Finding your Judy size

The chart

These are not numbers from a chart somewhere else. Every pair of Judy Blues in the shop lists its own waist measurements, and this is what they say — 66 of the 73 pairs agree, with between 32 and 38 of them stating each figure.

Why the numbers start again at 14W

This is the part that catches everyone. The run climbs to a 15, which is a 32″ waist — and then begins again at 14W, which is 35″. A 14W is not a smaller 15. It is the next size up, cut differently, with more room through the hip and seat.

So if you are a 15 and it is snug, the size above it is the 14W, not a 17. And if you wear a 14W, do not read the smaller number as a reason to size down.

If you are between two sizes

Size down. Judy Blue stretch denim gives, and gives more after an hour on — the pair that feels snug in the fitting room usually settles by lunchtime. A pair bought a size up tends to end up at the back of the drawer.

The exception is a rigid or non-stretch pair. When a piece has less give than usual, its own page says so above the size run.

Rise and inseam change with the cut

The waist is the same across a size, but how long they are and where they sit is not — a cropped pair and a wide leg in the same size are different trousers. Each pair lists its own front rise and inseam, and the Denim Room sorts them by cut so you can start from the shape you want.

Still not sure?

Find Your Judy asks a few questions and puts you in a size, or ask me during Tuesday’s show and I’ll measure a pair on camera.