Varusteleka Size helper

Buying the wrong sized clothes online is a delightful hobby but not very popular: nobody seems to like it and most people only do it by accident. It's a nuisance from several perspectives:

1. Shipping parcels back and forth takes a toll on the environment. We do take environmental issues seriously.
2. Receiving your highly anticipated Varusteleka order to find out that you have to return something increases blood pressure - not good for customer experience nor public health.
3. Increased operating expenses create pressure to raise prices. We'd rather not.

From the very beginning we've put a lot of effort into honest and understandable product descriptions as well as educating people. If you are willing to use a measuring tape, you can avoid most returns already. So the situation is good, but to us, it means more work to make it even better!

Let's make finding your size easier

There's a large number of people who haven't measured themselves but remember their height and weight even if you wake them up in the middle of the night to ask it. Unfortunately, the Swedish Defence Force is the only clothing manufacturer in the world to use this system.

We have crafted an algorithm that estimates your body measurements based on your height, weight and body type. It's based on BMI, WHtR and publicly available data, and required lots of coffee to become reality. The accuracy was honed by making the Size Helper guess our employee's measurements - which we could naturally verify.

That's not all, folks! When our webshop knows your measurements, it will highlight the recommended size or sizes to make your life easier.

The Size Helper also serves people who know their accurate measurements: you can enter your own numbers and our webshop will give you recommendations all the same.

Body types

OK, this had to be done and is probably the most confusing part of the Size Helper. Two people with the same height and weight may look very different depending on their diet, hobbies and other factors. The important part is that body type is not a question of how much you weigh, but where and how much muscle and fat you have.

Male body types

1. V - Inverted triangle
2. Athletic, wide chest
3. Narrow waist compared to chest
4. Rarely overweight, but it's possible
5. H - Rectangle
6. Neither the chest or waist stands out as especially large or small
7. From skinny to obese, people of various weights can have this body type.
8. A - Triangle
9. Living standard visible on the belly
10. Narrow chest compared to the waist
11. "Dad Body"
12. Even with a small belly, you can have this body type if your upper body is very small.

Female body types

1. V - Inverted triangle
2. Large bust or shoulders compared to the hips
3. Narrow hip compared to upper body.
4. X/H - Hourglass or rectangle
5. Neither the upper or lower body stands out compared to one another
6. The waist may taper more (X) or less (H).
7. A - Triangle
8. Wider hips compared to upper body.

One person, four sizes, WTF?

The Size Helper may give several recommendations and when you think about it for a sec, it makes perfect sense: crudely speaking, whether clothes fit you or not depends on height and width, much like the common Waist and Leg -system as found in virtually all jeans. Quite often two sizes can be OK and choosing between them is simply a matter of taste.

We have taken the liberty to do some "stretching" to recommended nominal sizes. It's easy to grasp that a 183 cm (6') tall person can easily wear regular length clothes, despite the length groups being 170-180 cm (Regular) and 180-190 cm (Long). These modifications are based on our solid experience in fitting clothes to people and will vary somewhat depending on the product.

So if you get several recommendations, you should be able to wear any of them. When it comes to width, you can choose between a closer fit or maybe more room for movement. Length-wise the length of arms and legs is a very individual matter, but generally choosing the longer option (if available) means your ankles and wrists won't be exposed.

Try it out!

At the time of writing, you get size recommendations for all clothes made by Särmä or Särmä TST, as well as an increasing number of other brands. Can you find a Särmä Wool Flannel Shirt that fits you without trying on every size, as Mikko did for our banner picture? Let's find out!

P.S. If you are a Regular Pig, the Size Helper is also available on your account page and remembers your measurements.