Ask the question anywhere people talk about this brand and you will get four confident answers that flatly contradict each other. Some buyers size up as a matter of course. Others say their usual size fits exactly as expected, and that the people sizing up are swimming in cloth.

Both groups are describing something real. They are just describing different garments, and in some cases different decades of production. Here is why the question is harder than it looks, and the process that works in place of a rule of thumb.

Why do people disagree about whether the brand runs small?

Because they are comparing garments that were never meant to fit the same way. A lightweight shell cut to go over a hooded sweatshirt and a cotton jersey crew cut to sit close to the body behave completely differently at the same nominal size. The label matches. The pattern underneath it does not.

This is the biggest source of confusion around C.P. Company sizing. A buyer has a good experience with one piece, forms a rule from it, applies that rule to a different category and ends up with something that fits nothing like the first. Then they report that the brand runs large, or small, depending which way round it went.

There is a second factor. An outlet rail carries stock from more than one season, and patterns are revised over time. Two jackets on the same rail, same nominal size, can come from different production years and different fit blocks. Neither is wrong. They were drawn for different briefs.

What makes Italian sizing versus UK expectations such a sticking point?

Italian ready-to-wear is commonly labelled numerically, while UK buyers are used to letter sizes and to grading that has drifted roomier over the years. Where a listing carries both a number and a letter, that pairing is set by the brand rather than by any standard, so it tells you less than it appears to.

The gap is part historical, part commercial. Italian menswear grew out of a tailoring tradition where a number referred to a drafting size in a house's own system, not to a body measurement anyone could verify. Meanwhile UK high street letter sizes have crept more generous in recent decades, so the picture most British shoppers carry of what a medium means has shifted with them.

Put an Italian numeric label next to that expectation and the mismatch feels like a brand running small, when two reference points have drifted apart. The practical consequence of Italian sizing versus UK habit is this. Treat the size label as a name, not a measurement. The listed measurements are the only part of the page describing the actual garment.

Should a shell jacket and a sweatshirt be bought in the same size?

Not automatically, because the two are drawn for different jobs. A shell is patterned to clear a mid-layer, so it carries room through the chest, armhole and back by design. A sweatshirt or a fine knit is patterned to sit against or near the body. Identical labels, different intentions.

Work backwards from what goes underneath. If you plan to wear a heavy crew or a hooded sweatshirt beneath something from the outerwear railsJackets & Coats, that bulk has to live somewhere. If the jacket is going over a T-shirt in spring, the same allowance reads as a size too big. The garment has not changed. The use has.

The logic runs the other way with knitwearKnitwear. A mid-weight knit meant to sit under a shell is usually drawn trimmer, because it has to fit inside something else. Buying it with the extra room you would allow in outerwear tends to produce a piece that bunches at the armhole the moment a jacket goes over it.

Why does the same nominal size vary between product lines?

Because a brand this old runs several design programmes at once, each with its own purpose and cloth. Technical outerwear, garment-dyed casual pieces, jersey and knit sit under one name but are developed to different briefs, and the fit block follows the brief rather than the label.

Cloth is a large part of it. C.P. Company has worked in Dynafil TS-70 industrial nylon, used across the 1997 Urban Protection range, Dyneema in the 2020 Metropolis relaunch, 50 Fili, Rubber Wool, Polartec Alpha and Taylon L. A rigid industrial nylon and a soft wool blend cannot be cut identically and still hang correctly, so they are not.

Time matters too. The brand has been in production since it was founded in Bologna in 1971 by Massimo Osti, and ownership has passed from FGF Industry SpA, owner from 2010, to the Hong Kong group Tristate Holdings, which bought the intellectual property in 2015. Patterns get revised across a span like that, and an outlet rail is where you meet the results together.

How does garment dyeing change the way a piece fits?

Garment dyeing, tinto in capo, was developed at C.P. Company from 1974. The garment is cut and sewn first, then dyed as a finished piece. Heat, water and agitation act on an already-constructed object, so the process changes the handle and drape of the cloth, not only its colour.

That matters for how C.P. Company fits in a way most people never consider. Cloth that has been through a dye bath comes out softer and more relaxed. Softer cloth drapes closer to the body, stiffer cloth stands away from it, so two garments with identical flat measurements can feel like different fits on. It also introduces honest variation between pieces, which is the character of the process rather than a fault.

So when a review says a particular jacket feels softer or more fluid than expected, that is often the dye talking. It does not reliably mean the garment is a size bigger or smaller. It means the cloth behaves differently from an undyed equivalent, and your eye reads that as fit.

Which parts of a fit are hardest to live with if they are wrong?

Shoulder seam placement and sleeve length. Almost everything else can be tolerated or worked around. A body that is slightly roomy reads as relaxed, and a hem slightly off rarely ruins a jacket. A shoulder seam sitting in the wrong place is visible from across a room and cannot be fixed.

