Wholesale clothing size ratios describe the mix you buy, not the mix your boutique necessarily needs. A pack can contain a useful size while also adding units that are already well covered on your rails. Before ordering, turn the stated ratio into quantities for each exact option and compare the whole purchase with your buying requirement.
This guide explains that pack-to-requirement comparison for UK boutique buyers. It does not prescribe a standard size curve or suggest that suppliers will split a pack. The examples are invented to show the method, not current Catwalk pack contents, stock or sales data.
Read the labels beside the wholesale clothing size ratio
Start with the exact style, colour and listed size labels. A notation such as 1:2:1 is incomplete without its size order and the supplier’s explanation of what the numbers mean. If the page explicitly states S x1, M x2 and L x1 per pack, that pack contains four units. Do not assume a bare ratio gives the total: a proportion of 1:2:1 could also describe a larger pack.
Keep combined labels intact. S/M is one listed option, not one S plus one M. Likewise, three units of one stated One Size option do not become three different sizes. A fit range is not a promise that the garment will suit every customer within it; check the garment information and relevant measurements separately.
Catwalk’s current terms allow individual pieces or the pack or size ratio shown on the product page. Check that page for the chosen option. The minimum-order and pack guide explains why a product selling unit is different from a minimum spend across an order.
Define the unit before multiplying a pack
Write down whether your calculation counts individual garments or complete saleable sets. If one supplied unit is a co-ord set, retain that unit throughout the comparison and note its components separately. Do not compare sets in the purchase column with individual garments in the requirement column.
Then expand the confirmed pack contents: units of an option per pack multiplied by the number of packs. Do this separately for every size and colour. A photograph of several colourways does not establish that one pack mixes those colours, and a total across colours can hide a shortage in the option you actually want.
Compare whole-pack choices, not just the missing size
First establish a remaining buying requirement after considering reliable available stock and relevant confirmed incoming units. Keep arrival uncertainty visible and avoid deducting reservations twice. The boutique stock-review guide covers the evidence behind that requirement; the calculation below starts after the buyer has chosen it.
Illustrative example: a boutique wants an additional two S, three M and one L in one colour. The hypothetical supplier pack contains one S, two M and one L. All figures below mean individual garments, and the requirement is a planning choice rather than a demand forecast.
- One pack: buys one S, two M and one L, four garments in total. Against the plan, one S and one M remain unfilled; there is no quantity above the plan.
- Two packs: buy two S, four M and two L, eight garments in total. The planned quantities are covered, but the purchase adds one M and one L above them.
- Decision: covering every planned size requires two of these packs, but that does not make two packs the right purchase. The two extra garments still need a credible role and must fit the budget.
Do not cancel one size’s excess against another size’s shortage. They are different options. Nor does rounding the total requirement up to a pack multiple prove that the size mix works. Inspect every option row, even when the overall quantities look tidy.
Put the full cash commitment beside each choice
Compare the payable cost of each complete purchase, using the stated unit or pack price, applicable VAT and delivery. Keep the basis consistent. If extra units have no established need, include their cost rather than treating them as free stock because the desired size made the order attractive.
Do not assume unwanted sizes can be returned, exchanged or sold at the original ticket price. A possible later markdown is not a guaranteed exit. Keep your stock decision separate from any agreement a supplier actually offers.
Where individual pieces or another pack arrangement are explicitly available, compare those as separate real alternatives. Otherwise, the choices may be to buy fewer packs and accept a remaining gap, choose a different suitable style, ask a precise question or hold the order. Do not silently substitute colours or sizes to make a spreadsheet balance.
Use an option-by-option comparison
For each candidate purchase, keep one line per exact colour and listed size:
- Confirmed contents: product link, check date, selling unit and quantity of this option in one pack.
- Remaining requirement: the additional quantity you intend to buy and the stock evidence behind it.
- Candidate: number of complete packs and resulting quantity of this option.
- Gap: how many units of this option remain below the plan.
- Above-plan units: how many units exceed the plan, with a reason to accept them or a reason to hold.
Keep the total purchase cost and decision beside those rows. If a required option does not appear in the pack at all, buying more of that same pack cannot fill its gap. Resolve missing or ambiguous contents before calculating, rather than recording an unknown option as zero.
Recheck the selected option before ordering
Return to the exact product page and selected colour before committing. Catwalk’s terms explain that availability, pack contents and prices may change before acceptance. A saved comparison is evidence of what you reviewed, not a stock reservation or permission to change the listed ratio.
The useful outcome is a purchase you can explain at option level: what it covers, what it leaves unfilled and what extra stock it introduces. A neat pack total is only the arithmetic; deciding whether the entire mix belongs in your boutique is the buying judgement.