Vintage football shirt sizing, explained
The single most useful number on a vintage listing is not the size label — it is the measurement the dealer actually took of that shirt.
Vintage sizing runs differently from today's
Shirts from the 1980s and 1990s were generally cut boxier and closer to true size than the athletic, closer-cut fit common today, so a period 'L' can sit closer to a modern 'M'. There is no single conversion — it varies by manufacturer and decade.
Trust the measurement, not the tag
A printed size label describes what the manufacturer called it in that year, not the shirt in your hands after decades of wear and washing. Where a dealer lists pit-to-pit width and length, use that over the label.
Manufacturers sized differently within the same era
An Adidas shirt and an Umbro shirt from the same season are not guaranteed to share a size chart. If you own an original from the manufacturer and season you want, its measurements are the best reference you will find.
Compare the same shirt across dealers
Multiple listings for the same club, season and kit sometimes carry different size notes from different dealers — worth checking before you commit to one.
When between sizes, and when in doubt
Sizing up is usually the safer default for an oversized or layered look; sizing to the measurement is safer for a fitted look. If a listing is missing measurements, ask the dealer before buying.
How to measure, and how to compare
- Pit to pit: the width straight across the chest, shirt laid flat. This is half the way round.
- Length: from where the shoulder seam meets the collar straight down to the hem.
- Armpit seam: where Seamster Vintage takes the width.
- Top of the length: the shoulder seam at the collar.
- Hem: the bottom edge of the shirt.
- One inch (2.5 cm) lower: where 1863 FC takes the chest width. Dealers do not all measure at the same height.
- Front and back lie on top of each other: all the way round is about 2 × A.
Lay the shirt flat, front up, and smooth it out. For pit to pit (A), measure straight across the chest from armpit seam to armpit seam, the way Seamster Vintage does it; 1863 FC measures one inch (2.5 cm) below the armhole seam. For the length (B), measure from where the shoulder seam meets the collar straight down to the hem; 1863 FC describes it as from the side seam on the collar down to the bottom of the shirt. Before you compare, check how the dealer measured, or ask.[1][2]
Pit to pit is a flat width, not a circumference. Seamster Vintage: pit to pit times two is the garment's chest measurement. That is the shirt, not your body, so do not compare it directly with your own chest size. 1863 FC gives the example of a 42-inch chest: divided by two, that is 21 inches pit to pit, which would be too small, because a shirt needs at least 1 to 2 inches to allow for movement. Seamster Vintage calls a 21-inch pit to pit a snug fit on a 42-inch chest and a more relaxed fit on a 40-inch chest.[1][2]
Worked example in inches and centimetres. A listing says 'pit to pit 22 in, length 29 in'. One inch is exactly 2.54 cm, so that is 55.9 cm across and 73.7 cm long. All the way round, the shirt measures about 2 × 55.9 = 111.8 cm, or 44 in. The other way round: divide centimetres by 2.54 to get inches.[3]
The simplest comparison does not need your body measurements at all: take a shirt you own that fits the way you want, ideally a football shirt with a similar cut, lay it flat and measure A and B the same way. 1863 FC and Seamster Vintage both recommend measuring a garment that fits you well as your reference. If your shirt measures 54 cm across and 72 cm long, the listed shirt from the example is 1.9 cm wider laid flat, which is about 3.8 cm more all the way round, and 1.7 cm longer.[2][1]
Neither the size label nor the measurement is exact. Cult Kits' size guide, in inches, gives a width of 21–22 in for a 1980s L and 24–25 in for a 1990s L, and says the figures are a guide and discrepancies may occur. 1863 FC states tolerances of ¾ in on the chest and 1 in on the length for its own shirts. So treat a difference of about that size with care, and if it decides the purchase, ask the dealer how they measured.[4][2]
Sources
Every source was read on the date shown. Dealer guides describe practice, not rules; where they disagree, the text says so.
- Garment sizing, Seamster Vintage. Retrieved 2026-09-24
- '63 FC Size Chart, 1863 Football Classics. Retrieved 2026-09-24
- NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8: Factors for Units Listed Alphabetically, NIST. Retrieved 2026-09-24
- Size Guide, Cult Kits. Retrieved 2026-09-24