Fashion: In search of the perfect fit — online

True Fit offers a fairly straightforward approach to help consumers, says Macys.com President Kent Anderson. The company started testing women’s denim in April and is now testing men’s, too. Although the sample size is not huge, Anderson says the company has seen a decline in return rates and a rising percentage of prospective customers buying jeans.

Alton Lane, a men’s clothing shop in Dupont Circle that opened in October, sells custom-tailored suits, shirts and trousers. Combining old-world methods with new technology, founders and University of Virginia grads Colin Hunter and Peyton Jenkins, both 30, came up with the notion of using a body scanner to take a three-dimensional image of each customer to show body type, posture and shoulder slope. Following the scan, more measurements are taken by hand, which are sent off with the scan to Alton Lane’s tailors in Thailand, who make the garment and send it back to the customer within six weeks. After that initial fitting and satisfactory results, Alton Lane hopes for repeat business on its Web site.

(Deb Lindsey/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST) - Dress from True Fit that didn't quite fit photographed in Washington, D.C.

Satisfied customers?

Whether algorithms, webcams or body scanners are solving the fit problem depends on whom you ask.

Guillaume Orain, 23, who works at a New York software start-up, has suffered several sizing mishaps while shopping online. On a friend’s suggestion, he tried Frank & Oak, which uses Clothes Horse technology. He liked that the site used his favorite J. Crew label for comparison and he ordered a $40 shirt. When the shirt arrived, “it was right,” he said.

I registered with True Fit on Nordstrom.com this summer, filled out the questionnaire and ordered a size 4 Rachel Roy dress for $398 and a size small Tory Burch knit sheath for $345, based on the program’s size recommendation. Both also received a rating of 4, which means the fit should be excellent. The Rachel Roy was short-waisted, slightly big around the shoulders and longer than I expected. I returned it; the Tory is hanging in my closet. (There’s no fee for using any of these sizing technologies.)

D.C. orthopedic surgeon Denis Harris, who faces problems finding clothes to fit his 6-foot-5 frame, ordered two pairs of pants and a sports jacket from Alton Lane. “The pants fit fine,” said Harris, “but the jacket came up a couple of inches short.” Alton Lane remade it.

Former White House assistant press secretary-turned-entrepreneur Josh Deckard, 31, ordered an Alton Lane shirt in February. He has since ordered three more. “They are fantastic. I wore one and literally every person I was with commented on it.”

Booze Allen consultant Blair Winston, 24, prefers brick-and-mortar shopping. “I’ve bought unfamiliar brands online before because I thought I was getting a good deal, but often they fit strangely. I’m comfortable buying a Nanette Lepore suit on the Web because the sizes are consistent. I won’t buy jeans, though. You have to try them on.”

Madison Riley, managing director of retail consulting firm Kurt Salmon, is in a watch-and-wait mode. “If a retailer knows your sizes, it will do a lot to lock that consumer loyalty into a retail brand, but we’re not there yet,” Riley said. “Lots of people are interested in testing. We’ll see where they go.”

A good fit is a critical component of the online shopping experience, but it’s not the only one. No technology can determine how an item of clothing will look on you. It’s impossible — at least for now — to tell the texture of a fabric, or to determine if the shade on your computer screen matches what shows up at your door. Coming up with solutions to these online-buying dilemmas may make solving the fit problem seem as easy as putting on a pair of pants.