What Do Loose Fit, Regular Fit and Slim Fit Mean?

One word sits on the label, and it decides whether the size you ordered will fasten at all. Loose, regular and slim describe the amount of ease built into the cut, not the size of the garment. That is why the same forty in two shirts sits completely differently.

What does loose fit mean?

Loose fit is a cut with ten to fourteen centimetres of ease around the chest, so the material clings nowhere except the shoulders. The fabric falls freely and moving your arms does not pull at the seams.

Smooth cotton shows every fold in light, and in movement a looser cut settles into soft waves instead of straining across the back. That is the easiest way to recognise this cut in a photograph.

That reserve of material has two consequences worth knowing:

• The shoulders decide everything. If the sleeve seam drops below the edge of the shoulder, the garment looks too large rather than loose.
• Ease at the waist calls for the waist to be marked elsewhere, by a high rise for instance.
• Thin fabric in this cut loses shape easily, so it comes out better in a denser weave.

Among shirts you recognise loose fit by a sleeve finished with a wide cuff that does not grip the wrist.

Regular fit or slim fit, which one to choose?

Regular fit has six to eight centimetres of ease and follows the silhouette without clinging, while slim fit leaves two to four centimetres and touches the body along its whole length. The difference amounts to about one size in how it feels, even though the number on the label is the same. That is why two shirts from the same wardrobe can fit entirely differently despite identical labels.

The comparison sets out all the descriptions side by side:

Slim fit holds up as a layer under something, because it gathers no material inside a sleeve. Regular is the safest when ordering without a fitting, and loose is a choice you make deliberately, when you want the ease. In trousers the same description refers to the leg, not to the waistband.

Loose fit and oversize, are they the same thing?

No, because in loose fit the shoulders still sit in their place, while in oversize the sleeve seam deliberately drops onto the arm. That single feature separates a loose cut from a deliberately larger one. You can check it in two seconds: put a finger on the shoulder bone and see whether the sleeve seam falls exactly there.

The practical consequence is that you order loose fit in your own size, and oversize in your own size too, even though it looks bigger. Taking oversize a number up usually gives the effect of borrowed clothing. If that mass is exactly what you are after, look at t-shirts and tops in this cut and pay attention to where the sleeve ends.

Which fit should you order when you are between sizes?

Choosing between two numbers, take the smaller in loose fit and the larger in slim fit, because in the first the ease stays anyway, and in the second every centimetre counts towards the fit. Order regular fit in the size you usually wear.

Three further pointers to close the matter:

• Check the circumference at the bust, not at the waist, because that is where the cut decides the fit of a top.
• In knitwear go a size down from woven fabric, because the knit stretches during wear.
• With wide shoulders choose regular or loose, because slim starts pulling across the back when you raise your arms.

That rule applies to knitwear as well, where the stretch of the knit changes the sense of size more than the description of the cut does.

What should you avoid when ordering online?

Four mistakes repeat most often:

• Never assume the same number in slim and loose sits similarly, because the difference runs to several centimetres in every measurement.
• Avoid taking oversize a size larger, because the shoulders then drop below the elbow.
• Do not order slim fit as an outer layer, because nothing else will go underneath it.
• Do not judge a cut from a photograph on a model without checking the size she was photographed in.

If ease in the leg is what you care about, the simpler route is denim and other cuts described directly by their shape.

Does loose fit mean a larger size?

No, because the reserve of material is already built into the cut at the same number. Order your usual size, and when hesitating between two, take the smaller.

What does regular fit mean on a trouser label?

In trousers regular fit describes a straight leg with no taper and no flare, with a normal amount of ease at the hips. It is the most neutral cut of the whole family of descriptions.

How does slim fit differ from skinny?

Slim fit follows the silhouette but does not stretch with every movement, while skinny clings tightly and needs elastane in the blend. You find slim in fabrics with no stretch, and skinny almost never.

Which fit should you choose for office work?

Regular fit is the safest here, because it looks neat and leaves room for a layer under a blazer. Blazers in a regular cut over a slim shirt hold up well too.

That one word on the label says more about fit than the size number does. Check it before ordering, convert the ease into centimetres, and only then choose the size.