Wardrobe Reference Tables

Outfits by capsule size

Outfits are a product, not a sum, so they climb far faster than the wardrobe does: going from 9 pieces to 24 multiplies the outfits from 32 to 1200. Which is really an argument for the small end — a month needs thirty, and everything past that is redundancy rather than range.

What one more piece buys, from a 5/3/2/2 wardrobe

The rule falls straight out of the arithmetic: add to whichever category has fewest pieces. Here a pair of shoes adds 45 outfits and a top adds 18— and tops are the category most people keep buying.

Cost per wear

Sticker price does not rank these. The dearest purchase here costs 900 and works out at 7.5 a wear, while the worst value on the table cost 300 and comes to 25. The cheap thing worn twice is the expensive one.

The arithmetic cannot see durability, care costs or whether you still like the garment — a dry-clean-only piece carries a running charge that never appears in the sum.

Size conversions

The offsets are constant: UK is US plus four, EU is US plus thirty-two, and the Italian numeric convention runs two above EU for the same measurements — which is why an Italian label looks alarming and fits normally.

These describe the nominal systems, not how any brand cuts. Two garments labelled the same size can differ by centimetres — the brand’s own measurement chart is the authority.

Where the shape boundaries fall

An hourglass needs the bust and hip within five per cent of each other anda waist at or below seventy-five per cent of their average. Miss either and the label changes — the third and fourth rows here differ only in which threshold they fail. Anyone near a boundary should read both descriptions and let the mirror decide.