Brand sizing

A 32 waist is rarely 32 inches.

We hold both a tag and a tape measurement for 3,803 sizes of pants, jeans and shorts, across 446 products from 34 brands. 80% measure bigger around the waist than their own tag states, by a median of 2″.

How to read this page

Dimension and baseline: Pants, jeans and shorts are compared on ONE dimension: the garment’s own tag number against its own measured waist circumference — the only pairing a printed number and a tape agree on. Letter-sized categories (shirts, tees, sweaters, jackets) carry no tag number to check, so those figures instead compare the same size’s measured pit-to-pit across brands, relative to each other rather than to a claim.
Legend: A positive figure means the garment measures bigger than the tag (or than other brands at that size); negative means smaller. The bar is the same comparison, drawn to the same scale, and never carries colour — good, warn and bad stay reserved for a fit verdict on a specific garment you’re looking at, not a brand average. The number in parentheses is the centimetre figure to two decimal places: the displayed inches round to the nearest quarter, so two brands separated by a fraction of a centimetre can round to the same inch figure while sitting on different sides of the true-to-size line, which we draw at 1.5cm either way. Read the parenthetical rather than the rounded inch figure when a verdict looks surprising.
A brand average is not a verdict on one garment: Every row below is a brand’s typical size in one category — it describes the brand, not the specific product you have open. Two garments from the same brand can differ, and a brand average cannot tell you how one of them fits you. Add your measurements for a comparison against a specific garment’s own numbers instead of a brand average.
When a brand appears twice: A brand with separate men’s and women’s lines gets one row per line here, not one average across both — they are cut differently, so a single figure would misdescribe whichever line it borrowed from. The label beside a doubled brand name says which line that row describes.
When a row looks inconsistent with itself: A small number of rows carry a figure that looks too large for the verdict shown, or vice versa. We show what the pipeline computed rather than adjust it — an anomaly like that gets investigated as a possible data defect, not corrected on this page into a number we have not verified.

Search brands

The tag against the tape

Pants, jeans and shorts, where the tag prints a waist number we can check directly against a measured one.

Pants

Buck Mason· Women's
141 sizes
+3¾″(+9.84cm)Runs large
Dickies
10 sizes
+3¾″(+9.53cm)Runs large
Stüssy
178 sizes
+3″(+7.66cm)Runs large
MUJI· Men's
314 sizes
+2¾″(+6.86cm)Runs large
MUJI· Women's
167 sizes
+2¼″(+5.96cm)Runs large
Buck Mason· Men's
162 sizes
+2¼″(+5.48cm)Runs large
Banana Republic
33 sizes
+2¼″(+5.48cm)Runs large
Taylor Stitch
898 sizes
+2″(+5.21cm)Runs large
Lands' End
313 sizes
+2″(+4.80cm)Runs large
Rowing Blazers
229 sizes
+1¾″(+4.76cm)Runs large
Wool&Prince
70 sizes
+1¾″(+4.70cm)Runs large
Everlane
924 sizes
+1¾″(+4.44cm)Runs large
J.Crew
40 sizes
+1¾″(+4.38cm)Runs large
Bonobos
35 sizes
+1½″(+4.04cm)Runs large
Uniqlo
43 sizes
+1¼″(+3.24cm)Runs large
Percival
468 sizes
+1″(+2.25cm)Runs large
Universal Works
1056 sizes
+¾″(+2.07cm)Runs large
Spier & Mackay
34 sizes
+½″(+1.43cm)True to size
Polo Ralph Lauren
8 sizes
0″(0.00cm)True to size
Carhartt
21 sizes
0″(0.00cm)True to size
Tommy Hilfiger
9 sizes
−¾″(−1.69cm)Runs small
lululemon
25 sizes
−¾″(−2.12cm)Runs small
Arc'teryx
8 sizes
−2″(−4.90cm)Runs small
Kith
197 sizes
−4¼″(−10.65cm)Runs small

Jeans

Buck Mason· Women's
80 sizes
+3¾″(+9.76cm)Runs large
MUJI
62 sizes
+3″(+7.76cm)Runs large
Banana Republic
24 sizes
+2½″(+6.63cm)Runs large
Kith
92 sizes
+2½″(+6.35cm)Runs large
J.Crew
33 sizes
+2½″(+6.30cm)Runs large
Stüssy
181 sizes
+2½″(+6.25cm)Runs large
Buck Mason· Men's
178 sizes
+2¼″(+5.98cm)Runs large
Taylor Stitch
260 sizes
+2¼″(+5.58cm)Runs large
Everlane
949 sizes
+1¾″(+4.69cm)Runs large
Bonobos
24 sizes
+1¾″(+4.48cm)Runs large
Wool&Prince
14 sizes
+1½″(+3.81cm)Runs large
Represent
307 sizes
+1½″(+3.70cm)Runs large
Tellason
9 sizes
+1″(+2.68cm)Runs large
Todd Snyder
33 sizes
+1″(+2.60cm)Runs large
Levi's
173 sizes
+1″(+2.58cm)Runs large
Fear of God Essentials
16 sizes
+1″(+2.36cm)Runs large
Rogue Territory
16 sizes
+½″(+1.52cm)Runs large
Gap
21 sizes
+½″(+1.48cm)True to size
Madewell
11 sizes
+½″(+1.27cm)True to size
Uniqlo
9 sizes
+¼″(+0.95cm)True to size
Iron Heart
52 sizes
0″(+0.07cm)True to size
3sixteen
445 sizes
−¼″(−0.38cm)True to size
Wrangler
34 sizes
−¼″(−0.53cm)True to size
Naked & Famous
20 sizes
−1½″(−3.81cm)Runs small

