Corporate and workwear - size matters

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Posted by Marc Hendrix on 10/06/2017

Why do clothing sizes differ so much? Why aren't clothes manufactured in sizes standard? In the old days (pre 2000) most UK manufacturers manufactured their clothing to the M&S sizing templates for both men’s and women’s clothing. This made life simple. Most people bought something from Marks and Spencer so the customer was pretty comfortable ordering the sizes they need for their staff. As you can imagine, garment sizing is an issue that arises daily for a workwear company.

Fast forward 15 years and garment sizes are all over the place. With more continental brands available for workwear often we find European brands are smaller and American/Canadian brands tend to have a larger/baggier fit. In addition, fewer people shop for the clothing at M&S and so will less familiar with their sizing anyway.

This leaves us the corporate clothing supplier in a position where we need to provide sizing spec. sheets for every different styles our customer order. Unfortunately (and unbelievably)not all manufacturers provide this essential information. The ideal spec. sheet will be produced in a PDF version and contain an images of the garment (front, side and back views), the sizes manufactured including imperial and metric measurements and the colours available (as not all colours are made in all sizes) including a Pantone reference. We can then send this on to our customer to help them with the ordering.

As a personal crusade, I’m constantly badgering the manufacturers to provide these spec. sheets. I often email them a couple of the best examples which are currently provided by Russell Athletic and Fruit of the Loom (both highly successful American brands).

If you're looking for uniform ideas for your business and would like our help, we can guide you on all aspects of sizing.