Buy your chest size, not your T-shirt size, and you will get a Moncler puffer right about nine times out of ten. In the short Mayas and Maire cuts I have measured, a 96–100 cm chest lands on an M, and anything from 104 cm up needs an L. The label runs narrow across the shoulders and long in the sleeve, which is the opposite of what most people assume when ordering online.
I have worn and sold these jackets through four winters in a city that sits at −8°C for weeks. Here is the sizing advice I actually send people over email, including the two places where a standard chart steers you wrong.
Start With Your Chest, Not the Letter on the Tag
Measure around the fullest part of your chest with a thin shirt on and your arms down. Keep the tape level across the back — most people let it ride up without noticing and come out 3–4 cm short. Everything below keys off that number.
Moncler labels its own garments 0 through 5, which maps to XS through XXL. The listings here use letters: 1 is S, 2 is M, 3 is L, 4 is XL, 5 is XXL. What confuses people is that a size 2 in a slim short puffer is not the same garment as a size 2 in a long parka with a shearling hood. Same number, 6–8 cm more room through the body.
For a concrete reference, a men’s M in the Black Moncler Maya 70 Hooded Short Down Jacket measures 56 cm pit to pit laid flat. Double it, subtract about 4 cm for down loft, and you get roughly 108 cm of internal circumference — roomy on a 96–100 cm chest with a hoodie underneath, snug on 106 cm.
The Size Chart I Actually Use
These numbers come from measuring garments flat on a table, not from a brand table. Sleeve is measured from the shoulder seam, and on these dropped-shoulder cuts that adds roughly 3 cm of effective length.
| Size | Fits chest | Pit to pit (flat) | Sleeve | Body length | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | 88–92 cm | 52 cm | 64 cm | 64 cm | 165–172 cm | 55–65 kg |
| M | 94–99 cm | 56 cm | 65 cm | 66 cm | 170–178 cm | 62–75 kg |
| L | 100–105 cm | 59 cm | 66 cm | 68 cm | 175–182 cm | 72–85 kg |
| XL | 106–112 cm | 62 cm | 67 cm | 70 cm | 178–186 cm | 82–95 kg |
| XXL | 113–120 cm | 65 cm | 68 cm | 72 cm | 180–190 cm | 92–108 kg |
Use the height column to catch the cases where chest and body disagree. A 180 cm guy with a 98 cm chest reads as an M on paper, but the 66 cm body length sits above his belt. He wants the L.
Maya, Long Puffers and Vests Fit Differently
The Maya family is the most forgiving cut. Short hem at the hip bone, boxy through the waist, no taper, so chest size is the only number that matters. Three colourways of the same block — the Brown Moncler Maya Hooded Short Down Jacket, the Grey Moncler Maya Matte Short Down Jacket and the Brown New Moncler Maya Hooded Down Jacket — measure identically, so pick on finish. The glossy shell on the black glossy Moncler Parana down puffer jacket is half a size tighter through the chest because coated nylon does not give.
Long cuts are a different problem. The Black Khloesse Shearling-Trimmed Hooded Long Down Puffer Jacket adds 8 cm of body length over a Maya and carries a belt, so the waist can be pulled in. Below 170 cm it hits mid-calf and shortens you visually; above 178 cm it reads as intended. Stay with your chest size here — sizing down makes the shoulders pull when you reach forward.
Vests are where I tell people to size up. The Black Tibb Down Vest has tight armholes by design, and a sweater underneath turns a clean layering piece into something that fights you. One size up costs 2 cm of hem and buys you the ability to wear it in December.
Three Places the Fit Goes Wrong
Sleeves are long. Consistently, across every short cut I have handled, the sleeve runs 2–3 cm past the wrist bone on someone who matches the chest column. Fine under a glove cuff, annoying over one. If you are between sizes and have short arms, take the smaller size and accept a tighter chest.
Hoods are soft. The brim on the hooded Mayas holds shape for about a season before folding forward in wind. Not a sizing issue, but a size up makes it worse because there is more fabric to collapse.
Hems crease. An hour sitting in a car puts a fold across the front hem of a short puffer, and glossy shells show it. It steams out in ten minutes, but a matte finish hides the commute better than the shine.
Size Up Or Stay True, By Body Type
Narrow shoulders, long torso: stay true. The dropped shoulder already compensates, and the body length on the L covers the waistband. The Moncler Citala Short Down Jacket suits this shape because the quilting runs vertical and keeps the silhouette narrow.
Broad chest or lifting build: size up one. A 108 cm chest in an XL leaves no room for a mid-layer, and the armhole binds when you drive. Take the XXL and let the hem sit lower.
Under 170 cm: the short cuts already run long relative to height, so stay true and skip the long parkas — a 72 cm body length on a 168 cm frame looks borrowed.
Women ordering unisex blocks: the Moncler Abbaye white down jacket runs about 2 cm narrower through the chest than the men’s Maya at the same letter size, with a 3 cm shorter sleeve. If you take a women’s M, the S in a unisex Maya is the closer match.
Two more data points worth having: the Burgundy Maire Hooded Short Down Jacket fits like a Maya through the chest but sits 4 cm longer, and the Glareins Hooded Short Down Jacket with Braided Trim is the trimmest of the short group, roughly a size tighter than its label. The hoodie cut of the Black Padded Zip-Up Hoodie Puffer Jacket behaves like knitwear and stretches 2 cm across the chest, so order true to size.
Two Minutes to Confirm It Fits
Zip it closed and sit down. If the hem rides up past your belt, the body is too short, not the chest. Reach both arms forward as if grabbing a steering wheel; if the shoulder seam lifts more than 3 cm off your shoulder point, the size is too small regardless of the chest number. Then put the hood up and turn your head — a hood that will not follow your head is one you will never use.
Layer check last: wear the thickest sweater you own and zip up. If you cannot close it without pulling the zipper tape apart, you have your answer. These jackets are built for a base layer and a mid-weight knit, not a hoodie plus a fleece.
How to Decide
Chest 94–99 cm, order M and stop reading. Chest 100–105 cm, L. Over 106 cm, or if you lift, go one above your chest size and accept the long sleeve. Only two situations justify ignoring that: you are under 170 cm and looking at a long parka, in which case pick a short cut instead; or you wear a heavy sweater underneath daily, in which case size up and plan on tailoring nothing — the sleeve will be long.
Questions beyond the chart usually come down to one jacket. There is more detail on the short cuts in the comparison of the Chitre, Verney and Cardere silhouettes and in the Maya cut and fill breakdown. Send your chest, height and weight and I will give you one size rather than three options.
Browse the full range at the Moncler collection, or start with the down vest category if you already own a shell you like.