Shorts

Buck Mason· Women's
81 sizes
+5½″(+13.97cm)Runs large
Stüssy
218 sizes
+3″(+7.93cm)Runs large
Everlane
351 sizes
+2½″(+6.35cm)Runs large
Rowing Blazers
132 sizes
+2″(+5.17cm)Runs large
Buck Mason· Men's
26 sizes
+2″(+5.08cm)Runs large
Taylor Stitch
264 sizes
+2″(+4.97cm)Runs large
Wool&Prince
35 sizes
+1½″(+3.81cm)Runs large
Lands' End
78 sizes
+1¼″(+2.90cm)Runs large
Represent
669 sizes
+½″(+1.43cm)True to size
Percival
103 sizes
−½″(−1.00cm)True to size
Universal Works
98 sizes
−1″(−2.60cm)Runs small
Kith
24 sizes
−13″(−33.02cm)Runs small

Letter sizes, compared across brands

An M claims no number of its own, so these figures are relative to other brands at the same size rather than to a tag.

Pants

Rowing Blazers
97 sizes
+¾″(+1.77cm)Runs large
ASKET
18 sizes
+½″(+1.41cm)True to size
Nike
10 sizes
−1¾″(−4.43cm)Runs small
Adidas
5 sizes
+10″(+25.09cm)Runs large
Champion
5 sizes
−2½″(−6.35cm)Runs small
Sunspel· Women's
33 sizes
0″(0.00cm)True to size
Fear of God Essentials· Men's
336 sizes
+¼″(+0.45cm)True to size
Fear of God Essentials· Women's
133 sizes
+¾″(+1.59cm)Runs large
Represent
595 sizes
−2½″(−6.64cm)Runs small
Sunspel· Men's
754 sizes
−1½″(−3.56cm)Runs small

Jeans

ASKET
12 sizes
−7″(−17.67cm)Runs small

Shorts

Patagonia
6 sizes
−2¼″(−5.50cm)Runs small
MUJI· Men's
30 sizes
+10¼″(+26.23cm)Runs large
MUJI· Women's
63 sizes
+8¾″(+22.43cm)Runs large
Sunspel· Women's
10 sizes
−½″(−1.48cm)True to size
ASKET
12 sizes
+1″(+2.47cm)Runs large
Sunspel· Men's
369 sizes
−2¼″(−5.62cm)Runs small
Rowing Blazers
53 sizes
0″(+0.25cm)True to size

Shirts

Proper Cloth
10 sizes
+½″(+1.19cm)True to size
Iron Heart
10 sizes
−¼″(−0.73cm)True to size
Bonobos
12 sizes
−1¼″(−3.30cm)Runs small
ASKET· Women's
46 sizes
+2″(+4.83cm)Runs large
ASKET· Men's
113 sizes
+½″(+1.46cm)True to size
Buck Mason
322 sizes
+2″(+5.33cm)Runs large
Wool&Prince
161 sizes
−¾″(−2.01cm)Runs small
MUJI· Men's
181 sizes
+1½″(+3.58cm)Runs large
MUJI· Women's
85 sizes
−3¾″(−9.38cm)Runs small
Spier & Mackay
25 sizes
−¾″(−1.83cm)Runs small
Uniqlo
15 sizes
−1″(−2.29cm)Runs small
Tommy Hilfiger
5 sizes
+½″(+1.00cm)True to size
Universal Works
595 sizes
+¾″(+1.60cm)Runs large
Stüssy
299 sizes
+1″(+2.44cm)Runs large
J.Crew
24 sizes
−¼″(−0.90cm)True to size
Levi's
6 sizes
0″(+0.05cm)True to size
Percival
1855 sizes
−¼″(−0.48cm)True to size
Represent
225 sizes
+3″(+7.89cm)Runs large
Todd Snyder
12 sizes
−¼″(−0.50cm)True to size
Sunspel· Men's
465 sizes
−½″(−1.49cm)True to size
Sunspel· Women's
38 sizes
−¼″(−0.68cm)True to size
Banana Republic
6 sizes
−¾″(−2.03cm)Runs small

