I went the other way - I brought my plates and bowls to the store, and tried them out first. Then I bought a DW that fit my stuff!

I did what annkh did, only I brought a couple of pans and a sheet pan with me also. Thank goodness everything fit in the Miele I wanted. I would, however, get different dishes to fit in an awesome new DW if I wasn't too tied to the dishes or they weren't too expensive to replace.

Which DW do you have?

I just brought a measuring tape, but I too bought the DW that fit the dishes, rather than vice versa.

If you start with the given of owning the DW, and your casual dishes aren't anything precious, I could see plunking down a couple hundred dollars on some inexpensive dishes that fit better. You have somewhere to put them, right? If they're the fancy dishes, or fancy casual dishes (I know people who have Villeroy & Boch for kitchen dishes), I don't know if I'd buy just the plates that go with but aren't actual matches. I still might look for a cheap boxed set for casual, instead, and keep the better dishes for casual company even if it meant hand washing the plates.

But then I'm something of a tableware fanatic...maybe I'm not the best model...

Ditto - I am with Ann and breezy girl. I took my dishes to the appliance store to try the various DWers.

I did both.

My plates fit, even some giant ones that I stopped using because of their weight and kids setting the table. DH brought an old Corelle pattern into the marriage that the kids can handle, fit even better in the DW, and I found supplements on ebay for cheap.

If you love your pattern, yes I'd buy the smaller plates. Otherwise, I'd look for a complementary everyday set that fit well. I'm also a tableware addict in recovery. I restrict myself to adding to patterns that I already have (oh dear, that's six! Only 3 of them get additions when I come across them, though).

I bought several sets of inexpensive white plates from Ikea to use when I host a large dinner party. They are fairly flat. My usual problem with plates is they are to deep to fit many in my dishwasher. The Ikea plates slip right into the slots.

My problem is the bowls, they're too deep and don't fit a basic dishwasher. Dishwashers became common in the 50's and 60's and the configuration was based on the common dinnerware size and shape then. Dinnerware has become larger and the bowls bigger and deeper. I don't like the big deep bowls for two reasons, they take up too much space in the dishwasher and prompt my spouse to over eat. I'm searching for a set with a flared bowl. Correlle has some sets, but I'm not into it. I had vintage stuff I collected but it all got broken. I have cheap stuff from Dollar Tree but the bowls got broken and Dollar Tree only has the deep bowls now.

Rethink Corelle while looking for better. I’m still using the Corelle bowls and they blend well with my Fitz & Floyd plates. All purchased for a Bosch and working now with a KA. Our original good set works beautifully in the KA. Additional advantage of Corelle is it’s lightweight and compact in a cabinet too.

Similarly, I am holding on to a set of dishes fro Target- maybe 20 years old- because plates are fair flat/ thin rims & easy to grasp & fit in narrow spaces in a Bosch , & bowls, 2 types, are right size.