What Is Sizing Like at Serena Bute?

By Ella Blake – Senior Fashion Stylist & Founder | Tellar — Always honest, unbiased, & unsponsored post

Serena Bute runs true to size, so in the vast majority of cases you should simply order your usual UK size and trust it. This is one of those quietly reassuring labels where the cut does the thinking for you – the silks float gently away from the body rather than clinging, the trousers sit high and tailored, and the co-ords are designed to read as separates even when they’re bought as a set. After years of styling clients in and out of fitting rooms, I can tell you that “true to size with built-in ease” is exactly the brief most women actually want, and Serena Bute delivers it beautifully.

How the Sizing Actually Works

Most of the range comes in small, medium and large, with selected pieces offered in numbered UK sizing. That S/M/L approach can feel vague if you’re used to dress sizes, but here it works in your favour because the designs are built around relaxed glamour rather than a nipped waist. Here’s how I’d guide a client through it:

Silk shirts: Take your normal size. They’re cut to sit softly off the body, so you get that effortless, slightly louche drape without going up. Only size up if you specifically want a bigger, borrowed-from-him oversized look.
Trousers: True to size with a genuinely high rise. The signature wide-leg styles (often finished with a grosgrain stripe) skim the hip and lengthen the leg – don’t be tempted to size down for a “snug” fit, the elegance is in the ease.
Co-ords: Designed to be worn together but cut to work apart. If your top and bottom half differ, buy the two pieces in different sizes – the brand fully intends for you to split them.

The fabrics matter enormously to how things fit. This is real silk, velvet and crisp cotton in natural, sustainable cloth, which means everything moves and settles on the body differently to synthetic high-street equivalents. My honest tip: hang new pieces overnight before you decide on fit, because good silk relaxes.

A Quick Confession From My Own Wardrobe

I’ll be candid – my first proper silk shirt purchase years ago was a disaster because I sized down, convinced a closer fit looked “sharper.” It looked like I’d been shrink-wrapped. The lesson stuck: with fluid, considered tailoring like this, the magic is in the room the garment gives you. The win came later, when I finally bought a wide-leg trouser in my true size and realised I’d been styling clients into the right thing for years while getting it wrong for myself. Trust the cut.

If Serena Bute Is Out of Budget: Where I’d Shop Instead

Serena Bute sits firmly in the luxury bracket, so let me give you a proper tiered route to the same relaxed-glamour look – clean silks, satin separates and soft, high-rise tailoring.

High Street

Mango – consistently the best high-street source for satin slip pieces and fluid shirting; their tailoring has quietly become very grown-up.
Whistles – the closest high-street match for that understated, off-duty-editor feel, with genuinely lovely silk-blend shirts and clean trousers.
Jigsaw – underrated for fabric quality; their soft separates and wide-leg trousers have a quiet-luxury sensibility for a fraction of the price.

Premium

Massimo Dutti – my go-to for elevated silk shirts and beautifully cut trousers that punch well above their price tag.
Reiss – reliably refined occasion and workwear, strong on soft tailoring and polished co-ord-style sets.
Me&Em – arguably the best high-low match in spirit to Serena Bute: versatile, considered dressing built around real-body ease and clever proportions.
Mint Velvet – relaxed-luxe separates with the kind of fluid silhouettes that layer effortlessly.

Luxury / Designer

If you love the label and want to build outwards, Anine Bing sits beautifully alongside it for soft tailoring, while Totême offers that same pared-back, fabric-led elegance at the top end.

Two Independents Worth Knowing

With Nothing Underneath – a British label that does the perfect silk and cotton shirt and nothing else; the obvious independent answer if it’s the Serena Bute shirt you covet.
Baukjen – sustainable, considered British soft tailoring with the same grown-up restraint, and they size generously and honestly.

My Final Word on Fit

Order your usual UK size, resist the urge to size down, split your co-ords if your proportions ask for it, and let the fabric do its quiet work. Serena Bute is one of the rare labels where buying your true size genuinely flatters – the design has already accounted for ease so you don’t have to.

Never Look at a Size Guide Again

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