The Darong size guide

Take three numbers

Use a soft tape rather than a builder's one, and hold it against the body rather than over a jumper: a tape taken over clothing reads larger than what is underneath, and that is how people end up a size up in everything they own.

Bust

Stand as you normally stand, not squared up for a photograph, and run the tape across the fullest part with the back flat and level under the arms. Write the number down before the tape goes away, because the one you remember from a fitting room three years ago is not this number.

Waist

Bend sideways. The crease that appears is your waist, whatever the waistband of your jeans has to say about it. On a two-piece this is the number that carries the most weight, because the top follows the bust and the trouser follows here.

Hip

Nine inches below the waist, which is lower than most people guess. Wide-leg trousers hang from that line rather than from the waistband, so a hip landing between two sizes is a drawstring question and not a size question.

Then decide how you want it to sit

Same body, two right answers. The smaller size reads as a second skin and follows the line of the body. The larger one skims, and falls closer to a trouser you already own. Neither is the wrong size; they are two different garments made from one pattern.

What the size run does here

55 of our 78 cuts run the full XS-to-XL ladder, and they run it in every colourway they come in. That is the whole reason Darong standards is drafted on a single block: a size means the same thing in a rib tank as it does in a lounge set, and choosing a shade never costs you the fit.

What the label has to tell you

Every garment sold in the United States carries a label with its fibre content and its care instructions, and both are governed rather than optional. Fibres are named by their generic names in descending order of weight, and anything under five per cent goes down as "other fiber" unless it does a job. Four per cent spandex is named for that reason, and four per cent of something decorative is not. The care instruction has to cover washing, drying, bleaching and, where a garment needs it, ironing, and the maker has to hold evidence that the garment survives what the label tells you to do.

If you are still between two sizes

Size charts are a starting point, not a promise. Body measurements vary between people of the same height and weight, knit fabrics move differently on different frames, and a measurement taken over clothing reads larger than one taken against the body. Measure yourself with a soft tape held level and snug, compare those numbers with the chart rather than with the size you usually buy, and where you fall between two sizes, decide by how you want the garment to sit rather than by the label.