Almost every outerwear size chart describes the garment measured flat, with nothing inside it. That is a fair way to describe a jacket and a poor way to predict whether you can wear one, because a jacket is the only thing in a wardrobe that is always worn over something else.

So the question to answer before ordering is not what size you are. It is what you intend to have on underneath.

Start With the Layer, Not the Body

Decide first whether this jacket will live over a t-shirt, over a shirt, or over a hooded sweatshirt. Those three are not small differences. A mid-weight hoodie can add a couple of inches around the chest and a noticeable amount of bulk at the upper arm, and all of that has to fit inside the jacket before your body does.

Once you know the layer, measure over it. Put the sweatshirt on, run a tape around the fullest part of the chest, keep it level, and do not pull it tight. That number, not your bare chest, is the one to compare against a chart.

The Shoulder Seam Decides More Than the Chest

On a jacket that fits, the shoulder seam sits at the outer edge of your shoulder, where the arm begins to turn downward. Too far in and every reach forward pulls across the back. Too far out and the sleeve head collapses into a soft fold that never sits right.

Chest room can be adjusted by sizing up. A shoulder seam in the wrong place cannot, which is why it is worth checking before anything else.

The Armhole Test

With the layer on and the jacket over it, raise both arms in front of you as if reaching for a steering wheel. The jacket should follow without dragging the whole body of the garment upward. If the hem lifts several inches, the armhole is too tight or cut too low, and no amount of getting used to it will change that.

Sleeves, Measured With a Cuff in Mind

A jacket sleeve should end at the wrist bone when your arms hang naturally, and should still cover the wrist when you bend your elbow. If a shirt cuff is going underneath, allow for it: a sleeve that ends exactly at the cuff will ride above it every time you move.

Zip It and Sit Down

The last check is the one people skip. Close the jacket fully and sit. Seated, the chest expands and the hem rides forward, which is where a too-slim fit finally shows itself. If the zipper pulls into a curve or the front panels strain, size up.

Vests are the simpler case, since the arms are out of the equation. Check the armhole edge does not cut into the layer underneath, and that the hem reaches at least as far as the waistband, since a vest that stops short leaves a cold gap the whole point of wearing one was to close.

If It Arrives Wrong

Trying a jacket on indoors, over the layer you had in mind, is exactly what the return window is for. If the size is not right, our Return & Refund Policy covers sending it back at no cost to you.

Thank you for shopping with us, and for finding a jacket you actually keep by the door.