Kid's clothing sizes- what runs big/small

[resipsaloquitur]

I just picked up a beautiful Le Top pink velour, long sleeve twirl dress. I thought it would be perfect for Jan-March when we are tired of wearing red and green. DD is an average size 12 month old. I bought a 2T. It fits her NOW. It was 96 degrees today so we probably won't get much use out of it.

So it got me wondering- what brands do y'all find that run big, small or true to size? I know every kid is built differently, but generally what do you think? For example, I know that Ralph Lauren always runs at least a size or two small. Like when DD was 6 mo she was wearing the 12 mo size. The same with Kate Mack or Biscotti. Gap seems to run a size small except for their pajamas. Gymbo seems to run true to size for us.

Anyone else care to weigh in? I plan to keep this info for future buying reference.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Hanna, Carters and Gymboree fit true to size for the most part. Everything else seems to be smallish on my kids.

[bluestarfish18]

Gymbo, Janie & Carters fit pretty well.

Gap, Hanna and ON are teeny on my gorillas.

[MizMojoLaveau]

I agree with the OP on the Ralph Lauren running small. Also, I've found that:

Tea Collection runs 1 size small
Mini Boden runs true to size
converse shoes run one size large (some tevas do too)

[citymama]

I think it depends on the sz of your kids! I have tall skinnies. So I find Hanna to be enormous on them until 1 or so, and even after, it runs boxy. But otoh, it fits forever. Ditto Lands End. For tall skinny kids, Petit Bateau, Tea Collection and Old Navy all fit well but they run a sz small so I buy a size up. I find Gymbo, Naartjie and Gap to be sized similarly and TTS. I find Carters and TCP to be just a little smaller than Gymbo but not a whole size. And I find Pumpkin Patch to run big, at least in baby clothing.

[TwinFoxes]

My girls are dainty misses. D was wearing a 12 month onesie the other day (it has Mickey Mouse on it and D wanted to wear it, I was shocked it fit with no problem). In general they are in 18-24 sizes. They around 60h percentile in height, and 40-50 in weight. Here's what I observed:

Gymbo - big, they are still wearing their 12-18 month jeans
LE - big, but it's kind of moot because they no longer sell baby clothes (booo!) Their 12-18 month clothes still fit them fine.
Baby Gap - fits well, so probably smallish on others. They can wear some 2Ts and not look like they're wearing hand me downs.
ON - all over the place. 18-24 month tees are belly shirts, 18-24 month jeans are too big all around. Dresses fit fine.
Boden - big
H&M - fits them a little big, but there's something about the cut that doesn't look sloppy big.
Gap Outlet - fits a little bigger than regular Gap.
Jumping Beans - MIL got them some clothes from Kohl, and they are Jumping Bean brand. It's the only brand where they have worn their true size and had it fit. This brand must be tiny on other kids!
Hanna - seems to run big to me, but only slightly.
Tea Collection - fits DDs well, so probably small on other kids.

[ourbabygirl]

Yeah, I have so much trouble with different brands, too. I've been burned on some consignment sale purchases (though still cheaper than retail or consignment stores like OUAC, which has a 7 day return policy ), buying some things that I thought would fit for sure, based on the size, and brought them home to find out they were too small. It's especially tricky since we have 4 very distinct seasons, so it's important that I get things that fit right and look & feel 'wintery,' for example.
DD is almost 2 and wears either a 2T or a 3T, but I did buy her a few size 4 shirts today because it seems like all the other shirts are too short (don't know if she has a long torso, or what). She's in the high 90th percentile for height and probably 75th or so for weight. She has a little belly, too, so I don't put her in onesies anymore (not that I can find them much in her size, other than from Gymbo). Since she's always been long/ tall, she goes through clothes really quickly (grows out of them), and I'm on to the next size... gets pricey!

Anyhow, for brands, IME, Ralph Lauren and Old Navy run small, so I size up at least a size or two. Carters, Gymboree, & Land's End for me are pretty TTS. I also do a lot of Target brand stuff (Circo), which is pretty TTS, but if I buy OshKosh from them, I usually size up one.
ETA: Oh yeah, I like Jumping Beans from Kohl's a lot, too. Cute, mix-and-match stuff, and comfy. And the sizes are very predictable for me, which is nice. Just bought DD two long sleeved shirts and two pairs of boot cut-type leggings, and they both fit great- the pants are the perfect length, which is hard to find.

Clothes sure are tricky!

[zag95]

I have found that I just stick with the same brands.....

my experience is that Carter's runs true to size. I think Oshkosh things run a bit smallish.

I don't do ON because it runs so small that I can't tell what size I need.

The brands I usually do are:
Carters
Hanna Andersson
Gymboree
Land's End

and occasionally TCP or Target items, which I buy one size larger.

[jvs195]

I mostly base on measurements and stick with brands I know well. It depends a lot on style, sex of DC and what fit you expect. I do not like anything to look tight or even slightly undersized so I err on the oversize. My kids are both over 100% in height and 95% in weight so usually one "age size" above their actual age. For DS I can't do many of the boutique brands since I find they have short boxy fits and I have a long torso and leg boy. DD I keep in knit dresses/tunics and leggings or bike shorts depending on season so I have room for flexibility. I find wovens too restricting (ON and Gap both seem so tight on my kids in comparison to same size knits) DD is just getting into 3Ts (at 2) but still wearing LL Bean and Garnet Hill knit dresses in 12-18 mo with current size leggings. Hanna 90 is perfect.

I size up for Tea Collection because of the slim cut
I find Gymbo, Boden and Gap mostly TTS
LE can run a little big/long
My experience is most boutique brands run slightly smaller but again probably because they are not stretchy knits.

I always size up on pajamas despite the warnings about fire hazard. Just hard to get into them at the recommended size.

[mecawa]

I think it varies from kid to kid but with my own two children this is what I have found--

HA runs big in everything
Gap runs true to size
Gymboree, tops and dresses true to size, pants a size big
Old Navy true to size or slightly small
TCP runs true to size or slightly smaller
Ralph Lauren one to two sizes smaller
Baby Lulu one to two sizes smaller
Carter's true to size
Le Top true to size
Rothschild one to two sizes bigger
Janie and Jack about a size bigger, although some of the stuff I bought for DD2 this fall are running true to size, so maybe this is changing