Pit to Pit Guide: How to Measure Vintage Clothing

A complete guide to understanding vintage clothing measurements, including how to measure pit to pit, shoulder width, length, and how vintage sizing compares to modern sizing.

Hazendonk Vintage Published on  4 min read

Why Measurements Matter When Buying Vintage

Buying vintage clothing online is exciting, but sizing can be a real challenge. Vintage garments were made to different standards than modern clothing, and labels like "Large" or "XL" can mean very different things depending on the brand, the decade, and the country of manufacture. That's why measurements matter more than the size label, and why understanding how to read them is the key to buying vintage with confidence.

This guide explains the most common measurements you'll see when shopping for vintage clothing, and how to take your own measurements so you can compare them accurately.

The Most Important Measurement: Pit to Pit (P2P)

The pit-to-pit measurement, also called chest measurement or P2P, is the single most useful measurement for tops, jackets, and outerwear. It's taken by laying the garment flat and measuring straight across the chest from one armpit seam to the other.

How to measure pit to pit on a garment:

  1. Lay the garment flat on a surface
  2. Smooth out any wrinkles
  3. Place your tape measure at the seam under one arm (the armpit point)
  4. Measure straight across to the seam under the other arm
  5. This gives you the half-chest measurement
  6. Double it to get the full chest circumference

Example: A pit-to-pit measurement of 58 cm means the full chest circumference is approximately 116 cm.

How to Measure Yourself

To find your ideal pit-to-pit measurement, measure yourself or a well-fitting garment you already own.

Measuring yourself: Wrap a tape measure around the fullest part of your chest, keeping it horizontal and snug but not tight. Divide this number by 2 to get your ideal pit-to-pit measurement. Add 2 to 5 cm for a comfortable fit, or more if you prefer an oversized look.

Measuring a garment you own: Lay your favourite-fitting jacket or jumper flat and measure pit to pit as described above. Use this as your reference measurement when shopping. This is the more reliable of the two methods, because it compares a garment against a garment.

Other Key Measurements Explained

Shoulder width: Measured from shoulder seam to shoulder seam across the back of the garment. Important for structured jackets and shirts. If the shoulders don't fit, the garment won't sit correctly regardless of other adjustments.

Length (body length): Measured from the highest point of the shoulder (or the back of the collar) down to the hem. Useful for checking whether a jacket or jumper will hit at the right point on your body.

Sleeve length: Measured from the shoulder seam to the end of the cuff. Can vary significantly between vintage pieces, especially on older American workwear.

Waist: For trousers and jeans, measured across the waistband laid flat, then doubled. Always compare to your actual waist measurement and allow some room.

Inseam: For trousers, measured from the crotch seam to the bottom of the leg. Critical for getting the right length.

Vintage Sizing vs. Modern Sizing

Here are some general rules of thumb when shopping vintage:

  • American vintage (Carhartt, Levi's, etc.) tends to run large. A vintage American Large often fits like a modern XL or XXL. This is especially true of vintage workwear.
  • British and European vintage (Burberry, Stone Island, etc.) is generally closer to modern European sizing, but older pieces can run smaller.
  • Japanese vintage typically runs small. Always check measurements carefully.
  • 1980s and earlier pieces are often cut differently, with higher armholes and shorter body lengths than modern equivalents.

Why We Don't Publish a Size Conversion Chart

You will find plenty of charts online that convert a pit-to-pit measurement into a modern size. We measured our own stock to see whether such a chart would hold up, and it does not.

In our Ralph Lauren collection, a pit to pit of 55 cm appears on garments labelled medium, large, extra large and double extra large. In our Carhartt collection, jackets labelled large run from 54 to 80 cm across the chest, a spread of twenty-six centimetres inside a single letter.

A conversion chart would have to pick one of those answers and present it as the answer. That is precisely the guesswork measurements exist to remove.

Use your own reference garment instead. It is the only measurement that describes the fit you actually want.

How We List Measurements at Hazendonk Vintage

Where a piece carries measurements, they are taken by hand from the garment laid flat. On tops and outerwear that means pit to pit, body length and shoulder width. On trousers it means waist and inseam. They sit in the listing itself, so you can hold them against a garment you already own. Browse the full collection, for men and women, and order on centimetres rather than on a size label.