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How To Choose The Right Sweater Size And Fit?

3 practical facts and hacks about finding your perfect sweater size.
Jan 26, 2021
By Oliver Charles

Choosing The Right Size

Knowing your body measurements is a great start to choosing the right sweater size and fit, albeit it’s kind of a pain to keep track of.

A couple of weeks ago, we asked our Customer Advisory Board community of over 1,700 people about their experience shopping for sweaters.

When asked, “Do you consider yourself to be in between sizes?”, 68% said yes.

When asked, “Do you know your body measurements off the top of your head?”, 84% said no - only 1/3 of those same people said they’d be willing to measure.

It makes sense to us. Whether it’s due to not having a measuring tape handy, not wanting to spend the time, or not wanting to measure your body, there has to be a better solution.

3 Facts And Hacks

We wrote down below 3 things to think about for finding the right size and fit.
  • Standard sizing is inaccurate. 
  • Fact: size labels are arbitrary without considering your body and fit preferences. 
  • Hack: ditch body measurements. Use tools like our size calculator below to determine your size based on weight and height. Then size up or down depending on how tight you prefer the sweaters to fit. 
  • Steer clear of fast fashion.
  • Fact: fast fashion doesn’t only contribute to an enormous amount of carbon emissions, but it’s also a business model supported by high volume with fast turnover, meaning fast fashion clothes will likely have a standard fit that doesn’t fit most. 
  • Hack: consider fit, knit-weight, style, and material preferences in advance. Order from brands with a incentive to provide you with an ideal fit.
  • Find brands that you love.
  • Fact: trying out new brands takes trial and error, but when you find something you love to wear, you’ll want to wear it all the time.
  • Hack: take note of how the clothes you love fit. Think about where you ordered them from. Use these items for reference when ordering from new brands. 

An Inflection Point

Today, shopping for clothes is a game of trust and verification, ending with a return 40% of the time! Sizing is inconsistent, it’s confusing to take the right measurements, and it’s difficult to choose the right fit.

The good news? We’re at an inflection point in the clothing industry, where sizing is becoming less standardized and more personalized. Optimistically, we see the future of sizing as a conversation that delves into things like styles, ease, knit-type, materials, colors, and more all to create sweaters that customers call their “favorite”.
If you believe that every good wardrobe starts with owning less and owning better, consider buying yourself an OLIVER CHARLES sweater.
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