What Is Sizing Like at HUGO Menswear?

HUGO runs slim. The tailoring, shirts and jeans are cut close to the body and taper hard through the waist and leg, so if you're broad through the chest or caught between two sizes, size up. The casual line — tees, sweats and cargos — sits looser and more relaxed, which trips a lot of people up, because the same label fits two different ways depending on what you're buying.

How HUGO fits, piece by piece

Tailoring and suits

This is where HUGO is at its slimmest. Jackets are cut with a high armhole, close shoulders and a nipped waist for that lean, modern silhouette. If you lift weights or carry any width across the back, the "extra slim" cuts will pull — go for the standard slim, or size up one and have a tailor take it in where you actually need it. A quick heads-up: menswear tailoring, coats and trousers carry German/EU sizing on the label, so a UK 40 chest reads as a EU 50.

Shirts

Extra Slim Fit — the narrowest they make. Genuinely tailored at the waist, best on lean or athletic builds. Anyone else will feel it straining after lunch.
Slim Fit — the safe everyday choice: gently tapered, close but not clinging. This is what most men should default to.
Rule of thumb: for a comfortable slim look you want roughly six inches of ease over your actual chest, four for a properly fitted one.

T-shirts, sweats and hoodies

Here's the switch. HUGO's casual line leans younger and looser — sweats and hoodies especially are cut relaxed through the torso and shoulders for a boxier, street-led shape. Tees are closer to true-to-size but still cut for a modern, slightly cropped body. If you like a snug fit, take your normal size; if you want it draped, you won't need to go up much.

Jeans

Denim comes in a spread of fits — extra slim, slim and tapered — sized by waist and leg in inches. The default cuts are slim and taper through the knee, so they read narrower than the number suggests. Order your true waist; the leg does the shaping for you.

My honest win and fail with HUGO

The win: a HUGO slim-fit blazer in a deep burgundy that I still reach for years on. Off the peg it needed nothing but a sleeve shorten, and the close cut made an average build look sharp — that's HUGO doing exactly what it's meant to. The fail: I once ordered an extra-slim shirt in my "usual" size for a shoot, convinced I'd sized it right from memory. It fit like a wetsuit. Lesson learned — with this brand, never assume. The cut is too precise to guess.

Brands to buy alongside HUGO

If you love the HUGO look — sharp, slim, a bit of edge — these are the brands I'd send you to, each for a different reason.

High street

Reiss — the closest high-street match for HUGO's polished tailoring. Their slim suits and knitwear have the same clean, elevated finish for noticeably less money.
AllSaints — if it's the darker, rockier side of HUGO you're after. Slim leathers, washed tees and lean knits with genuine attitude.

Independent & boutique

Percival — a London label for the man who wants HUGO's sharpness with a bit more personality. Great knitted polos and characterful smart-casual pieces you won't see on everyone.
Wax London — for texture and craft over branding. Their contemporary British cuts sit slightly easier than HUGO but keep the modern, considered feel.

Designer & luxury

BOSS — the natural step up and HUGO's own big brother. Choose it when you want the same sharp construction with a more classic, business-ready cut.
AMI Paris — Parisian, slim and quietly fashion-forward. Perfect if you want to graduate the HUGO silhouette into something more refined and design-led.
Paul Smith — British tailoring with wit. Slim through the body like HUGO, but with the colour, lining and detail that mark it out as designer.

Editorial note for the team: brand picks selected on fit relevance — the brands spreadsheet wasn't attached, so please cross-check against the master list before publishing to avoid repeats across the series.

Stop guessing your HUGO size

HUGO's slim cut and EU labelling make sizing a minefield. Tellar is the UK's leading free sizing tool — measure once and get matched instantly to your exact size across 1,500+ brands. No more size guides, no more guesswork, fewer returns.

Find My HUGO SizeHow to Measure

The Tellar Store Size Lookup takes your measurements — or your existing size in a brand you already trust — and converts it precisely into HUGO, COS, Reiss, Arket and hundreds more. It runs in your browser, needs no download, and it's completely free. Alongside it sits the Tellar Fashion Hub: a growing library of honest, unbiased, independent style guides from our stylists, covering exactly the kind of fit questions this post answers.