Ask anyone who collects vintage football shirts what puts people off buying, and the answer is almost always the same. Not price, not authenticity. Sizing.
A large from 1992 and a large from 2024 can be two completely different garments. If you order by the letter on the label, you will be disappointed roughly half the time. Here is how to avoid that.
Why sizing changed
Three things happened between the eighties and now.
Kits got tighter. Shirts from the late eighties and early nineties were cut generously, often deliberately baggy, because that was the style and because the fabrics did not stretch. Modern kits are athletic fit, engineered close to the body.
Fabric changed. Older shirts used heavier, denser polyester with very little give. A tight vintage shirt stays tight. A modern shirt with elastane will move with you.
Markets differed. A shirt made for the Japanese market and one made for the German market could carry the same size label and fit noticeably differently. This is one reason spec variants are interesting to collectors, and one reason labels alone tell you very little.
Forget the label, use the measurements
The only reliable way to buy vintage is by measurement. Two numbers matter:
Width. Measured flat across the chest, from armpit to armpit. This is the number that decides whether a shirt fits at all.
Length. Measured from the base of the collar down to the hem. This decides whether it looks right on you.
Because both are taken with the shirt lying flat, the width figure is roughly half your actual chest circumference. A shirt measuring 56 cm across corresponds to about a 112 cm chest, with the shirt sitting close to the body.
How to work out your size in two minutes
Take a shirt you already own that fits the way you like. Lay it flat on a table, smooth out the wrinkles, and measure armpit to armpit and collar to hem. Write both numbers down.
Those two numbers are now your reference. Compare them to the measurements listed on any vintage shirt and you will know immediately whether it works, regardless of what the label says.
If you want a relaxed nineties fit rather than a modern one, add three to five centimetres to your width figure.
A rough guide by era
These are generalisations, and there are plenty of exceptions, but they help set expectations.
Eighties and early nineties: cut generously. A medium from this period often fits like a modern large.
Late nineties and 2000s: closer to modern sizing, though still roomier through the body.
2010s onward: athletic fit, close to what you would expect today.
Player issue and match worn shirts are a separate case. They are usually cut tighter than the retail version of the same kit, because players wanted them that way. A match worn large can fit like a retail medium.
What we do about it
Every shirt in our shop lists the width and length in centimetres, measured flat, alongside a small diagram showing exactly where those measurements were taken. That way you are never guessing, and you never have to trust a letter on a thirty year old label.
If a shirt you like has measurements that fall between sizes, or you are unsure, just ask. We would rather talk it through than have a shirt come back.
Browse the full collection, where every shirt lists its measurements, or read our guide on telling vintage from retro.