Fit Over Size: Finding Evening Wear That Works on Your Body

If you want to know how to find clothes that fit, ignore the number on the label and check five points instead: shoulders, bust, waist, hips and length. If the shoulders and bust fit, most other problems can be solved by a tailor. If they do not, the piece will never sit right, whatever size it says.

Evening clothes make this especially clear, because they are usually cut closer to the body and show every pull and gape. Here is how to judge fit, and how to fix what you can.

Why size labels let you down

Clothing sizes are not standardised between brands. A YouGov survey published in 2018 found that over half of British women believed sizes varied a great deal between shops, and that clothes at some well-known high-street names were widely felt to run small for the size on the label.

Each brand designs around its own fit model and its own idea of its customer. The same number can fit very differently from one shop to the next. That is why measurements matter more than habit; our guide on how to measure yourself shows how to take them.

How to find clothes that fit: the five checkpoints

Try every piece on with the shoes and underwear you plan to wear with it, then check each point in a full-length mirror.

1. Shoulders. The shoulder seam should sit at the edge of your shoulder bone. Too far in and it pulls across the back; too far out and the whole piece looks borrowed. Shoulders are the hardest area to alter, so get them right first.
2. Bust. There should be no pulling across the front, no gaping between buttons, and no horizontal creases pointing towards the bust. In a fitted dress, you should be able to slide a flat hand inside the neckline.
3. Waist. A waisted dress should meet your natural waist, the narrowest point between ribs and hips. If the waist seam sits above or below that point, the proportions will look off.
4. Hips. Fabric should skim the hips without stretching or creasing sideways. Pockets that flare open are a sign of a garment that is too tight.
5. Length. Sleeves should end at the wrist bone for tailoring; hems should fall at a point that flatters your leg, usually just above or below the knee, or at mid-calf.

Then move. Sit down, raise your arms and walk a few steps. Clothes that fit well let you do all three without tugging or riding up.

Dressing for your body

Dressing for your body means choosing cuts that follow your proportions, whatever this season's silhouette happens to be.

If you are petite

Look for pieces cut for a shorter torso, or plan on taking up hems and shortening sleeves. Midi lengths can overwhelm a short frame unless the hem hits the narrowest part of the calf.

If you are tall

Check sleeve and torso length before anything else. Bodysuits and dresses with a fixed waist may sit too high.

If your bust and hips are different sizes

Separates help, and so do styles with adjustable or open shoulders. A halter neckline, for example, fits the upper body without relying on set-in sleeves; our guide to the halter neck dress shows how it flatters different shoulders.

Fabric and cut

Bias-cut fabric follows curves naturally. The FIT Fashion History Timeline describes how Madeleine Vionnet's bias cut lets fabric stretch and drape along the body instead of restricting it. A bias-cut skirt or slip dress often suits more figures than a stiff, straight one in the same size.

Tailoring alterations: what is easy and what is not

Part of learning how to find clothes that fit is knowing what a tailor can change after you buy. A good tailor can turn a near-miss into a perfect fit, but some changes are much simpler than others.

Usually simple and affordable:

• Taking up hems on skirts, dresses and trousers.
• Shortening sleeves without a vent or buttons.
• Taking in a waist or the side seams.
• Adjusting straps on slips and camisoles.

Possible, but more involved:

• Shortening sleeves with working buttons at the cuff.
• Taking in a lined jacket at the back.
• Altering lace, where the motif has to be matched across the seam.

Rarely worth it:

• Changing shoulder width on a structured jacket.
• Letting out a garment with small seam allowances.
• Moving a waist seam significantly up or down.

If you want everything made to your body, there are two routes. Bespoke tailoring builds a new pattern for you from scratch, while made-to-measure adjusts an existing pattern, as the Wikipedia entry on bespoke tailoring explains. For most evening pieces, a ready-to-wear garment plus a few tailoring alterations gets you very close.

Building a wardrobe that fits

Once you know which brands and cuts suit you, note them down along with your measurements. Over time you will find a handful of shapes that always work. That record is the simplest answer to how to find clothes that fit, season after season, and those shapes become the backbone of an evening capsule wardrobe.

To see how Notte & Noir approaches cut and construction, read about how we make our pieces.