I run a small online shop that resells vintage workwear and denim. For the first two years, I priced everything by look and gut feeling. That worked until it didn’t. A customer returned a 1940s chore coat because I listed it as a medium. It fit like a small. The return cost me shipping plus the lost sale. That one mistake taught me more than any guide I had read.
Vintage sizing is a mess because there was no standard before the 1980s. A 38-inch chest in one brand meant something different in another. Even within the same brand, a jacket from 1955 fits differently than one from 1965. I started collecting measurements from every piece I handled. I wrote them down in a notebook. After a few months, I had a pile of data but no real system. That is when I found a moerdeng size reference that let me compare my numbers against a consistent baseline. It changed how I list every item.
My process now starts with three actual measurements I take myself. Pit to pit, shoulder seam to shoulder seam, and sleeve length. I do not trust the tag. The tag is a suggestion from decades ago. My measuring tape is the truth.
What Those Numbers Tell Me
Pit to pit is the single best predictor of how a jacket will fit a modern person. Double it and you get the approximate chest size in inches. A 21-inch pit to pit usually means a 42-inch chest. That fits a modern large or sometimes an extra large depending on the cut. Shoulder width matters more for older military pieces, which often have narrower shoulders than what we wear now.
Sleeve length is where most of my mistakes happened early on. A work jacket from the 1950s often had sleeves cut for arms that bent forward, like when you swing a hammer. That translates to a shorter sleeve measurement than a modern casual jacket of the same nominal size. I learned to always measure from the shoulder seam to the cuff, not from the collar.
Here is the list of measurements I take before I photograph anything:
- Pit to pit, measured flat across the chest
- Shoulder seam to shoulder seam, straight across the back
- Sleeve length from the shoulder seam to the cuff edge
- Back length from the collar seam to the hem
- Waist, measured at the narrowest point on the jacket or pants
- Inseam on pants, from the crotch seam to the hem
- Hem width on pants or sleeves, since many vintage pieces are tapered
I photograph the tape measure in the shot for every item. Customers can zoom in and verify the numbers themselves. That killed most of my return requests.
How I Price and List With These Numbers
Once I have the measurements, I decide how to translate them into modern sizes for the listing. I do not put a single size in the title anymore. I put the chest measurement in the title and mention the equivalent modern size in the description. Buyers searching for a 42-inch chest find my jacket even if the tag says 40.
The pricing changes too. A jacket with a 23-inch pit to pit is roomy and modern buyers like that. I price those higher than a true-to-tag piece with a 20-inch pit to pit, because the roomy one fits more people. The same item can be worth twenty percent more depending on how it measures.
Returns dropped from about one in twelve orders to one in forty. I also stopped getting messages asking if something runs small or large. The numbers answer that question before anyone asks.
This is not fancy software. It is a tape measure and a consistent habit. If you sell anything with sizes, take your own measurements every time. Your customers will trust you more, and you will have fewer returns to process.