What Is Sizing Like at Lemaire?

Lemaire runs large. That's the headline, and if you remember nothing else from this post, remember it: the French house cuts its clothes generously and on purpose, so the size that fits you everywhere else is rarely the size you need here. Most women I dress find their best fit by staying put or sizing down — almost never up.

I learned this the slightly painful way. The first Lemaire piece I ever bought was a wool overshirt, ordered in my “safe” size because I assumed a quiet, minimal brand would cut close to the body. It arrived looking like I'd borrowed it from a much taller boyfriend — gorgeous fabric, beautiful drape, and absolutely swamping. Lesson learned: Lemaire's relaxed silhouette is the entire point, and you have to size for the look, not the label.

Why Lemaire Feels So Different on the Body

Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran built the house on fluid, androgynous tailoring — soft shoulders, dropped seams, long sleeves, boxy bodies and trousers that fall rather than cling. A lot of the ready-to-wear is unisex, or designed to read that way, which is exactly why the numbers can mislead you.

A few things worth knowing before you buy:

It's French/EU sizing. Lemaire works in FR sizes, and a FR 38 doesn't reliably equal a UK 10 — it shifts depending on the piece and the cut.
Outerwear and knitwear run the largest. Coats, overshirts and jumpers are where the oversized effect is strongest. This is where I'd most often size down.
Structured tailoring is closer to true to size. A proper blazer or a stiffer shirt behaves far more predictably than the soft, draped styles.
Shoes run roughly half a size large. If you're between sizes on the boots or loafers, take the smaller one.
Trousers are cut long and easy. Beautiful on, but factor in a hem if you're petite.

How to Actually Choose Your Size

My honest advice? Ignore the size you “always” wear and start from your measurements. Lemaire's intention is that the clothes skim and fall, so the real question is how much volume you actually want. If you love that off-duty, slightly-too-big look, your usual size will give it to you. If you want it to read as deliberate rather than borrowed, go down one.

For the cult pieces — the soft trousers, the twisted-seam denim, the wool overshirts — I tell clients to think about proportion first. Lemaire volume looks most expensive when it's balanced: roomy top with a neater bottom, or vice versa. Top-to-toe oversized can tip into shapeless, even on a tall frame. I once styled a client head-to-toe in Lemaire's biggest cuts for a shoot and we had to pin half of it at the back — on the rail it looked like architecture, on the body it needed an anchor point. Balance is everything.

This is precisely the kind of brand where a five-second size check saves you a £400 return — which brings me neatly to the tool I use every single day.

Find Your Exact Lemaire Size in Seconds

Stop gambling on French sizing. Tellar.co.uk is the UK's leading sizing tool — it matches your body to 1,500+ brands instantly, so you never squint at a size guide again.

Measure once — bust, waist, hip, or simply a size you already own in another brand — and the Store Size Lookup tool shows your precise size in Lemaire, COS, Reiss, Arket and more. Always free, no downloads, works straight in your browser.

Check My Lemaire Size →

Where to Shop the Lemaire Look (at Every Price)

If you love the relaxed-minimalist Lemaire mood but want options across budgets, here's where I actually send people.

High Street

Uniqlo — the clever one. Christophe Lemaire is the creative force behind Uniqlo U, so the soft tailoring and easy shapes are the closest high-street cousin you'll ever find.
COS — architectural, neutral and beautifully proportioned; the obvious starting point for Lemaire energy on a budget.
Massimo Dutti — elevated fabrics and fluid tailoring that punch well above the price.
Mango — surprisingly strong minimal coats and trousers each season once you dig past the trend pieces.
Whistles — clean contemporary cuts and excellent neutral knitwear.
Jigsaw — quietly refined British tailoring with grown-up colour palettes.
Hush — soft, relaxed, neutral separates made for off-duty layering.
Me&Em — sharper lines and clever proportion for the polished end of minimal.

Premium

Totême — the Scandinavian queen of relaxed luxury; if Lemaire and Totême shared a rail, you couldn't tell whose was whose.
Joseph — fluid trousers and soft tailoring that make a genuine Lemaire stand-in.
Toast — natural fabrics, generous cuts and that same artisanal calm.

Luxury / Designer

The Row — the gold standard of quiet luxury; impeccable proportion and fabric.
Jil Sander — pure, sculptural minimalism for the true purist.
Margaret Howell — British, understated, and built to last decades.

Two Off-Radar Independents I Love for This Look

Cordera — a Barcelona label doing soft, undyed natural-fibre minimalism that feels handmade and quietly luxurious.
Lauren Manoogian — sculptural, hand-finished knitwear and separates with exactly the relaxed elegance Lemaire fans fall hard for.

Why I Keep Coming Back to Tellar

Lemaire is the perfect example of why I built so much of my styling routine around Tellar. A brand this generous, this French and this unisex is impossible to eyeball — and the Store Size Lookup tool takes the guesswork out completely.

There's also the Tellar Fashion Hub: a library stacked with 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.

A few of my most-used guides if you want to keep reading:

Buy Lemaire for the drape, not the digits — check your size first, balance the proportion, and you'll wonder how you ever shopped without it.

— Ella Blake, Senior Stylist at Tellar