Carhartt Sizing Guide
The advice to size down is half right. Across 115 measured jackets the medians behave, but jackets labelled large span 26 cm across the chest, so a measurement is a more reliable guide than the letter.
In this guide
The usual advice on Carhartt sizing is to take a size down. That advice is roughly half right.
The measurements of the store's own Carhartt stock show how far it holds. The result is more useful than the rule of thumb, and it explains why sizing by the label is unreliable.
Carhartt was cut to be worn over other layers
Workwear sizing is functional. A work jacket was designed to go over a hooded sweatshirt, a flannel shirt and a thermal layer, on a body that needs to swing a hammer in it.
That produces a garment cut generously through the chest and short in the body relative to its width. Worn over a T-shirt, as it often is now, the jacket looks oversized, because the three layers it was drawn around are missing.
The advice to size down is therefore sound in principle. It assumes that the label means something consistent, and across decades of production the label does not.
What 115 measured jackets show
In August 2026 the Carhartt collection held 344 items, of which 152 were jackets. Of those jackets, 115 have a recorded pit to pit measurement alongside a labelled size.
The table shows the whole set.
| Labelled size | Pit to pit range | Median | Jackets measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| XS | 47 to 58 cm | 52 cm | 4 |
| S | 47 to 65 cm | 55 cm | 17 |
| M | 56 to 70 cm | 64 cm | 17 |
| L | 54 to 80 cm | 68 cm | 29 |
| XL | 60 to 77 cm | 72 cm | 24 |
| XXL | 66 to 80 cm | 75 cm | 18 |
| XXXL | 77 to 84 cm | 82 cm | 6 |
The median column climbs cleanly: 52, 55, 64, 68, 72, 75 and 82 cm. On average, Carhartt sizing is well behaved, and a medium is smaller than a large.
The range column shows more variation. Jackets labelled large run from 54 to 80 cm across the chest. That is a spread of 26 cm inside a single letter, and the narrowest large is smaller than the median small.
The averages behave, but individual jackets vary: a Carhartt large spans 26 cm in the measured stock.
Leverene
Where the sizes overlap
The overlap is easier to see from the other direction: for a given measurement, the table lists the labels it appears under.
| Pit to pit | Labelled sizes it appears under |
|---|---|
| 57 cm | S, M, L, XL |
| 58 cm | XS, S, M, L |
| 62 cm | S, M, L, XL |
| 65 cm | S, M, L, XL |
| 66 cm | M, L, XL, XXL |
| 70 cm | M, L, XL, XXL |
Six different chest measurements each appear under four different labels. Applying the size-down rule to a specific jacket is therefore guesswork, because the rule describes the average and a purchase concerns a single garment.
Sizing by measurement
The reliable method uses the measurement instead of the letter.
- Choose a jacket that already layers the way the new one should, not a T-shirt.
- Lay it flat and measure straight across the chest from armpit seam to armpit seam.
- Add 3 to 5 cm for a hoodie underneath, or 8 to 10 cm for a properly oversized cut.
- Filter on that number rather than on the letter.
Length matters second. Workwear is cut short relative to its width, so a jacket that fits across the chest may sit higher than expected. Chest, length, shoulders and sleeve measurements are stated for every jacket. The full measuring method is in the guide to measuring clothing.
Trousers, jeans and double knees
Bottoms are the other half of the range, with 49 pairs of jeans and 34 pairs of trousers in the same collection.
They behave better than the jackets, because workwear trousers are sized in inches rather than letters. Two cautions apply anyway.
Denim and duck canvas both shrink. On an older pair most of that has already happened, but a pair that has seen little use can still shrink on a first hot wash.
Double-knee trousers feel different through the thigh. The second layer of cloth at the knee adds bulk and stiffness. They feel less forgiving until they break in, although they are not cut tighter.
Current trousers are collected under bottoms, and the wider workwear collection.
How wear changes the feel of a jacket
Duck canvas changes with use in ways that affect how a jacket sits.
New duck is stiff and holds its shape. Worn duck softens, drapes and sits closer to the body without measuring smaller. A jacket that has been worked in can feel a size smaller than an unworn one with identical measurements, which is worth knowing when comparing two items.
How items are prepared
Every item is authenticated through LegitApp before it reaches the store. Each item is then professionally cleaned, steamed, measured flat and photographed individually. Wear is shown in the photos and detailed in the description.
Current items are collected under Carhartt, with separate pages for men and women. The article Carhartt Jackets Compared covers the jacket models, Reading Carhartt Tags explains how to date an item from its tags, and the wider picture is in the Carhartt guide.
Sources
- All measurement figures are first-party data from the leverene Carhartt collection, August 2026: 344 items, of which 152 jackets, 49 pairs of jeans and 34 pairs of trousers. 115 jackets have both a labelled size and a recorded pit to pit measurement.
- Jacket pit to pit by labelled size: XS 47 to 58 cm (n=4, median 52), S 47 to 65 cm (n=17, median 55), M 56 to 70 cm (n=17, median 64), L 54 to 80 cm (n=29, median 68), XL 60 to 77 cm (n=24, median 72), XXL 66 to 80 cm (n=18, median 75), XXXL 77 to 84 cm (n=6, median 82).
