Skims Size Guide

Match the size to the garment’s job

Skims pieces span two very different jobs: firm sculpting and soft everyday wear. The right size depends on which one the item is doing. Shapewear is engineered to compress, so its chart assumes a deliberately snug fit. Loungewear, tees, and sleep styles are cut for ease and drape. A size you love in one collection is not automatically your size in the other, so start each order by naming the garment’s purpose: smooth under a dress, support through the day, or relax at home.

The range runs from XXS through 4X across most collections, with 4X corresponding to roughly a US 26–28. Within that range the charts are measurement-based: bust, waist, and hips, with allowances that vary by collection. Take all three measurements standing, tape level and parallel to the floor, and compare them with the chart for the exact collection rather than for the brand in general. A collection-level chart plus your largest relevant measurement beats a vague “I’m usually a medium.”

Compression pieces: choose your trade-off

Shapewear is the category where the label means least until you know the compression level. The brand’s sizing advice is to order your true size so the garment compresses as designed; the smoothing comes from fabric tension, not from buying short. At the same time, the sculpting lines run deliberately tight, and customer reviews cluster around the same conclusion: size up one when you sit between sizes or plan to wear the piece for hours, while staying at your measured size when you want the strongest hold for a shorter occasion.

Test the trade-off before you commit. Put the piece on, then sit, bend at the waist, and breathe deeply. Watch for rolling at the waist or leg openings, seams that dig, and any restriction of normal breathing. Compression should feel like firm support. On high-waist styles, check where the top edge lands against your ribs; on shorts, check the leg openings. Those are the two places sizing tension shows first.

Fits Everybody versus the cotton collections

Two of the brand’s most popular families behave almost opposite in fit, and knowing which is which prevents most return-worthy mistakes. Fits Everybody is a nylon-spandex blend the brand describes as stretching to roughly twice its size, and it runs true to size: the fabric recovers its shape and tolerates a range of body measurements without looking strained, and buyers who order their usual size find the stretch forgiving around larger busts and thighs. The tees are cut long and body-skimming by design, so length is part of the intended silhouette rather than a sign of the wrong size.

The cotton collections (Cotton Rib, Cotton Jersey, and the cotton-blend Cotton+ pieces) trade stretch for structure. Cotton has less recovery than the nylon blends, so a borderline measurement shows itself sooner in a cotton piece, and if you sit between sizes, the cotton family is where sizing up pays off. The ribbed versions are the exception: the knit gives enough that a true size usually works. Treat the fabric composition line on the product page as sizing information.

Bras: two systems side by side

Skims bras split the same way as the rest of the line. Structured underwire styles use band-and-cup sizing across a wide range (roughly 30 to 46 bands, with cups from AA through H), while bralettes and wireless styles use letter sizes from XXS through 5X, matched to your band and cup on a chart. Neither system is a single measurement. For structured styles, measure the underbust for the band and the fullest point of the bust for the cup, and let the band decide first, as with any bra.

The Fits Everybody bra styles are the flexible middle ground. Because the fabric stretches far and recovers well, one letter size accommodates several adjacent band-and-cup combinations, which helps when your measurements sit between chart rows or move across a month. If you wear a D cup or above, the structured styles provide the support letter-size bralettes cannot, whatever the chart suggests.

Bodysuits, underwear, and swim: where the pressure lands

Close-fitting pieces show fit errors in specific places, so check the zones that matter for each silhouette. In the Fits Everybody bodysuits, the fabric stretches without feeling restrictive and takes a regular size, while the more compressive bodysuit styles feel tighter through the torso, so size up there if you are between sizes. For underwear, the hip measurement leads, and the leg opening is the place to watch for digging when you sit. For swim, use the same measurement-first approach against the swim charts on the brand’s size-guide pages, and check the fit of the leg and shoulder straps rather than the overall label.

Seams tell the truth early. Wear a new piece for a short seated test and note any red marks after a few minutes: a light outline from elastic is normal in compression wear, but a deep groove or numbness means the size or the silhouette is wrong.

Measure at the largest relevant point

For every Skims order, measure the fullest point of the area the garment controls. A bodysuit is sized by your largest torso measurement, a thigh-skimming short by the fullest thigh, and a bralette by the band-and-cup combination. Keep the tape level around the fullest part and take the reading while breathing normally. If two measurements suggest different sizes, pick the size that clears the larger one: ease can be managed with styling, but a too-small panel cannot stretch past its recovery point without rolling or digging. Re-measure when your weight, training, or stage of life changes; many fit complaints trace back to an out-of-date tape reading rather than to a chart that changed.

The short version

If you take nothing else from this guide, take the order of decisions. Name the garment’s job first: sculpting, support, or everyday ease. Then measure bust, waist, and hips, and read the chart for the exact collection rather than the brand in general.

The two sizing rules that prevent most returns point in opposite directions, so match the rule to the item. In shapewear, stay at your measured size for strong hold and go up one when you sit between sizes or plan to wear the piece all day. In the cotton family, favor the larger size when you are borderline; in Fits Everybody, your usual size works. For bras, settle the band first, then match the cup or the letter chart.

Before you commit to any of it, run the seated test: sit, bend, and breathe in the piece for a few minutes before the tags come off.

This is an independent educational guide. Consult the current SKIMS item chart and its return rules before purchase.