Size guide

What the numbers are

A brand’s size chart usually tells you what body it thinks a US 8 belongs to. That is a guess about you. Ours tells you the finished dimensions of the garment, which is a fact about the thing you are buying.

Compare our numbers against a garment you already own and like the fit of. That comparison is far more reliable than comparing them against your own body, because it already accounts for how much ease you prefer.

How each measurement is taken

The garment is laid flat on a hard surface, fastened, and smoothed without stretching. Each measurement is taken across the garment and doubled, so the published figure is the full circumference.

• Bust — across the garment 2.5 cm below the armhole seam, doubled.
• Waist — across the narrowest point of the garment between the bust and the hip, doubled. On a garment with no defined waist, taken 40 cm down from the shoulder seam.
• Hip — across the garment 20 cm below the waist point, doubled. On a full or tiered skirt this is a point measurement, not the widest point of the skirt.
• Length — from the highest point of the shoulder seam straight down to the front hem. On a strapless or halter piece, from the top of the centre-front edge.
• Shoulder — across the back from shoulder seam to shoulder seam. Shown as 0 where a piece has no shoulder seam, which is the case on halters, strapless bodices and slip dresses.

For knits and anything with elastane, the figure published is the relaxed measurement, not the stretched one. Where a piece stretches meaningfully — a smocked bodice, for instance — the comfortable stretched figure is given on that piece’s own page as well.

How to measure yourself

Use a soft tape, wear whatever you would wear under the dress, and keep the tape level and snug without compressing.

• Bust — around the fullest point, tape level across the back.
• Waist — around the narrowest point of your torso, usually just above the navel.
• Hip — around the fullest point, usually 20 cm below the waist.
• Height — without shoes. This matters more than any other number for judging where a hem will land on you, which is why we publish the model heights.

Then add the ease you like. Two to four centimetres over your bust measurement is close-fitting; eight to twelve is relaxed. Comparing to a garment you own is still the faster route.

Tolerance and grading

Published measurements carry a tolerance of ±1 cm. Cloth is cut in stacks and sewn by hand, and this is a normal manufacturing range rather than a defect. A garment more than 1 cm outside its published table is faulty and we will replace or refund it — see the returns policy.

Sizes are graded from a US 6 sample. Bust, waist and hip step by 5 cm per size unless a piece’s own table says otherwise; length steps by roughly 0.8 cm per size, so a US 14 of a maxi dress is about 6 cm longer than a US 0.

If your measurements fall between two sizes, size up on anything cut close — the column dresses and the ribbed knit — and stay with your usual size on anything with gathering or a wrap.

Shapes that need extra care

• Column and bias cuts have almost no ease. The measured table is the whole story, and this is where returns come from when it is ignored.
• Halters and one-shoulder pieces carry the weight of the skirt on a single point. Fit at the bust matters more here than anywhere else in the catalogue.
• Smocked and shirred bodices stretch. The relaxed and comfortable-stretched figures are both on the page. Past the second number it stops being comfortable to sit in.
• Wraps and button-through skirts fit a wide range but open when you sit. The seated note on each page says how far.
• Two-piece sets are sized independently. Order different sizes for the top and the skirt if that is what your measurements say — we ship it that way.

The model profiles

Two profiles appear on every garment page, and they are drawn from this set. Every figure is in centimetres.

• Model A — 178 cm tall, bust 82, waist 64, hip 89.
• Model B — 168 cm tall, bust 91, waist 74, hip 97.
• Model C — 163 cm tall, bust 99, waist 82, hip 106.
• Model D — 173 cm tall, bust 86, waist 68, hip 93.

The size each model is wearing is stated on the garment page. No garment in a product photograph is clipped, pinned or taped — the reasoning is on the photography page.

Still unsure? Email support@dolcemiaclothing.shop with your measurements and the piece you are looking at, or use the occasion form. A person will answer, and it is faster than ordering two sizes.