What Is Sizing Like at Courrèges?

Courrèges runs small and is cut deliberately close to the body, so as a rule I'd take your usual size and only size up if you're between sizes or planning to layer. It's a brand built on precision — those razor-sharp A-lines and cropped jackets only look right when the fit is spot on — so a little sizing know-how goes a long way before you commit.

I've styled enough Courrèges over the years to know it divides people. Get the size right and you feel like you've stepped straight out of a 1965 Paris atelier. Get it wrong and a beautiful (expensive) jacket ends up languishing at the back of the wardrobe. So here's everything I'd tell a client before they buy.

How Courrèges sizing actually works

Courrèges uses French numeric sizing rather than UK numbers, so you'll see 34, 36, 38, 40 and upwards on the label. As a rough orientation, the smallest end of their womenswear sits around a UK 6, climbing one French increment for each UK size up — but I'd never shop on the number alone here. The cut does far more talking than the label does.

The headline is this: it runs small, and it runs tight. That's intentional. Courrèges garments are designed to skim and contour, not float. The shoulders in particular are cut narrow, which is the single most common reason a piece feels "off" when it arrives.

The pieces that catch people out

The vinyl and cropped jackets — the brand's signature and the trickiest for fit. They're meant to sit close and be worn open, with very little ease through the shoulder and bust. If you want any layering room, size up. I once watched a client fall head over heels for a 36 she physically couldn't raise her arms in — the 38 was the one, and she still thanks me for it.
The knitwear — highly elastic and beautifully stretchy, but engineered to hug. If your bust and hips are fairly proportionate it's accurate to size; if you're curvier up top, size up so it skims rather than clings.
The A-line minis and dresses — the icon. More forgiving through the body, but cropped in the torso, so if you're long in the back they can sit higher than you'd expect. Mind the length as much as the fit.

My honest fitting advice

Start from your measurements, not your "usual" number — French sizing will mislead you otherwise.
Between sizes? Size up. The close cut is far less forgiving than a high-street equivalent.
Buying a jacket to layer over knits? Size up as standard.
Check the shoulder width first on anything structured — it's the make-or-break measurement here.
Remember vinyl has no give, unlike the knits. What you try on is what you get.

Where to find the Courrèges look on the high street

You don't need a designer budget to channel that sleek, space-age mod aesthetic. For clean lines and modern tailoring, Whistles is my first stop — their minimalist dresses and structured separates have the same precise quality. Warehouse does a brilliant line in 60s-inspired A-line minidresses for a fraction of the price, and Topshop is reliable for mod-revival shapes. For body-contouring fine-gauge knits that mimic the Courrèges hug, Uniqlo is unbeatable value, while Mint Velvet offers slightly more relaxed-luxe stretch knits. And if you want the cropped jacket moment, All Saints has the structured leather and biker shapes nailed.

Premium picks worth the step up

Moving up a tier, Massimo Dutti is the one I recommend most for that elevated, architectural feel — gorgeous tailored coats and knitwear with real polish. Reiss brings sharp, body-conscious tailoring and clean dresses, and Me&Em is the master of clever, body-skimming cuts that flatter without clinging. For genuine French-house attitude at a more accessible price, Claudie Pierlot carries that very Parisian mod-meets-modern energy.

Luxury and designer alternatives

If you're shopping in Courrèges' own world, the closest spiritual cousins are Paco Rabanne for space-age, chainmail-adjacent glamour, Alaïa for body-sculpting knits done to absolute perfection, and Mugler for sharp, futuristic tailoring. Any of the three scratch the same itch.

Two independents to know

I always like to send clients somewhere a little less obvious. Paloma Wool, the cult Barcelona label, makes sculptural, playful, colour-blocked pieces with a genuinely arty sensibility that sits beautifully alongside Courrèges. And Aligne, an independent London brand, does sleek, retro-modern shapes with a sustainable backbone — perfect if you want the mod silhouette with a conscience.

Sizing made simple with Tellar

Working out your size across this many labels — French numbering, body-con knits, those narrow shoulders — is exactly why I built Tellar.

Tellar is the UK's leading sizing tool: measure once using your bust, waist and hip (or just an existing brand size you already know fits), and we instantly match your body to over 1,500 brands. No more squinting at a size guide.

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Use the Store Size Lookup to get your exact size in any brand — COS, Reiss, Everlane, Arket and more
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