All About Alpha Sizing
Your design is ready for the creation of all the different sizes. Maybe sizing is not your forte and are unsure of where to start. Grade rules, what the heck are those? Don’t stress about what you don’t know. Everyone needs to start somewhere.
There are actually only a few bits of information that you need to provide to a grader to get your project rolling:
First off, you need a sizing chart. If you haven’t read my post on this hop over and check this out first and come right back,
I’ll wait.
Next up is the theme of this post: Should you be choosing alpha sizing or numeric sizing for your pattern grading? This is important, so I am breaking it up into two posts to cover all the considerations. First up, Alpha sizing (S, M, L…etc).
I’m gonna just tell you my opinion straight out- if I am a designer testing the waters for my RTW brand, alpha sizing is the way I would. Here’s why:
Alpha sizes cover 2 numeric size ranges
Example: a medium can be a size 8/10. This leaves a margin of error for fit as it is assumed that it’s not fine tuned for one specific body type, but rather a small range. I feel this is important in the beginning as you work to define and fine tune your fit based on customer feedback.
Reduced grading costs
Another benefit of using alpha sizing is cheaper grading costs. Most graders charge by the size, so by simply choosing numeric sizes your grading costs automatically double.
Finding a fit model
It’s hard to get someone spot on your base size requirements A compromise can be good. Maybe she’s an 8 on top but a 6 on the bottom, you can just factor this in an adjust as needed, keeping in mind that your medium should fit both a size 6 and 8.
Less inventory
This one is a biggie! No one wants to be stuck with a lot of inventory laying around getting stale and unseasonable. If the small sizes are not selling then you don’t want to have a bunch of size 0,2’s around. If it was alpha sizing then it would be only the xsmalls.
Alpha sizes make more sense to the average consumer
Now this one is totally my own theory based on deep dives into return rates that I’ve reviewed from large retailers over the years. Every brand has their own sizing intention and it’s really hard to buy a numeric size off of an ecommerce site especially for a first time customer who may not be so fit savvy. We have all felt this, or maybe just me, that moment of oh gosh, did I pick the right size? The difference between sizes may be slight and it could feel like a hard call to make with an expensive purchase and factoring in return time and costs.
Knit garments should be alpha sizing
If you do a lot of knit garments the stretch will easily cover two size ranges, even if it’s more fitted. Most scenarios would never require a numeric size.
Now that I have droned in about my fondness for alpha sizing, stay tuned for my post on choosing numeric sizing!