What Is Sizing Like at Rise & Fall? A Stylist's Honest Fit Guide

Rise & Fall is broadly true to size, leaning relaxed. The brand itself will tell you that most pieces are cut for an easy fit, and that if you're caught between two sizes you should size up. That's sound advice if you want the loose, lived-in look the label is going for.

But I've fitted enough men in this brand to add a caveat the website won't. If you like your knitwear and tees to sit close and tailored — proper clean lines, nothing pooling at the waist — then don't blindly size up. Take your usual size and know that it'll still feel generous. Follow the "size up" rule only when you genuinely want that slouchy, off-duty silhouette. I've had clients who are a natural medium go up to a large on the brand's advice and end up swimming in it.

How Rise & Fall sizing actually works

Rise & Fall keeps things refreshingly simple. There's no cryptic house numbering to decode — it's classic XS to XL letter sizing across most of the menswear, with each product page carrying a proper measurement chart.

Measure three things: your chest, your natural waist and your full hip. The brand maps those measurements to a letter size rather than asking you to guess.
Rough guide: as an example, a chest around 91–92cm with a 74cm waist lands you a size small. Scale up from there.
Between sizes? Size up for the intended relaxed fit, or hold your usual size if you want it trimmer. Your call, not a rule.
It's fabric-led: this is a brand obsessed with cloth — the same mills that supply the likes of Paul Smith and Everlane — so how a piece fits is tied to what it's made from. A structured cotton shirt behaves very differently to a soft merino knit.

Do yourself one favour before you order: get a tape measure round your chest properly. It takes thirty seconds and it's the single biggest thing standing between you and a first-time-right fit at a direct-to-consumer brand like this one.

A garment-by-garment fit breakdown

Knitwear (the merino and cashmere hero pieces)

This is what Rise & Fall built its name on, and it's where the relaxed cut is most obvious. The crews, half-zips and roll necks are cut with genuine room through the body and a slightly dropped shoulder.

Want the intended easy drape? Take your usual size — you'll get it without going up.
Want it properly trim and tucked-in tidy? Consider sizing down, especially if you're lean.
Worth knowing: the lighter-coloured cashmere can knit up a touch finer than the darker shades. It doesn't change your size, but layer a plain tee underneath the paler pieces if you like a bit more opacity.

T-shirts and organic cotton

The tees are cut regular-to-relaxed with a good, honest body length — no crop-top surprises. The organic cotton has real weight to it, so they hold their shape rather than clinging.

Take your normal size for a classic, wear-with-anything fit.
These make a brilliant base layer, so factor in whether you'll wear them solo or under an open shirt.

Shirts (cotton, linen, twill)

The shirts run the most relaxed of the lot — a softer, easier shoulder and a fuller body than a slim high-street cut. This is deliberate; it's a wear-untucked, sleeves-rolled kind of shirt.

If you're used to a super-slim fit, expect noticeably more room. Take your usual size and enjoy the ease, or size down if you want it closer.
The linen in particular is built to drape and breathe — don't fight it by going too small.

Trousers, chinos and the silk-blend styles

Bottoms are sized on the waist and cut with a relaxed, easy leg rather than a skinny taper. Comfortable, grown-up, and a bit of a break from the spray-on chinos of a decade ago.

Order to your true waist measurement — no need to size up here.
Some styles come up long, so if you're shorter in the leg, budget for a quick hem at the tailor.

Marcus's shortcut: If you only remember one thing, make it this — Rise & Fall is a "take your usual size and expect a bit of room" brand. Ignore the blanket "size up" advice unless you actively want the slouchy look. For knitwear you want trim, size down. For everything else, your normal size will serve you well.

What to buy, and how to style it right now

Rise & Fall is a capsule-wardrobe brand at heart, so play to that. The trap is treating it like a place for statement pieces — it isn't. It's where you build the quiet backbone of a wardrobe that then makes everything else look better.

Start with the knit. A merino-cashmere crew in a muted tone — stone, charcoal, deep navy — is the anchor. It's the piece you'll reach for two hundred days a year.
Add an overshirt moment. The relaxed shirts are perfect worn open over a tee as a light layer. Very on-trend right now, and far more grown-up than a hoodie.
Lean into tonal dressing. The colour palette here is made for it — pair a stone knit with off-white trousers and let the textures do the talking. This is where menswear is heading: quiet, tonal, considered.
Respect the fabric. Cashmere and merino want gentle care. Cold hand-wash or a proper wool cycle, dry flat, and use a comb to keep the bobbling at bay. Look after it and this stuff lasts years.

Brands to pair with Rise & Fall (across every budget)

Nobody builds a wardrobe from a single label, and Rise & Fall plays beautifully alongside other minimalist, fabric-first brands. Here's where I'd shop to fill in around it, tier by tier.

High street

Arket — the Scandinavian sibling in the H&M stable, and arguably the closest high-street match for Rise & Fall's whole ethos. Heavyweight cotton, proper merino, muted palette, relaxed cuts. If you love R&F, Arket is where you top up.
Marks & Spencer (Autograph line) — genuinely underrated for premium basics. The Autograph pure cashmere and supima cotton pieces punch well above their price, and the fit is a touch more classic if R&F feels too loose for you.

Independent & boutique

Community Clothing — Patrick Grant's Blackburn-based label runs the same factory-direct, no-markup philosophy as Rise & Fall, and makes it all in Britain. Superb chinos and crew knits, honestly priced.
Asket — the Swedish "permanent collection" brand with radical pricing transparency. Their tees and shirts come in a proper short/regular/long system, so if leg or body length ever lets a piece down, Asket solves it.
Colorful Standard — Danish, organic-certified, and the place I send clients for that one perfect merino crew or heavyweight tee in a colour Rise & Fall doesn't stock. Brilliant for injecting a bit of tonal colour.

Designer & luxury

Sunspel — the British benchmark for the perfect tee and elevated everyday knitwear. If you want to trade up from a Rise & Fall staple to the gold standard of the same piece, this is it.
Officine Générale — the Parisian label doing elevated, easy tailoring and knits with that effortless French softness. Very much the aspirational end of the same minimalist lane R&F occupies.

For the record, none of these are paid placements — they're simply where I'd genuinely spend my own money to build around a Rise & Fall base.

Never guess your size again

Rise & Fall's relaxed cut is exactly why so many men order two sizes and send one back. Tellar is the UK's leading sizing tool — it matches your body to 1,500+ brands instantly, so you skip the size chart and buy the right size first time.

Measure once — chest, waist, hip, or just enter a brand you already own
Use the Store Size Lookup to get your exact size in Rise & Fall and beyond — COS, Reiss, Everlane, Arket and more
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Tellar is always honest, unbiased and unsponsored. Brand recommendations reflect genuine stylist opinion, not paid partnerships. Fit guidance is a general steer — individual pieces and body shapes vary, so always check the measurements for your specific item.