Sizing Across Borders: EU, UK, US and Nigeria

We ship to Nigeria, across Europe, and to the rest of the world. Those markets do not agree on what a size is — so the only reliable approach is to stop using letters and start using centimetres.

Why the letters disagree

There is no international standard that brands are obliged to follow. A "Medium" is whatever a given brand's fit model was.

Three separate things vary:

1. The base grid. US sizing generally runs larger than UK, which generally runs larger than continental EU, for the same nominal label.
2. Vanity sizing. Brands quietly enlarge garments while keeping the label, because customers prefer to buy a smaller number. This drifts over decades and is not consistent between brands.
3. The cut. A boxy Medium and a classic Medium can differ by 6cm in the chest and 4cm in length. Same letter, different garment.

Stack those and a person who is a Medium in one shop is an XL in another. Nothing is wrong with either shop.

Measure yourself once

Ten minutes, a soft tape, and you never have to guess again. Write these down somewhere you will find them.

Chest. Around the fullest part, tape level, arms down, breathing normally. Do not pull it tight.

Waist. Around the natural waist — the narrowest point, usually just above the navel. Not where your jeans sit.

Hips. Around the fullest part of the seat.

Shoulder. Across the back, from the bony point of one shoulder to the other.

Back length. From the bone at the base of your neck straight down to where you want a hem to sit.

Sleeve. Shoulder point to wrist, arm slightly bent.

Then measure a garment

This is the step that makes the difference, and almost nobody does it.

Take the t-shirt you own that fits best. Lay it flat, smooth it out, and measure it flat — not around:

• Chest: armpit seam to armpit seam. Double it for circumference.
• Length: highest point of the shoulder straight down to the hem.
• Shoulder: seam to seam across the back.

Now you have a target. Match a product's flat measurements to those numbers and the fit will be right, whatever letter is on it.

Comparing a garment you have already judged against a garment you have not is far more reliable than comparing your body to a chart, because it silently accounts for how much ease you personally like.

Rough conversions

Useful as a starting point, not as an answer. Always check the product's own measurements.

Nigerian retail generally follows UK sizing, but imported stock arrives from everywhere — a market trader's stock may be US, UK, EU or Chinese sizing in the same pile, and Chinese-manufactured garments sold locally frequently run one to two sizes smaller than the label suggests.

This is the practical reason we publish flat measurements on every product page.

Between two sizes?

• Classic fit: size down for a cleaner line, up for comfort. Check the length difference before deciding — the larger size is longer as well as wider.
• Boxy fit: size down. Boxy cuts already carry ease, and the extra length from sizing up is what breaks the silhouette.
• Oversized: take your normal size. The cut supplies the volume; sizing up on top of an oversized pattern produces something shapeless.
• Hoodies and sweats: consider what goes underneath. If it is worn over a tee, the tee's bulk is real.

Shrinkage

Cotton shrinks with heat, mostly in length. Our garments are pre-shrunk and, washed cold and line dried, stay close to their listed measurements.

Do not buy a size up to "allow for shrinkage" — that is advice for unwashed cotton from a different era, and with a modern pre-shrunk garment you will simply own a shirt that is too big. Wash it properly instead; the care guide covers it.

If it still arrives wrong

Tell us. Unworn, unwashed items can be exchanged within the window on the returns page.

Because every piece is printed after you order it, an exchange means producing a new garment — so getting it right the first time genuinely matters here more than it does in a shop with a stockroom. Five minutes with a tape measure is the highest-value thing you can do before ordering.