Hello hello :)

I'd like to preface that 1) I live in a rural area and don't have access to any stores that carry camping equipement besides Canadian Tire and 2) I'm in Canada so returns aren't free for Outdoor Research.

I'm looking to invest in some buy-it-once equipement that will be used for both urban winter wear as well as winter hiking/snowshoeing and winter camping. I'll regularily be dealing with tempuratures anywhere from 5C to -30C (last year we even got down to -40C for a couple days without wind chill). I will be layering with a merino base layer, a thick, oversized, thrift store wool sweater OR this Kathmandu fleece (the XL is very oversized on me). Only this year have I been able to afford buy-it-forever type clothes and I'm used to very oversized things so I'm finding getting the sizing right particularily difficult :P

My measurements are:

• Bust: 39.25" / 90.5cm
• Waist: 33.25" / 84.5cm
• Hips: 44.75" / 113.5cm

As I mentioned, I'm interested in Women's Aspire II GORE-TEX Jacket, the Women's Coldfront Down Hoodie, and the Women's Cirque II Pants.

For OR large, the measurements are:

• Bust: 38.5"-41.5" / 98-105cm (so this would fit perfectly)
• Waist: 32”-35” / 81-89cm (same, this would fit perfectly)
• Hips: 41.5”-44.5” / 105-113cm (and I'm just .5 of a cm larger)

For an OR Xlarge, the measurements are:

• Bust: 41.5”-45” / 105-114cm
• Waist: 35”-38.5” / 89-98cm
• Hips: 44.5”-47.5” / 113-121cm

The hips is where I'm really uncertain about what to do. I heard that OR uses body measurements for this coat, not the measurements of the actual garment and as well that they account for layering in the garment design. In the pants I'm also worried because the waist would be kinda big on me if I chose the XL to accommodate my hips.

I recently bought (and recently returned) the Columbia Whirlibird IV Interchange Jacket in an XXL. The measurements for this one were:

• Bust: 43.9"-45.9" / 111.5-116.6cm
• Waist: 38"-40.9" / 96.5-103.9cm
• Hips: 46.9"-50” / 119.4-127cm

I haven't bought any outerwear before in my adult life (even my last jacket was one of those old giant military actic wear jackets and even it was oversized) so I thought I was buying for the measurements of the clothing, not for the measurements of my body. Needless to say the jacket was way to big, even when I used all of my layers haha

I also bought (and, again, returned) the The North Face Freedom Insulated Bib in XXL. Reviewers were saying that they followed the size chart and still found that it ran small so I sized up. The measurements for this one were:

• Waist: 39"-40" / 99-102cm
• Hips: 47"-50" / 119-127cm

I don't believe I should've sized up because I can fit four fingers between my body and the pant material even at the hips where many reviewers claimed was too tight. Also I'm swimming in the waist area there's so much fabric there lol

I'm feeling both a bit frustrated and a bit nervous--I only have ill fitting outerwear to base the sizes off of for OR AND if the stuff from OR doesn't fit, I have to pay to return them, so I'm just not really sure which one to choose. I'm so used to oversized clothes that I don't really know if I should size up or stick with L since they already account for layering in their garments.

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UPDATE: I purchased L for the Coldfront jacket, XL for Aspire, and XL for the pants. Under the jackets I can fit a bulky fleece/wool sweater and it’s tight but it fits. The arms (with no fleece/wool) are honestly much tighter than the rest of the jacket. It’s not bad, but OR’s arm width seems to be a bit smaller than what I’m used to. I didn’t return these and they’ve both been a great investment! For the pants, I bought them from a Canadian retailer that offers free returns—the L was too tight in the hips, the XL was very loose in the waist but fit well in the hips. Thankfully the waistband has the Velcro strips to tighten it and so the XL now fits perfectly. All in all, I love my winter set up, down is 100% worth it, it’s by far the warmest and smallest coat I’ve ever had!