Fleece Pullovers and Half Zips for Tall Men: Six Measured at 6′8″

I own six fleece pullovers — five Under Armour, one Columbia — bought across labels running from 3XL to 5XLT. I put a tape on all six at 6′8″, 285 lb, and wrote down the numbers no listing gives you.

Two of them are the same garment one size apart, and they measure exactly the same length. The Under Armour Tech 2.0 half zip in 4XLT and in 5XLT both came off the tape at 32 inches down the back and 28 down the front. A whole size step bought four inches around the chest, one inch of sleeve, and not one inch of body.

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A size step is not a length step

Here they are side by side. Body back 32 and 32. Body front 28 and 28. Chest flat 27 and 29 — 54 and 58 around. Sleeve, cuff to the centre of the collar, 38 and 39.

That is the whole argument against sizing up for length in one pair of garments. The extra X goes around you, not down you. If your problem is that a pullover finishes above your belt, a bigger label is not the fix — a different cut is, and on this brand that means the tall length, not the bigger number.

How these were measured, and why the collar matters

Every one of these except the Big Logo hoodie has a collar that stands up when the zip is closed. Measure from the top of a standing collar and the tape reads two inches longer than the garment actually covers — the collar goes up your neck, not down your back.

So I took every body length twice: once as it sits with the collar up, and once as a collar-seam figure with the collar height subtracted. Every number in the table below is the collar-seam figure, and the collar height is listed beside it so you can put it back if you want to compare against a listing that measures the other way.

The six, measured

All figures in inches, taken flat and relaxed on a hard surface. Chest flat is seam to seam one inch below the armhole; the figure in brackets is that doubled. Sleeve is from the cuff at the hand, up the arm and across the shoulder, to the centre of the collar at the back — that one works on a raglan too.

Columbia runs long, and the label reads short

The Columbia Sequoia is a 4XT — no L in it — and it is the longest thing on this table by a wide margin at 35.5 inches down the back. The Under Armour 4XLT, a label that reads longer, measures 32. That is three and a half inches of body length going the opposite way to what the labels say.

It is not an isolated reading either. The other Columbia I own, a light insulated jacket in 3XT, also measures 38 inches raw with a three inch collar. Two Columbia garments, two different labels, both long.

Three of the six have no shoulder seam at all

Both Tech 2.0s and the Big Logo hoodie are raglan — the sleeve runs in one piece up to the collar, so there is no shoulder seam to measure and nothing to sit in the wrong place on a wide frame. The three that do have a seam measured 22, 23 and 24 inches. On a coat the shoulder is the number that decides everything; on a fleece pullover it is the number you can most often ignore, because half of them do not have one.

The garments

Under Armour Tech 2.0 half zip

The pair above. Raglan, a two inch stand collar, a 5 inch cuff, 100% polyester. Identical body length in 4XLT and 5XLT; the only thing that changes is the chest. It is no longer offered in 5XLT — the 4XLT is the size to look at, and it is the one I would buy again.

Under Armour Storm Sweater Fleece half zip

The widest of the six at 30.5 inches flat, 61 around, in a plain 3XL with no tall length at all — and it still measures 33 down the back, longer than either Tech 2.0. A set-in shoulder at 22.

Under Armour Rival Fleece half zip hoodie

The shortest body here at 31.75, in a 4XLT. A hood and a half zip together, hood opening 12 inches. Shoulder 23.

Under Armour Fleece Big Logo hoodie

The odd one out and the only cotton blend — 80% cotton / 20% polyester, no zip, no collar, and the longest sleeve on the table at 43 inches cuff to centre back. Raglan. Body 33 in a 3XLT.

Columbia Sequoia half zip

The long one. 35.5 down the back in a 4XT, a two and a half inch collar, and a set-in shoulder at 24.

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What to check on a fleece pullover listing, in order

• Body length, back. If the seller gives one, find out whether it includes the collar. Two inches hides there.
• Whether it is a tall length or just a bigger size. A 4XLT and a 5XLT of the same garment can be the same length. A bigger number is chest, not body.
• Chest, and be honest about what goes under it. Flat times two is the around figure. Compare it to your own chest, not to a size chart.
• Raglan or set-in. A raglan has no shoulder seam to land wrong, which is why it forgives a wide frame.
• Sleeve measured cuff to centre back. It is the only sleeve figure that compares across raglan and set-in garments.

Every figure here also lives in the sizing database, alongside every other garment I have measured. For crewneck sweaters and why knitwear climbs over a belt, see what to check on a sweater and ten coats and sweaters measured.