The letter on a clothing label means very little. A medium from one brand can be two full inches wider through the chest than a medium from another, and neither is wrong, because there is no enforced sizing standard across Indian apparel manufacturers.

What does mean something is the number beside the letter. Every properly built size chart lists measurements in inches or centimetres, and those measurements are the actual contract between you and the garment. Learn to read them and your return rate falls close to zero.

Step one: measure yourself, once, properly

You need a soft measuring tape, a mirror and about five minutes. Wear fitted clothing or nothing at all, and keep the tape snug but not tight.

• Bust or chest: around the fullest part, with the tape level all the way around and parallel to the floor. Keep your arms down.
• Waist: around the narrowest part of your torso, usually just above the navel. Do not pull the tape in and do not hold your breath.
• Hip: around the fullest part of the hips and seat, usually seven to nine inches below the waist.
• Shoulder: from the outer edge of one shoulder, across the back, to the outer edge of the other.
• Kurta length preference: from the shoulder seam straight down to where you want the garment to end. This is the measurement almost nobody takes, and it is the one that decides whether the kurta looks right on you.

Write these five numbers down somewhere you will find them again. They change slowly, and having them saved turns every future purchase into a two-minute check.

Step two: understand what the chart is telling you

This is where most people go wrong. A size chart can be showing you one of two entirely different things, and mixing them up guarantees a bad fit.

Body measurements describe the person the garment is intended to fit. If the chart says a size M is a 38-inch bust, it means a person with a 38-inch bust should order M. The garment itself will be cut larger than 38 inches to allow room to move.

Garment measurements describe the finished piece of clothing laid flat. If the chart says the M has a 40-inch bust, that is the garment, not you, and a person with a 38-inch bust will fit into it with two inches of ease.

A well-built product page tells you which it is using. If it does not, look for the presence of a length measurement in the same table: length is always a garment measurement, and a chart that mixes body and garment figures usually labels them clearly.

Step three: think about ease

Ease is the difference between your body measurement and the garment measurement, and it is what makes clothing wearable.

• Fitted garments need roughly two inches of ease through the bust. Less than that and you will not be able to raise your arms.
• Regular ethnic wear typically carries three to four inches, which is what most kurtas are cut for.
• Relaxed and flowing styles carry five inches or more, and this is expected rather than a fault.

If a garment measurement chart shows less than two inches over your body measurement, size up, regardless of what letter it puts you in.

Step four: size to your largest measurement

If your bust puts you in L and your waist puts you in M, order the L. Fabric can always be taken in by a tailor for a small sum. It cannot be let out beyond the seam allowance, which is rarely more than half an inch.

This principle is worth internalising, because it inverts the instinct most people have, which is to order the smaller size and hope.

Compare against something you already own

The most reliable sizing technique available to anyone is also the simplest. Take a kurta you own and love the fit of, lay it flat, and measure it: chest across at the underarm and doubled, and total length from the shoulder seam.

Now compare those two numbers against the size chart on the product page. If they match within an inch, the new garment will fit like the old one. This method bypasses every inconsistency in labelling, because you are comparing garment to garment rather than trusting a letter.

Two final habits

Read the fabric before you decide on size. A cotton kurta with no stretch and no lining needs more ease than a rayon one with drape. Non-stretch fabrics are less forgiving of a tight fit than anything with elastane in it.

And check the length figure specifically. More returns are caused by a kurta arriving three inches shorter or longer than expected than by any chest measurement, because length is the number nobody thinks to look at.

Five measurements, taken once, saved on your phone. That is the whole system, and it will serve you for years.

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