Buying correct sizes online tricky when store unfamiliar
Q. Being old school, I am only just beginning to order my clothing online, but I am worried about size. One item I recently ordered was my usual pants size, but significantly too small. Is there a way to better know they will fit?
A. You are wise to be concerned about size at all times but especially when shopping online. Make sure you really know what your correct sizes are. Do not guess. The only way to be certain is to go to a personal tailor or to a store tailor and have yourself measured by someone who knows what he is doing. In truth, I would actually recommend you go to two different tailors and be sure their information coincides. It is easy to do. Every fine store has a tailor on the premises who can measure you and tell you what size you are. Well, at least, what size you are in that store’s merchandise.
Something that women know, and that men usually do not, is that there can be a good bit of variation in the way different manufacturers size their products.
Both dress trousers and casual pants are sized as you would expect; they are the same as your waist measurement. If your waist is, say, 36 inches, you would normally buy a pair of trousers in size 36. But if they are a shade too tight, you would need to order a size 38, because trousers are not generally sized in odd sizes. In the smaller sizes, they do come in odd and even sizes: 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34. But for some unknown reason after 34, sizes skip to even-only sizes: 36, 38, 40, 42, etc. If you also know your inseam length, so much the better.
When shopping for belts, sizing is different. Men often discover that the belt they bought is too small. Since manufacturers size their belts rather strangely, you must move up one size from your actual waist size when buying a belt. Thus, if your waist measures 35 or 36, your belt size would be 38. Don’t allow vanity to get in your way (even if you care no one is going to see the size of the belt unless it is too small and accents being pulled to its limit). Always try on a belt in the store and choose one that fits comfortably when buckled through the middle hole.
If you are shopping for a shirt, you need to know your correct neck size and your sleeve length. Still, you may find that two shirts in the same size (15 ½ neck and 34 sleeve, for example) from two different companies can fit very differently. Not only could the cut be different, but there might also be a big variation in the shirt’s’ fullness and the length of the shirttails. Even shirts that are not marked in exact collar and sleeves sizes — and are instead sized small, medium, large, and extra-large — can vary from one manufacturer to another. Once you have determined how a specific company sizes its garments, you can usually trust that the additional items from that maker will all fit the same.
This is also true when you shop from a catalog. In fact, catalogs are a good way for a man to begin his online shopping habit. Check out those many catalogs that the mailman delivers. You will see clothes put together in attractive combinations that you may not think of on your own. Another advantage of catalog shopping is the helpful operator at the other end of the telephone line. He or she can give you useful information, including whether their clothes run “true to size” or not. If you need something in a hurry, order it in two sizes and return the one that doesn’t fit.
Once you learn which company’s clothes fit the best, stick with that brand. Loyalty saves time, money and distress. Then you can feel safe ordering in multiples. This is particularly advantageous for buying a lot of your clothes at the end-of-the-season sales, where they often cost as little as half the regular price. But before that, order one at a time. The cost-free return process is relatively simple, so you can feel comfortable doing a bit of trial and error. A lot of online companies actually provide return envelopes; you may even find you can leave them at your door and the mailman will take them.
Of course, while many people find online shopping the greatest invention since the wheel, some of us still like to go into a store where we can touch and feel a garment … and look in the mirror.