our guides on measuring your waist for jeans and measuring your inseam.
Disclosure: this site belongs to Misure One, a fit app for pants and jeans built by its founders, Kees and Caetana, so we're biased. Everything in this guide works with just a tape measure.
Common questions
Why does my size change between brands?
There's no single sizing standard, so each brand sets its own.
Should I size up?
Sometimes. If you're between sizes and the item can be altered, a larger size is often easier to fix than a smaller one, but it isn't true for every fabric or style, and tailoring costs money. Measure yourself, check the brand's chart and read the returns policy first.