True to size

"True to size" means a garment fits the way its size label and size chart promise. If the chart puts a shopper in an M, the M fits like an M from that brand: not tighter, not looser. An item that fits smaller "runs small"; one that fits bigger "runs large".

Shoppers use the phrase with two references in mind: their usual size at other brands, or the chart on the page. Only the second is something a store controls, so it is the one to publish. A label alone means little, since each brand decides which body its M fits.

On a size chart

True to size is the middle step of a five-step fit scale: runs small, runs slightly small, true to size, runs slightly large, runs large. It works best with a one-line fit note that gives a reason and a direction.

In Ruban Size's templates, women's tops, dresses, men's shirts, men's suits and women's shoes are set to true to size. The dresses template adds "Between two sizes? Take the larger one for a relaxed fit." What "true to size" means goes through each step with a worked example.

In Ruban Size

In the chart's Fit and Find my size tab, the Fit scale offers the five steps and "Not shown". At true to size, Find my size compares the shopper's measurements with the chart as they are; on any other step it moves them by part of a size step first and tells the shopper why.

If you don't know yet how an item fits, "Not shown" is better than a guess: a wrong "True to size" sends shoppers to the wrong size with confidence. On the Fit plan, returns by size show which sizes come back too small or too big, and one click moves the scale.