Corporate Apparel Sizing Guide — Avoiding the Size-Ratio Disaster

Sizing is where bulk apparel orders actually fail. The garment can be right, the print can be right, and the order still ends with a box of unworn shirts because the size curve was guessed.

The default ratio is wrong

Most suppliers will quote you 5/20/35/25/10/5 (XS/S/M/L/XL/XXL). That's 20-year-old data. Actual Bangalore tech company breakdowns: 3/15/30/28/18/6. Adjust.

Mixed-gender office ratio

If you have women employees, offer unisex + women's-fit options. Women wearing unisex L feels wrong; they'll never wear it. Women's XS-L at ~40% of the women headcount is standard.

Collect sizes upfront

Better than guessing — a single Google Form to employees asking for their T-shirt size before placing the order. 10 minutes, eliminates 90% of size-ratio waste.

The 10% buffer

Always order 10% extra L and M — these run out fastest in post-order adjustments (new hires, requests from colleagues).

Labels are not standardised

A medium from one manufacturer is not a medium from another, and Indian and international sizing conventions differ again. Asking people for their size therefore collects inconsistent data, because they answer with the size they usually buy from a brand you are not using. The reliable approach is to publish the actual chest and length measurements for the specific garment and let people choose against those.

How to collect sizes that hold up

• Circulate the measurement chart for the exact garment, not a generic one.
• Where the order matters, get a sample set into the office so people can try before committing.
• Offer both straight and tailored cuts where the supplier has them, and let people choose independently of gender.
• Run the size range wider than the responses suggest. The people at the extremes are the ones most likely not to respond.

Order a buffer and expect exchanges

Even with good data a proportion will be wrong, so order a modest buffer weighted to the middle sizes and plan an exchange window. Deciding in advance who holds the buffer and how an exchange is requested turns a predictable annoyance into a short administrative step, which is the difference between people wearing the shirt and quietly not.