Fit, measuring and alterations · 8 October 2026 · 3 min read
Should you size up for a loose fit? Why it backfires
Should you size up for a loose fit? Usually not: a bigger size widens the shoulders, neckline and armholes too. How to ask for a relaxed kameez that suits you.
InspirationNo: ask for more room, not a bigger size
Sizing up is a poor way to get a loose fit. A bigger size makes everything bigger, including the parts that should match your bones, such as the shoulders, neckline and armholes, so you end up roomy where you wanted it and sloppy where you did not. The better route is your own measurements with extra room, called ease, added only where you want it.
Ready-made clothes are graded so that every measurement grows together from one size to the next. That is efficient for a shop rail, but it means you cannot pick which parts grow. Made to measure lets you separate them.
What a bigger size changes that you did not ask for
Going up one or two sizes typically shifts all of these at once:
- Shoulders: the seams move past your shoulder points and sit on your upper arms, so the outline slumps.
- Neckline: a round or boat neck gets wider and often deeper, shows straps and slides to one side.
- Armholes: they drop lower under the arm. Oddly, that makes lifting your arms harder, because the whole side of the kameez rises with the arm.
- Sleeves: they get longer, and with the shoulder already dropped the cuff can cover the back of your hand.
- Bust shaping: any darts or shaping land below your bust instead of at it.
- Length: the kameez grows longer too, which may not suit your height.
Where the looseness should go
A relaxed kameez looks intentional when it is anchored at the top and free below. The shoulders, neck and armholes stay close to your frame; the room appears at the bust, waist and hips and in the width of the hem. Then the kameez hangs from the shoulders in clean vertical folds instead of collapsing in diagonal creases.
Our piece on how loose a kameez should be describes the levels of ease, and ease by garment does the same for dresses and trousers. The cut matters as well: an A-line kameez adds room as it goes down, while a straight kameez gives an even, column-like looseness.
When an oversized look is the whole point
Sometimes you do want the big, slouchy shape: a dropped shoulder, a wide body, sleeves that pool at the wrist. That is a design, not a size. A properly oversized piece has its shoulders, armholes and sleeves drafted for that look, so the proportions still hang together. A normal kameez inflated by two sizes rarely does.
If that is the look you are after, show it. A screenshot of the shape you like, or a description such as “dropped shoulder, wide straight body, sleeves to the knuckles”, tells us far more than enlarged measurements would.
How to ask for a relaxed fit
Send your real body measurements, taken as shown in the size guide. Do not add inches yourself, because then nobody can tell which numbers are your body and which are your wish. Say in the notes how you want the garment to feel, and where. On a custom stitching order the ease is agreed with the measurements, in writing, before anything is cut, and you can describe the feel you want when you ask for a quote. Notes like these work well:
- “Relaxed through the body, shoulders fitted.”
- “Loose at the tummy and hips; I do not want it to cling when I sit.”
- “Straight, with no shaping at the waist.”
- A photo of a loose kameez you like, or measurements taken flat from one you own.
Common questions
What if I am between two sizes in a shop?
Choose the size that fits your shoulders and bust and look for a looser cut, rather than taking the larger size overall. With made to measure the question disappears, because the garment is cut from your measurements rather than from a size.
Will a loose kameez make me look bigger?
Not if the shoulders and neckline fit. Volume that falls from a well-placed shoulder reads as relaxed, while volume that starts on the upper arm tends to make the whole frame look wider.
Is relaxed ease the same as an oversized fit?
No. Relaxed ease adds room within normal proportions. Oversized moves the shoulder line and widens everything on purpose, which needs the design drafted that way from the start.
