Hoodie Size Guide: The Gildan 18500 Chart

These are the real measurements for the hoodie we stock — the Gildan 18500 Heavy Blend, an 8.0 oz/yd² fleece. All figures are inches, laid flat, with a ±1″ tolerance, which is normal for knitwear — garment sizing is cut to a tolerance rather than an exact figure — and worth remembering before anyone reaches for a ruler in annoyance.

Note the pattern: each size adds 1″ of body length and 2″ of chest width. Hoodies grade wider faster than they grade longer, which is why going up a size for room across the chest also makes the garment noticeably boxier rather than just longer.

This causes more sizing complaints than anything else, so it is worth stating bluntly: chest width is a half measurement. It is taken across the garment lying flat, 1″ below the armhole— from one side seam to the other, not around the body.

So a listed 22″ chest on a medium is roughly a 44″ garment circumference. If someone tells you their chest is 42 inches, they are giving you a body circumference, and comparing that directly to the 22 in the chart will put them two sizes too big.

Two other definitions from the same chart, since they are not universal across brands:

• Body length is from the highest point of the shoulder down to the hem.
• Sleeve length is measured from centre back — from the middle of the collar, across the shoulder, to the cuff. That is why the numbers look large; it is not an arm measurement.

Forget converting from a t-shirt size. Garments grade differently between brands and between styles, and a hoodie is worn over other clothes, which changes what “fits right” even means.

Do this instead:

1. Find a hoodie that fits the way you want the new one to fit.
2. Lay it flat on a table and smooth it out, without stretching the knit.
3. Measure the chest, one inch below the armhole, seam to seam.
4. Measure the body length from the top of the shoulder to the hem.
5. Find the closest row in the chart, remembering the ±1″ tolerance.

Two minutes, and it removes essentially all of the guesswork. For a group order it is worth telling people to do exactly this rather than asking them for a letter — “I’m a medium” means different things to different people.

The most common way a hoodie order disappoints has nothing to do with printing. Someone estimates the size curve and a third of the order does not fit.

• Ask each person individually. Not a show of hands, not last year’s list, not a coach’s memory.
• Size up when someone is between two. Loose reads as normal on a hoodie; tight gets left in a drawer.
• Order two or three spares in the middle sizes. Someone joins late on every order, and a spare large now is far cheaper than a one-piece reorder with its own setup and shipping.
• Expect more large than you think. Hoodies are bought roomy on purpose; curves skew up relative to t-shirts.

Our group order guide covers the collection problem properly, and the size breakdown guide has the ratio side of it.

The youth hoodie is the 18500B— a separate garment rather than smaller sizes on the adult blank. Same 8 oz fleece, same pouch pocket, double-lined hood, and no drawcord, which is a safety convention on children’s hoodies rather than a cost saving.

That matters for school and minor-sports orders: you are ordering two different products, so collect ages as well as sizes and expect the youth and adult counts to be separate lines. A youth large is not a small adult.

On the adult blank, the fit runs as a classic unisex cut — not slim, not oversized. People who want a deliberately oversized look generally go up one or two sizes rather than expecting the garment to deliver it. And because the chart grades 2″ of chest per size against 1″ of length, going up for width adds boxiness as well as room.

The sizing is the same whichever decoration you choose — see the custom hoodies guide for blanks and cost, or enter your size breakdown in the free studio and watch the per-piece price drop at 12, 24, 50 and 100.