Shoulders set the whole line of a garment. If the seam drops well down the upper arm on a piece drawn to sit at the shoulder point, the sleeve head collapses and the chest looks shapeless whatever size the rest is. If the seam sits inboard of your actual shoulder, the armhole binds the moment you reach forward.

Sleeve length is second because you notice it every time you put the thing on. Technical outerwear often has articulated sleeves, taped seams and cuff hardware, all of which make shortening expensive or impossible without damaging the garment. A tailor can take in a body far more easily than rebuild a cuff. Give those two numbers more weight than the chest.

How should you approach sizing for the UnderSixteen line?

Treat age labels as a rough starting point rather than a measurement. Children of the same age vary enormously, and the only reliable input is the child's current measurements set against the listed measurements for that exact garment. The same shell versus knit logic applies, in smaller proportions.

The temptation with kidswear is to buy ahead. With a shell that works against you, because outerwear is drawn to a proportion. A jacket two sizes ahead does not simply feel loose, it sits wrong at the shoulder and hangs long at the cuff. Buy so it fits over a jumper this winter, not so it might do for the one after.

Allow for layering exactly as you would for an adult, and judge that allowance by measuring a coat the child already wears over those layers. Pieces across kidswearAll Kids Wear follow adult construction logic in miniature. Where sleeve length and body measurement point at different sizes, prioritise the sleeve and accept some room in the body.

What is the most reliable process for choosing a size in outerwear?

Measure something you already own that fits the way you want, then compare it against the listed measurements for the specific garment you are considering. That comparison beats every general rule, because it uses a real reference you can put on rather than an assumption about how a brand grades.

The process, in order:

1. Pick a garment you own that fits as you want the new one to fit, ideally of similar type. A jacket against a jacket, not a jacket against a jumper.
2. Lay it flat and measure pit to pit across the chest, shoulder seam to shoulder seam, sleeve from shoulder seam to cuff edge, and back length from the base of the collar.
3. Read the listed measurements for the exact piece in the exact size, and check whether they are given flat or as body measurements. Comparing one to the other will send you a full size wrong.
4. Compare the two sets, paying closest attention to shoulder and sleeve.
5. Allow for what you will realistically wear underneath, worked out by measuring over those layers rather than guessing.

When it arrives, try it over the layers you will actually wear. Not a T-shirt in a warm room. Put the knit on, the jacket over it, fasten it fully, raise both arms, reach forward and sit down. A shell that feels fine standing still but pulls across the back when you reach for a seatbelt is the wrong size, whatever the tag says.

Read the returns policy before you order rather than after. Buying online is partly an experiment, and a clear returns window is what makes the experiment safe to run.

Key takeaways

• The brand does not have one fit, so no single rule about sizing up or down holds across shells, knitwear and jersey.
• Italian numeric labels are internal shorthand rather than body measurements, which is why they clash with UK letter-size expectations.
• Shells are drawn with layering room and close-fitting pieces are not, which is where most sizing regret starts.
• Garment dyeing, developed from 1974, softens cloth and changes drape, so handle can shift perceived fit at identical measurements.
• Shoulder seam placement and sleeve length are the two things you cannot live with or alter, so weigh them above the chest.

FAQ

Should I just order two sizes and send one back?

If the retailer's returns policy allows it, that is a legitimate way to settle a borderline call, particularly on outerwear where layering room is hard to judge from a screen. Check the terms first, including the return window and whether both items can go back. Trying the two side by side over the same jumper answers the question in minutes.

Do vintage and secondhand pieces fit the same as current production?

Not reliably. Patterns have been revised across decades of production, and older pieces have usually been washed and worn, which changes the cloth and sometimes the dimensions. Ask the seller for flat measurements of the actual garment rather than trusting the label, then compare those against something you own. The tag size on an older piece is the least useful information on it.

Does the fabric make a difference to which size I should take?

Yes, and more than most people expect. A rigid technical nylon holds its shape and stands away from the body, while a soft wool blend or a garment-dyed cotton drapes closer. The same measurements in those two cloths will not feel the same on. Read the fabric listed for the piece and picture how it will hang before you commit.

Will a jacket relax or shrink after washing?

Behaviour depends on the fabric and the construction, so there is no universal answer, and you should follow the care label on that specific garment rather than any general rule. Natural fibres and blends can move slightly with washing. Technical shells are generally more stable. If in doubt, wash cool, wash rarely and do not tumble dry.

The honest answer is that it depends on the piece, and anyone offering a blanket rule is guessing. What does not depend on the piece is the method. Measure something that already fits, read the listed measurements for the exact garment, give shoulder and sleeve more weight than chest, allow for the layers you will genuinely wear, and check the returns policy before you order.