How to Measure Chest Size, With Brand Charts From 2XL to 7XL

The shirt says 3XL, the last one said 3XL too, and this one will not button across the chest. Buying by the letter on the old label is how that happens, because the same letter covers different inches at different brands. Below is how to take the measurement, the mistakes that move it, and what five brands’ charts call your number from 2XL to 7XL.

The short answer

Step	What to do
Wear	Undergarments only, nothing bulky
Tape position	Under the armpits, across the shoulder blades and the fullest part of the chest
Tension	Level, snug against you, not digging in
Breathing	A normal breath, not held in or puffed out
Between two sizes	Go up: Carhartt’s and Bigdude’s guides both say to size up

How to measure your chest

You need a soft tape and a mirror or a helper.

1. Take off the sweater. Carhartt’s measuring note is short: “For best results measure over your undergarments.” A hoodie or a work shirt puts its own thickness into the number.
2. Stand up straight, arms by your sides. Lift your arms only to pass the tape round your back, then lower them before you read it.
3. Put the tape where the charts put it. The men’s chest girth in the EN 13402 sizing standard, as summarised on Wikipedia, passes over the shoulder blades, under the armpits and across the chest. Berne’s chart puts the tape 1 inch below the armpit, “level and snug against your body.” The Bigdude sizing guide says to go “around the fullest part, across your nipples, under your armpits and over your shoulder blades.”
4. Keep it level. Hold it “firm and level”, in Carhartt’s words, or “parallel to the ground”, in Bigdude’s. Check the back in a mirror.
5. Breathe normally, then read. Wikipedia’s summary of EN 13402 defines it as taken “during normal breathing”.
6. Write the number down in inches with the date. If it lands on a half inch, keep the half.

Mistakes that move the number

• A tape that tilts. If it dips at the back or rides up over the shoulder blades, you are measuring a different line round your body from the one the chart was drawn for.
• Measuring over clothes. Bulky layers are the size chart’s job, not the tape’s.
• Puffing the chest out or holding the breath in. Both change the girth; the definition is a normal breath.
• Pulling the tape tight to land on a smaller size. On a body chart the room is in the garment, not the tape; the Bigdude guide puts it plainly: “Our sizing guides accommodate for a comfortable fit and don’t refer to the size of the garment itself, but your size.”
• Holding a body number against a garment chart. Some charts measure the shirt, not you. The Fresh Clean Threads chart measures the shirt across the chest, 1 inch below the armhole seam, along the front, and its Regular crew neck 2XL reads 26 inches. That is the front only, about half the way round (our arithmetic), so a 52-inch chest is not a size 26 problem. If the numbers on a chart are about half of yours, you are looking at a garment chart.

Chest versus bust

The two are close relatives, and a size chart tells you which one it wants by the column name. In EN 13402, as summarised on Wikipedia, both are the largest horizontal girth under the armpits, taken during normal breathing. The chest girth for men passes over the shoulder blades and across the chest; the bust girth for women runs across the bust prominence, “preferably measured with moderate tension over a brassiere that is expected to be worn underneath”. The same summary adds: “Where men’s garments use the chest girth, women’s clothes are designed for a certain bust girth.”

The labels do not line up across the two departments. On Champion’s size guides, the men’s tops chart has a CHEST column with 2XL at 49 to 53 inches, and the women’s tops chart has a BUST column with 2XL (20-22) at 42 to 45. Carhartt’s women’s-to-men’s tops conversion maps a women’s XL to a men’s L, a 2XL to XL-2XL and a 3XL to a 3XL.

If you are a woman buying men’s or unisex shirts, workwear or jackets, take your bust measurement the way how to measure your bust describes, wearing the bra you will wear, and read it against the men’s chest column (our reading).

How far the charts go: 2XL to 7XL

Four of the five say they measure you, not the shirt: Berne’s chart is headed Body Measurements, Carhartt’s is a body measurement chart, and the two UK-site product charts say To Fit Chest Size. Champion’s column says only CHEST; its ranges sit alongside the body charts (our reading).

Size	Berne (US)	Carhartt (US)	Champion (US)	Bigdude V-neck (UK site)	D555 Clarke 1 (UK site)
2XL	52–54 in	52 in	49–53 in	48–50 in	50–52 in
3XL	56–58 in	56 in	53–57 in	51–53 in	53–55 in
4XL	60–62 in	60 in	57–61 in	54–56 in	56–58 in
5XL	64–66 in	64 in	Not on chart	57–59 in	59–61 in
6XL	68–70 in	68 in	Not on chart	60–62 in	62–64 in
7XL	Not on chart	Not on chart	Not on chart	63–65 in	65–67 in

What each chart does at the edges:

• Berne prints ranges with a gap between rows: 2XL ends at 54 and 3XL starts at 56, so a 55-inch chest falls between them (our reading). Its chart stops at 6XL.
• Carhartt prints one number per size, four inches apart, and its rule for the space between is “If your chest falls between sizes, order the next size up.” Its chart also stops at 6XL.
• Champion’s 3XL and 4XL rows are on its Big & Tall tab, under the heading Men’s Tall Tops Size Guide. Its 2XL row (Men’s Tops) ends at 53 and its 3XL row (Tall Tops) starts at 53.
• Bigdude’s own V-neck chart keeps going to 10XL (72 to 74 inches), and the D555 shirt chart to 8XL (68 to 70).

