I’ll start with a confession: I don’t believe in style guides that divide women into fruits and geometric shapes, only to tell them to “disguise their flaws.” I read dozens of them before we started Nudyess, and almost all of them share the same problem. They write about stiff fabrics: chiffon, satin, jacquard. About materials that have their own shape and to which you have to adjust your body.
Ribbed knit works the opposite way. It has no shape of its own; it adopts yours. And that changes almost all the rules you know from classic style guides. That is why I wrote this text: a complete guide to choosing the size and style of a ribbed dress, written from the perspective of the fabric we use at Nudyess—a dense knit made of 95% cotton and 5% elastane, about which you can read more on our Our fabrics page.
Here you will find three things: how our two-size system works and how to choose yours, how to match length and neckline to your body proportions, and why “figure rules” sound different in elastic knit than what you’re used to.
Why knit fabric changes the rules of choosing a dress
Classic style guides were created for fabrics that do not stretch. A satin pencil dress must match your measurements to the centimeter; otherwise, it’s either too tight or hangs loosely. Hence all the “disguise” engineering: ruffles adding volume, empire waists bypassing the belly, pleats building the waist. These aren’t tips about your body. These are tips about the limitations of stiff fabric.
Rib-knit fabric stretches and returns to its shape; I wrote about the mechanics of this weave in our history of rib knit. In practice, this means three things that simplify choosing a dress:
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The fabric follows the body, it doesn’t fight it. The same dress fits correctly on an 84 cm bust and a 94 cm bust because the weave works within a range, not at a single point. You don’t need perfect, centimeter-precise agreement with the table.
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The vertical rib optically lengthens and streamlines the silhouette, doing what stiff fabrics need pleats, cuts, and panels for. The style can be simpler because the texture of the fabric does part of the work itself.
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Fabric weight matters. Our knit weighs 280–320 g/m²; it is dense enough to smooth the body line rather than highlighting every detail underneath. This is a fundamental difference compared to thin, mass-market ribs through which underwear texture is visible. If you were ever put off by fitted knitwear, it was probably just too thin.
The conclusion is simple: with a ribbed dress made of good quality knit, the question isn’t “how to hide your figure,” but “which length and neckline to choose to feel your best.” And we will go through the selection process in exactly that order.
Two sizes instead of ten: how Nudyess sizing works
Most stores offer sizes from 32 to 46 and teach you how to navigate tables: “if your waist is M and your hips are L, pick L and have it altered by a tailor.” We went a different way. At Nudyess, we sew most models in two sizes: XS/S and M/L.
This isn’t a shortcut; it is a conscious design decision made possible precisely because of the flexibility of the rib-knit weave. One size of our knit handles a range of measurements that would require three separate sizes in a stiff fabric. And in the process, it achieves something that is at the heart of our brand: it frees you from the pressure of a “low number.” You no longer have to choose between an “S that is too tight” and an “M that hurts your ambition.” You choose a range, and that’s it.
How to measure yourself: three measurements, five minutes
To choose a size, you need three circumferences. Measure yourself with a tailor’s tape, in your underwear or thin, close-fitting clothing—never in a sweater, as the result will be inflated:
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Bust, horizontally, across the fullest point of the bust and across the back. The tape should be snug but not pressing into your body.
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Waist, at the narrowest part of the torso, usually 2–3 cm above the navel. Do not suck in your stomach: the dress will be on you in your natural state, not while holding your breath.
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Hips, horizontally, across the widest point of the hips and buttocks. Stand with your feet together.
Compare the results with the ranges in our size chart; each product page has precise brackets for XS/S and M/L.
Are you between sizes? Here is how to decide
This is the most frequent question in our messages, so I will answer it systematically. When your measurements fall on the border of XS/S and M/L, follow two rules:
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The dominant measurement rule. The knit works most where the body is widest. If two out of three measurements fall into the M/L range, choose M/L. The weave will adjust in the narrower areas on its own, because the ribbing shrinks to the body as readily as it stretches.
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The preferred fit rule. Do you want a “second skin” effect that shapes as much as possible? For borderline measurements, choose the smaller range. Do you prefer the dress to gently skim the body, with more freedom of movement? Choose the larger one. Both decisions are correct; they differ in character, not in quality of fit.
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