Shopping guide
The Italian, French and Belgian Sizing Guide
The same letter, the same number, and yet three different wardrobes. At Le Shop 17, Italian, Turkish, Belgian and French houses sit side by side on the rails, each with its own sizing logic.
This guide gives the basic correspondences between the French, Italian and international systems, so you know where you stand before coming in to try things on.
On paper, a size 38 seems universal. In practice, an Italian 38, a French 38 and an international M never quite fit the same way. Le Shop 17 brings together houses with very different origins: the Italian house Ermanno Firenze, the Turkish house Dice Kayek, the Belgian house Essentiel Antwerp and French houses such as Barbara Bui, which also means bringing together several different ways of counting sizes.
The table below gives a general correspondence, useful as a reference point before a fitting. It never replaces trying a piece on in the fitting room: each house has its own proportions, its own ease allowance, and sometimes even sizes that vary from one collection to the next.
Size correspondence table
| International size | French size | Italian size | Bust measurement |
|---|---|---|---|
| XS | 34 | 38 | 78 to 81 cm |
| S | 36 | 40 | 82 to 85 cm |
| M | 38 | 42 | 86 to 89 cm |
| L | 40 | 44 | 90 to 94 cm |
| XL | 42 | 46 | 95 to 99 cm |
| XXL | 44 | 48 | 100 to 104 cm |
Belgium generally follows the same numbered sizing system as France, which is why a Belgian house like Essentiel Antwerp most often labels its pieces directly in XS, S, M, L or XL, without going through a number. It is also the simplest reference to use in the boutique when numbered sizes and letters are mixed together on the same rail.
What the table does not tell you
A correspondence table gives a starting point, never a certainty. At Ermanno Firenze, the Italian cut is often more fitted at the bust and shoulders than a French piece of the same labelled size: a customer used to a French 38 may need an Italian 40 depending on the style. At Dice Kayek, a Turkish house with a very structured silhouette, jackets and coats sometimes call for a size up to keep ease through the shoulders.
Barbara Bui, on the other hand, sizes fairly closely to the classic French system, with fluid cuts that leave a little room. And the same house can vary from one piece to another: a bias-cut wrap dress is not chosen the same way as a wool suit, even when signed by the same hand.
This is why the Le Shop 17 team always recommends trying pieces on in the boutique for new items from a house you do not yet know. A few minutes in the fitting room save many a back and forth, and also let you judge the fabric, the drape and the length, elements no table can ever truly convey.
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Personalized advice in the boutique
Le Shop 17 remains, above all, an advisory boutique. For any doubt about a size, a particular style or a house you are discovering for the first time, the team welcomes you and tries pieces on with you, at 15 rue Notre-Dame, 06400 Cannes, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 7pm. More practical guides can be found on Le Shop 17's Guides page.
For a question before you visit, the team can be reached at +33 (0)4 93 39 46 46, by email at info@leshop17.com, or directly on WhatsApp. You can also follow the boutique's news on Instagram, @leshop17.
Go further: Essentiel Antwerp: which size to choose and where to try it on and women's clothing stores in Cannes.
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