Reading your number against the table

Three chest measurements, placed on each chart’s rows (our reading, using Carhartt’s size-up rule where a number falls between its sizes):

• 50 inches: XL at Berne; 2XL at Carhartt, Champion, Bigdude and D555.
• 56 inches: 3XL at Berne, Carhartt and Champion; 4XL on the Bigdude and D555 charts.
• 62 inches: 4XL at Berne, 5XL at Carhartt, past the top of Champion’s chart (its 4XL ends at 61), and 6XL on the Bigdude and D555 charts.

So one 62-inch chest is a 4XL on one chart and a 6XL on two others. The Bigdude guide says the same thing in its own words: “what’s a 3XL in one brand, isn’t necessarily a 3XL in another, so double check the size guide.” Between two rows, Carhartt and Bigdude both say to size up; Bigdude’s words are “We would always recommend sizing up”.

Big, tall, and the shirt you already own

Tall means longer. Berne’s Tall is 2 inches longer in the torso than its regular sizes, with sleeves 2 inches longer on long sleeves and 1 inch on short. Champion’s tall rows repeat the regular chest ranges: LT is 41 to 45 inches, the same as L. The Fresh Clean Threads Tall crew neck prints the same chest widths as its Regular from M to 4XL, with “a 2 inch longer torso and 1 inch longer sleeve.” On the Champion and Fresh Clean Threads charts, then, a shirt that pulls across the buttons needs a bigger size, not a tall one; a shirt that comes untucked may need the tall (our reading).

Measure a shirt that fits when a brand only prints garment sizes. The Fresh Clean Threads instruction is to “measure your favorite tee shirt at home one inch below the arm pit along the front side of the shirt”, then compare that flat number with its flat chart. Flat against flat, round against round.

Dress shirts are a different chart. In Wikipedia’s summary of EN 13402, men’s shirts are labelled by neck first, so a dress shirt chart may ask for neck and sleeve before chest; there are options in plus size dress shirts.

Before you order

• Use the chart of the brand and, where there is one, the product. The two Bigdude-site columns above are from two listings on the same site, and they are two inches apart at every size both print, 2XL to 8XL (our arithmetic).
• Check that the column says chest, not bust, and that it measures you, not the garment.
• Look at the size menu on the listing. A chart row is not a size in stock.
• Read the returns page before paying, especially on a first order.

Picks for shirts, tees and coats that run into big and tall sizes are in plus size mens clothing.

Where these numbers come from

The chest rows and measuring instructions are copied from Berne’s shirt chart (transcribed from its chart image), Carhartt’s men’s size guide, Champion’s size guides, the Fresh Clean Threads size chart, and Bigdude’s sizing guide and two product charts on its UK site, read on 1 October 2026. The chest and bust definitions are EN 13402 as summarised on Wikipedia. Where an example chest lands on each chart, and the flat-to-round conversion, are our reading and arithmetic.

Frequently asked questions

How do you measure your chest for a shirt size?

Stand up straight in your undergarments, pass a soft tape under your armpits, across your shoulder blades and over the fullest part of your chest, keep it level all the way round, and read it while breathing normally. Berne's chart puts the tape 1 inch below the armpit; Carhartt's says just under the arms, firm and level. Then use the brand's body-measurement chart, not a garment chart.

What size is a 56-inch chest?

On the five charts in this guide, a 56-inch chest is a 3XL at Berne, Carhartt and Champion, and a 4XL on the two charts read on Bigdude's UK site: its own Plain V-Neck T-Shirt and D555's Clarke 1 shirt. Check the chart of the brand you are buying.

Is chest size the same as bust size?

They are close relatives, not the same measurement. In EN 13402, as summarised on Wikipedia, both are the largest horizontal girth under the armpits during normal breathing, but the men's chest girth passes over the shoulder blades and across the chest, while the bust girth runs across the bust prominence, preferably over the bra you will wear. Men's garments are sized by chest and women's by bust.

Which size charts go past 6XL?

Of the five charts in this guide, two: the Bigdude Plain V-Neck T-Shirt chart runs to 10XL (72 to 74 inches) and the D555 Clarke 1 shirt chart to 8XL (68 to 70 inches), both on a UK site. Berne's and Carhartt's charts stop at 6XL, and Champion's Men's Tall Tops Size Guide at 4XL.