Reading the KKJ size chart when the cut is deliberately loose

The most common sizing mistake on this line comes from treating the chart like a fitted garment chart. Someone measures a 36 inch bust, finds 36.6 next to size S, orders the S and then reports that it fits like a tent. Both things are true at once. The garment measures 36.6 flat across the chest, and it is meant to hang several inches away from the body.

What the four columns actually measure

The grid that ships with the tank line lists bust, cuff length, hem width and length, all in inches. None of them are body measurements. They are the finished garment laid flat.

• Bust is the chest measured flat and doubled. On a size M this reads about 38 inches, which is the shirt, not you.
• Hem width is the widest point of the flare at the bottom edge. Size M lands near 48 inches, roughly ten inches more than the chest.
• Length runs from the highest point of the shoulder seam straight down to the bottom hem. On the tanks this sits near 20 inches.
• Cuff length on a sleeveless top describes the armhole opening rather than a sleeve.

The ten inch gap is the whole design

Look at any size on the chart and the hem is about ten inches wider than the bust. That difference is what makes the fabric fall away below the chest instead of following the waist. It is the reason the cut is described as flowy, and it is the first thing you lose by sizing down.

A size smaller narrows the hem faster than it narrows the chest in proportional terms. The top stops flaring, starts tracking the body, and the lightweight rayon blend is not a fabric that reads well when it is doing that. If you want a closer fit, this is not the cut to force into one.

How much ease to plan for

Working from the published numbers, the tank sizes carry roughly four to six inches of ease over a body measurement of the same nominal size. That is a normal amount for a relaxed summer top. If you want it looser still, going up one size adds about an inch and a half at the bust and about a half inch in length, which is a smaller jump than most people expect.

1. Measure your bust with a tape, snug but not pulled tight.
2. Add four inches. Find the closest bust figure on the chart at or above that number.
3. Check the length column against where you want the hem to sit. Twenty inches lands at or just past the waistband on most people.
4. If you are between two sizes, take the larger one. On a flared cut the larger size costs you nothing except a slightly wider hem.

Sizing runs the same across colourways

All colourways of a single cut are the same pattern in different dye lots, so a size that works in one works in all of them. This matters because the popular shades sell out first, and there is a temptation to take a size up or down in a colour you actually want. Do not. The colour is not tied to the fit, and the substitution never goes the way you hope.

Sizing does change between cuts. The oversized tees run long through the body on purpose, and the tube tops rely on stretch rather than measurement. Each product page carries the grid for the item you are looking at rather than a single site wide chart.