How to size a crew for workwear without the returns

A branded garment is made for you, so it cannot be returned because it does not fit. That makes sizing the one part of a workwear order worth doing slowly. Here is the way we see it go right.

Collect sizes, not guesses

Ask each person for the size they wear in the same kind of garment now, not their build. A hoodie size and a polo size from the same person are often different, and a trouser needs a waist and a leg length. A one-line message to the crew with the garment named, or a sheet with a row per person, is enough. The staff-order tool on each product page takes exactly that list, a size and quantity per person, and puts the whole order in the basket at once.

Read the chart on the product page

Every product page carries the manufacturer's size chart, and manufacturers do not agree with each other. A Gildan XL is not a Regatta XL, and a slim-fit Scruffs trouser is not a Portwest regular fit. Check the chest measurement on the chart against a garment the person already owns rather than trusting the letter. Where a range runs to 5XL or 6XL it is listed; where it stops at 3XL, that is the manufacturer's limit and we cannot make it bigger.

Order a plain sample first

For a crew of ten or more, the cheapest insurance is one plain garment in a middle size sent to the office. Nothing is printed on a plain garment, so it can be returned under our normal returns terms, and it lets everyone try the fit before the branded order goes in. Most firms then order two sizes either side of what they expected.

Allow for layering

Outerwear goes over the polo and the fleece. A softshell or a padded jacket ordered in the same size as the polo will be tight by November. Size jackets and gilets one up unless the chart says the fit is generous.

Trousers: waist and leg

Work trousers are sold by waist, and the better ones by leg length too. Scruffs sell short, regular and long; Portwest mostly regular. A 32 waist in a slim fit with stretch sits differently from a 32 in a classic cargo, so use the chart's waist measurement, not the label from another brand.

Leave a spare or two

Staff change. Ordering one or two extra polos in the commonest size, plain, gives you something to hand a new starter on their first day while their branded set is made. Baskets over £100 get 10% off automatically, so the spare rarely costs what it looks like.

If you would like us to check a size list against the charts before it is ordered, send it with the quote form and we will come back with the order priced and any sizes flagged. Everything is embroidered or printed in-house in Lowestoft.