Understanding Luxury Fashion Sizing: Why It Runs Small and How to Get the Right Fit
Author: Stylist and brand team at TellarDate: 2025
In the world of fashion, luxury brands are revered for their craftsmanship, exclusivity, and design innovation. But when it comes to sizing, they’re also infamous for being inconsistent—often running significantly smaller than high street or mass-market labels. If you’ve ever tried on your usual size in a designer boutique only to find it impossibly tight, you’re not imagining things.
This article explores why luxury sizing tends to run small, how it compares across regions and brands, and how platforms like Tellar.co.uk are using data to eliminate guesswork from the equation.
1. The Origins of Luxury Sizing Standards
a. European Size Legacy
Many luxury houses originate in France, Italy, or Japan, and their sizing systems reflect traditional regional metrics. These were established decades ago and have evolved little since. For example:
- French sizing typically uses a base-36 system (e.g., 36, 38, 40), where a French 38 roughly equates to a UK 10—but often fits more like a UK 8.
- Italian sizing runs even smaller. An IT 42 may claim to match a UK 10 but often mirrors a high street UK 8 in cut and fit.
- Japanese sizing is based on a more petite national average and tends to run significantly smaller across bust, hip and length dimensions.
Most luxury brands have retained these original scales for consistency across global markets—even as average body measurements have increased worldwide.
2. Designer Fit Models and Sample Sizing
Luxury garments are typically developed using fit models who are slimmer, taller, and have more symmetrical proportions than the average consumer. These models usually wear a base size that becomes the reference for grading other sizes.
Sample Size Bias
Luxury collections are often produced first in a sample size (usually 36 or 38 EU) for runway or press purposes. Since collections are only graded after the sample is approved, any small-scale fitting issue can get amplified across the size range.
3. Exclusivity and Brand Positioning
Luxury fashion is as much about perception as product. A smaller size scale subtly reinforces:
- Exclusivity: Fewer people “fit” the brand, increasing aspirational value.
- Aesthetic control: Designs are meant to drape and fall in very specific ways, often on straight frames.
- Cultural capital: Certain silhouettes or body types become “standard” within luxury spaces, setting unrealistic expectations for fit.
This is why luxury fashion often eschews inclusive sizing entirely, rarely offering sizes beyond EU 44 (UK 16) and often stopping at EU 42 (UK 14) in mainlines.
4. Fabric Composition and Fit Tolerance
Luxury pieces are constructed from natural, high-quality fibres—like silk, virgin wool, cashmere, and crepe de chine. These materials:
- Do not stretch the way synthetic blends do
- Offer limited forgiveness if the size isn’t exact
- Are cut with extreme precision to maintain structure and silhouette
5. Brand-Specific Sizing Differences
Even among luxury labels, fit varies drastically. For example:
- Dior: French sizing, highly tailored; jackets and dresses tend to run 1-2 sizes small.
- Saint Laurent: Very slim in shoulders and hips.
- Isabel Marant: Slim-fit across most categories.
- Dolce & Gabbana: Structured bust and waist, especially in dresses.
- Jacquemus: Cut small in both width and length.
6. The Sizing Gap: Real vs Labelled
If you're a UK 10 (M) in Zara, this is how your “real size” might shift across luxury brands:
- Zara (UK 10, M) -> Dior EU 42 (UK 12–14)
- COS (UK 10, M) -> Celine EU 40 or 42
- Reiss (UK 10, M) -> Dolce & Gabbana IT 44
7. How Tellar.co.uk Solves the Sizing Problem
Tellar.co.uk matches your actual body measurements or known brand size to a database of over 1,500+ brands. This means:
- If you’re a UK 10 in Reiss, Tellar can tell you what size you’ll need in Balmain or Valentino.
- If you’ve measured your bust, waist and hips, Tellar will return the closest matching size in luxury brands based on real garment data.
How It Works:
1. Visit Tellar.co.uk
2. Create your free profile
3. Choose between entering body measurements or selecting a brand and size
4. Instantly get size recommendations for luxury and high street brands
8. How to Shop Smarter for Luxury Pieces
Tips:
- Always check the fabric composition
- Know the origin of the sizing
- Compare measurements in CM or Inches
- Use Tellar.co.uk for exact brand conversion
9. Stay Informed
Follow Tellar.co.uk for more brand-specific guides and sizing insights:
- Instagram: @Tellarsizing
- Pinterest: TellarUK
- Twitter (X): @Tellar100
- Facebook: TellarSizing
Final Word
Luxury fashion demands attention to detail—and sizing is one of the most overlooked. But with Tellar.co.uk, it doesn’t have to be guesswork anymore. Whether you're shopping Celine, Saint Laurent or Dior, our real-time fit technology makes luxury sizing accessible, accurate and stress-free.
Find your size in 1,500+ brands real-time. It’s free & easy. Start now at Tellar.co.uk
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