Tees

Wool&Prince
371 sizes
−½″(−1.00cm)True to size
Carhartt
7 sizes
+1″(+2.52cm)Runs large
MUJI· Women's
91 sizes
+¼″(+0.55cm)True to size
ASKET· Men's
172 sizes
−½″(−1.04cm)True to size
ASKET· Women's
50 sizes
−½″(−1.00cm)True to size
Banana Republic
6 sizes
−1¼″(−3.25cm)Runs small
Nike
4 sizes
+¾″(+1.59cm)Runs large
Polo Ralph Lauren
5 sizes
+1½″(+3.88cm)Runs large
Universal Works
455 sizes
+1¼″(+3.39cm)Runs large
Spier & Mackay
6 sizes
−1″(−2.23cm)Runs small
Todd Snyder
6 sizes
−½″(−1.12cm)True to size
Patagonia
12 sizes
0″(−0.21cm)True to size
3sixteen
294 sizes
0″(−0.23cm)True to size
Stüssy
621 sizes
+1½″(+3.64cm)Runs large
Everlane
692 sizes
−¾″(−2.01cm)Runs small
Uniqlo
18 sizes
−¼″(−0.90cm)True to size
MUJI· Men's
191 sizes
+1½″(+3.78cm)Runs large
Represent
2055 sizes
+1¾″(+4.58cm)Runs large
Sunspel· Women's
313 sizes
−1¼″(−3.48cm)Runs small
Sunspel· Men's
1881 sizes
−¾″(−1.74cm)Runs small
Fear of God Essentials· Men's
860 sizes
+2¼″(+5.75cm)Runs large
Fear of God Essentials· Women's
242 sizes
+2½″(+6.65cm)Runs large
Percival
66 sizes
+¾″(+1.98cm)Runs large

Sweaters

ASKET· Men's
205 sizes
−½″(−1.12cm)True to size
ASKET· Women's
35 sizes
0″(−0.29cm)True to size
MUJI· Men's
239 sizes
0″(+0.25cm)True to size
Wool&Prince
56 sizes
−¼″(−0.68cm)True to size
Buck Mason
169 sizes
−¾″(−1.93cm)Runs small
MUJI· Women's
124 sizes
−2½″(−6.15cm)Runs small
Nike
5 sizes
+¾″(+1.65cm)Runs large
Universal Works
413 sizes
+1″(+2.39cm)Runs large
Sunspel· Women's
49 sizes
+½″(+1.13cm)True to size
Champion
9 sizes
+½″(+1.17cm)True to size
Uniqlo
8 sizes
−1¾″(−4.19cm)Runs small
J.Crew
6 sizes
+¼″(+0.54cm)True to size
Stüssy
644 sizes
+1¾″(+4.24cm)Runs large
Todd Snyder
6 sizes
−½″(−1.52cm)Runs small
Banana Republic
6 sizes
−1″(−2.56cm)Runs small
Bonobos
6 sizes
−½″(−1.30cm)True to size
Sunspel· Men's
1089 sizes
−1″(−2.28cm)Runs small
Percival
348 sizes
+1″(+2.23cm)Runs large
Fear of God Essentials· Men's
855 sizes
+3½″(+9.03cm)Runs large
Fear of God Essentials· Women's
248 sizes
+2″(+5.11cm)Runs large
Represent
1122 sizes
+4¼″(+10.77cm)Runs large

Jackets

Patagonia
23 sizes
−¼″(−0.70cm)True to size
ASKET
77 sizes
+½″(+1.43cm)True to size
Wool&Prince
21 sizes
−2″(−5.31cm)Runs small
MUJI
218 sizes
−¾″(−1.78cm)Runs small
Barbour
14 sizes
+1¼″(+3.08cm)Runs large
Buck Mason
183 sizes
+¼″(+0.54cm)True to size
Universal Works
1752 sizes
+¼″(+0.70cm)True to size
Todd Snyder
6 sizes
0″(−0.02cm)True to size
J.Crew
6 sizes
+¾″(+2.13cm)Runs large
Dickies
4 sizes
+1¼″(+3.01cm)Runs large
Arc'teryx
5 sizes
0″(+0.28cm)True to size
Levi's
11 sizes
−1″(−2.39cm)Runs small
Uniqlo
9 sizes
−1″(−2.69cm)Runs small
Stüssy
410 sizes
+2½″(+6.15cm)Runs large
Percival
1035 sizes
0″(+0.25cm)True to size
Sunspel
336 sizes
−¼″(−0.95cm)True to size
Iron Heart
6 sizes
−¼″(−0.54cm)True to size
Represent
285 sizes
+2½″(+6.25cm)Runs large
3sixteen
192 sizes
−1¼″(−3.04cm)Runs small

What a shirt size measures

Pit to pit, by size.

Size	Typical	Range across brands	Brands
XS	20″	19½″ – 21″±0¾″ spread	17
S	20¾″	20″ – 22″±1″ spread	17
M	22½″	21½″ – 23¼″±1″ spread	19
L	23″	22¼″ – 24″±0¾″ spread	20
XL	24″	23½″ – 25¼″±1″ spread	19
XXL	25″	24½″ – 25½″±0½″ spread	17
XXXL	27″	26¼″ – 27″±0½″ spread	3

Every figure comes from a measured garment, never a size chart. Brands we cannot measure are left off, not estimated. Measure something you own.