Body length

Body length runs from the high point shoulder straight down the front of a garment, laid flat, to the bottom edge of the hem. It's the one number on a size chart that decides whether a Large reads as a standard tee or a longline one. Gildan's 5000 lists 29 inches of body length at a Large; Next Level's 3600, cut slimmer and shorter, lists closer to 28 inches at the same size letter; a longline streetwear blank can push past 31 inches. Two inches doesn't sound like much until it's hitting a different point on someone's hip.

This is the measurement we tell customers to check first when they're unsure between two brands, because "Large" means almost nothing on its own — body length is what actually predicts fit. A buyer replacing a discontinued blank should compare body length before chest width, since a shirt that runs an inch short will read noticeably different in photos even if the chest measurement matches exactly.

The practical move is to grab a shirt the customer already owns and likes, lay it flat, measure HPS to hem, and match that number against the new blank's size chart rather than trusting the size letter. It takes thirty seconds and prevents almost every "this runs small" complaint we get on reorders.

The mistake buyers make is assuming body length scales the same way across every brand's size run — it doesn't. One label's Large might already sit at another label's Medium length, so a size chart's letter is a starting guess, not a guarantee, and body length is the number that settles it.