What Is Sizing Like at Caroll?

Caroll sizes in standard French ready-to-wear numbers and, from years of fitting clients in it, runs true to size with a neat, slightly tailored Parisian cut — so a Caroll 38 is your UK 10, a 40 is your UK 12, and so on. It’s one of those grown-up French labels that does the quiet, polished thing brilliantly: proper tailoring, fine knitwear, blouses that actually tuck and dresses that hold their shape. Get the French numbering straight and you can shop it with total confidence.

I’ll be honest with you — the very first time I styled a client in Caroll, I nearly sized her up out of habit, because the silhouette looks so structured on the hanger. It didn’t need it, and we’d have ruined the line of a beautiful blazer. That little lesson is exactly the sort of thing worth knowing before you order.

How Caroll Sizing Actually Works

Caroll labels everything in French numbers, which trips up a lot of UK shoppers. Here’s the simple version, no maths degree required:

A French 36 is a UK 8 (their S)
A French 38 is a UK 10 (their M)
A French 40 is a UK 12 (their L)
A French 42 is a UK 14 (their XL)

The shortcut I give clients: knock 28 off the French number and you’ve roughly got your UK size — 38 minus 28 lands you at a 10. It’s the same logic across most French houses, so once you’ve cracked it for Caroll, you’ve cracked it for half of Paris.

The Caroll Fit: What to Expect

Caroll cuts for a classic French frame — clean through the waist, neat in the shoulder, not a lot of stretch in the structured pieces. From fitting it on real bodies, here’s my honest read piece by piece:

Tailoring and jackets run true, but trim through the back and arms. If you’re broader across the shoulders or fuller-busted, size up one for blazers.
Blouses and shirts are cut close at the bust — this is the recurring fit flag. Anyone above a C cup should take the next size up for button-fronts to avoid gaping.
Knitwear is generally true to size and holds its shape rather than growing through the day.
Dresses sit on the slimmer side of true-to-size, especially belted and wrap styles, which assume a defined waist.
Trousers are a real strength — proper waistbands, genuine tailoring — but they’re cut for a straighter hip, so curvier figures often size up and take the waist in.

My rule with Caroll: if you’re between sizes, or you carry it on the bust or hip, take the larger and let a good tailor do the rest. The fabrics absolutely justify it.

Styling Caroll Like a Parisian

The whole point of Caroll is effortless, grown-up French dressing, so please don’t over-think it. A few stylist notes I’d give any client walking out of the fitting room:

Let the tailoring lead. A Caroll blazer over a white tee and straight jeans is the entire Parisian formula.
Keep accessories quiet — gold hoops, a leather tote, a neat flat or a kitten heel.
Lean into the knitwear. A fine-gauge Caroll jumper tucked into wide trousers reads expensive for not very much.
Stick to a tight palette: navy, camel, ecru and black. Caroll does these beautifully and they all talk to one another.

Where Else to Shop If You Love Caroll

If Caroll’s classic-French register is your thing, here’s where I’d send clients across the price spectrum — chosen specifically because they share that polished, tailored Parisian DNA.

High Street

Massimo Dutti — the closest high-street match for Caroll’s elevated tailoring and European cut; near-identical sizing logic too.
Mango — sharp blazers and blouses at a fraction of the price; their tailoring punches well above its weight.
Whistles — clean, modern British tailoring with the same understated polish.
Jigsaw — grown-up, quietly luxe separates and knitwear; very Caroll in spirit.
Hobbs — classic workwear, occasion dresses and proper coats for exactly this customer.
Reiss — sharper and more occasion-led, but excellent for tailored dresses and blazers.
COS — minimalist, architectural pieces in the same EU sizing, ideal for pared-back days.

Premium & Contemporary

Sézane — the cult Parisian label that owns this exact look; the blouses and knits are a love letter to French style.
Ba&sh — soft, feminine French tailoring with genuinely brilliant dresses.
Sandro — a touch more fashion-forward, superb for structured jackets.

Luxury & Designer

Max Mara — the gold standard for camel coats and grown-up tailoring; the upgrade everything aspires to.
Joseph — impeccable trousers and knitwear, and the quiet-luxury benchmark.

And Two Off-Radar Names I Love

Sessùn — a Marseille-based independent doing soft, considered French separates with real character and gorgeous prints.
Bellerose — an understated Belgian label with beautifully relaxed tailoring and shirting; criminally underrated in the UK.

Never Guess Your Caroll Size Again

Here’s the honest truth after twenty-odd years of styling: French sizing is the single most common reason a beautiful piece gets returned. You don’t need to memorise conversions, and you certainly don’t need to gamble on a 38. That’s exactly why we built Tellar.

Tellar is the UK’s leading sizing tool — your body matched exactly to 1,500-plus brands instantly, so you never have to squint at a size guide again.

Measure once, using your bust, waist, hip or simply your existing size in a brand you already own.
Use the Store Size Lookup tool to get your precise size in any brand — Caroll, COS, Reiss, Everlane, Arket and more.
Always free, no downloads, works straight in your browser.

And once you’ve sorted your size, the Tellar Fashion Hub is a whole library of free posts from our top stylists — honest, unbiased, independent and always free. Style advice, top picks and the best brands for every body and budget.

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