Kakobuy US
Streetwear Tee Sizing in Centimeters: A First-Order Guide to Getting the Fit Right
S/M/L is the least reliable data on a streetwear listing. We measured eight cotton tees flat in centimeters and built a repeatable first-order routine: garment measurements, doubled half-widths, a shrinkage allowance, and the questions to send your agent.
- Published on this site
- Maya Chen
Maya Chen is Editor-in-Chief at Kako US, leading the testing team and writing its knife reviews. The focus is edge geometry, heat treatment and performance in American home kitchens, with coverage also extending to whetstones and cookware. Knife testing uses the desk's five-point scale and timed cutting protocol, and Maya personally sharpens every knife through a 1000/6000 grit progression beforehand. Edge retention is recorded with a BESS tester and every result enters the comparison tables, connecting sharpening preparation, test readings and the comparison of knives.
Editor score 4.5 / 5
Every week our inbox carries the same question: "I wear a medium here — what medium do I order?" On the agent catalog there is no standard medium. We ordered and tested eight cotton crewnecks across four listings and measured each one flat on the bench in our Seattle testing kitchen. The pieces printed M ran from 47.5 cm to 52.5 cm pit to pit — a 5 cm spread, close to a full size, and invisible to anyone shopping by letter.
Centimeters travel; letters do not. This is the routine we run before handing an order to the agent.
The letter on the tag is the least useful number
Chinese-market garments are graded to GB/T 1335, whose current men's and women's editions took effect in 2008–2009. Codes look like 170/88A: 170 is body height in centimeters, 88 is net chest circumference, and A is a body-type class from Y (slim) through C. Every number describes the body the pattern was drafted for, not the finished shirt.
Three gaps follow. A recommended body dimension permits many finished garments, so two factories cutting for an 88 cm chest can ship shirts 4 cm apart. Factories also work to a production tolerance, and ±2 to 3 cm on the chest is ordinary practice. And streetwear listings stack deliberate boxy, drop-shoulder and oversized cuts onto the same letters.
Read the centimeters first. With no cm table, no tape photo and no model stats, treat the letter as decoration and ask the agent for numbers.
Measure the tee you already love, not your body
Body measurements describe what you are; garment measurements describe what the shirt is. Take the tee that fits you best, lay it on a hard flat surface, straighten the side seams, and never stretch the jersey — it will give you two extra centimeters and take them back when you release the tape.
| Measurement | Where the tape goes | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Chest (half-width) | Flat, from armpit seam to armpit seam, about 2.5 cm below the armhole | Comparing a half number straight against a body chest |
| Body length | High point of shoulder, beside the collar, straight down to the hem | Charts measuring from the centre-back neck, which adds 2–3 cm |
| Shoulder | Seam to seam across the back | Meaningless on drop-shoulder cuts, where the seam sits down the arm |
| Sleeve | Shoulder seam to sleeve hem along the outside | Raglan or drop-shoulder construction moves the starting point |
Double the half-width before you compare anything
Most charts list chest as a half-width: the flat distance across one side. A 52 cm half-width is a 104 cm chest. That doubling step is where first-time buyers lose a full size. On a 96 cm body, 104 cm of garment leaves 8 cm of ease — a standard regular fit. Across our tested tees, 5–10 cm of ease read slim, 10–15 cm regular, 20 cm-plus oversized. Between two rows, take the larger one if you want the drape shown in the flat-lay.
Budget 2–3 cm for shrinkage
Cotton jersey moves. Pre-shrunk or sanforized cotton typically loses about 2 to 5 percent in the first wash and dry; untreated cotton can lose more. Cotton Incorporated's technical guidance attributes more of that change to the mechanical action of washing and tumbling than to heat alone. On a 70 cm body length, 3 to 5 percent is 2 to 3.5 cm. Our crewnecks lost 1.5 to 3 cm of length by the second wash and almost nothing across the width.
Practical rule: add 2 cm of length if you wash cold and hang dry, 3 cm if you tumble on any heat. Never buy a shirt that is already tight at the chest and hope it holds.
Cross-check with the tape photo and the model stats
The best listings show a flat-lay photograph with a tape across the chest and length, plus the model's height and weight. The tape photo reveals the seller's measuring points — whether length runs from the high point of shoulder or the centre-back neck, a 2 to 3 cm difference. The model stats sanity-check the drape: a 180 cm, 68 kg model in an L at 55 cm half-width is wearing a relaxed, slightly oversized look on a lean frame; on a 172 cm frame that same L reads oversized. Note whether the shirt is tucked, layered or shot with rolled sleeves, because each hides 2 to 3 cm.
A listing like the Polo Ralph Lauren loose-fit cotton crew in our catalog, offered in a wide color range at $20.90, shows why wording outweighs the letter: "loose-fit" describes the drape, but only centimeters tell you whether it lands the way it did in the photograph.
Escalate missing measurements to the agent before you pay
When shoulder or thigh numbers are missing — and they often are — that is an agent question, not a guess. Send it in centimeters, in one message, before the order is placed:
Before I pay, please ask the seller to confirm flat measurements in cm for the size I selected: chest half-width (armpit to armpit), shoulder seam to seam, body length from high point of shoulder to hem, and sleeve length. For the trousers in the same order, please confirm thigh width doubled and outseam, and whether the fabric is pre-shrunk.
Chase shoulder hardest: chest is forgiving on a knit, but a shoulder seam 2 cm narrower than your favorite tee feels tight no matter what the chest says.
Keep a fit log so the second order is faster
We keep one note per order: date, listing, size ordered, the four listed flat measurements, then the post-wash numbers. Ten fields, a minute of work. You learn which sellers label generously, you stop re-measuring the same favorite tee, and if something arrives wrong you hand the agent exact numbers instead of a description of a feeling.
Measure the shirt you love, double the half-width, add the shrinkage allowance, cross-check the photo and the model, and send the missing questions to the agent before you pay. That is a first order that lands close. The log is what makes the second one exact.