Under Armour Compression Tights in 3XLT: Measured at 6 foot 8
I am 6 foot 8. I have owned a pair of Under Armour compression tights in 3XLT for several years, worn them plenty and washed them plenty. This week I finally put a tape measure on them, relaxed and stretched, to answer a question I had never bothered to ask: how much length does the largest tall size in compression actually give you?
The answer is 31 inches of inseam at full stretch. My jeans inseam is 35. That is a four inch shortfall — on the size most tall men will reach for first, and the size most retailers actually stock.
The measurements
Everything below was taken by hand on the garment itself. Compression fabric is 75% polyester and 25% elastane, so a single flat measurement tells you almost nothing — the relevant range is between the two columns. Relaxed is the garment lying flat and untouched. Stretched is the garment pulled to the point where the fabric stops giving easily, which is roughly what your body is asking of it when you wear it.
| Measurement | Relaxed | Stretched |
|---|---|---|
| Inseam | 29.5 in | 31 in |
| Front rise | 8.5 in | 9.75 in |
| Waistband, around | 38 in | 41 in |
| Thigh, around | 21 in | 24 in |
| Ankle opening, around | 10.5 in | 13 in |
The relaxed and stretched figures are both recorded in The Tall Sizing Database.
Note how much of the give is in the girth and how little is in the length. Thigh gains three inches around. Waistband gains three. The inseam gains one and a half. Stretch fabric buys you width, not length — which is exactly backwards from what a tall man needs.
Where they actually land
Mid-calf. Not a cropped tight, not a 7/8 length, not a style choice — they simply run out. On a shorter man these are full length tights. On me they stop about four inches above the ankle bone and the hem sits at the widest part of the calf, which is also where a compression hem is least comfortable, because that is where the leg is still getting wider and the cuff has to grip against it.
Stretch fabric buys you width, not length. That is exactly backwards from what a tall man needs.
I want to be precise about what this is and is not. It is not a brand mislabelling a size — 3XLT measures like a 3XLT. It is a garment whose pattern assumes the fabric will make up the difference in length, and above about 6 foot 5 it does not.
What about the 4XLT?
There is one, and I have not measured it, so I am not going to tell you what it does. What I can tell you is what sizing up bought elsewhere in this wardrobe, because I measured that too.
I own the same Under Armour exercise shirt in 3XLT and 4XLT, which is the cleanest test I have: one garment, one brand, one size step. That single step added two and a half inches of body length and five inches around the chest. Activewear patterns grade length generously.
Knitwear does not appear to behave the same way — the two sweaters I measured sit within half an inch of each other in body length despite a nominal size difference. But those are two different brands with two different size systems, so it is a weaker comparison than the shirt and I am not going to dress it up as a like-for-like size step. I have proven the activewear number. The knitwear one is a suggestion until I measure the same sweater in two sizes.
If the 4XLT follows that pattern, a stretched inseam somewhere around 33 or 34 inches is a reasonable guess. That is still short of my 35, but it is close enough that it might read as a deliberate crop rather than a mistake — and for a man at 6 foot 5 or 6 foot 6 it would likely be full length. That is an estimate from a pattern, not a measurement. I will measure a 4XLT and update this piece with real numbers.
What did hold up
Several years of ownership and a lot of washes, and the elastane has not gone. The waistband still recovers. There is no bagging at the knee, which is the usual way cheap compression dies, and no thinning or transparency at the seat. The seams are flat and none of them have opened. If the length worked, I would still be buying these.
- Recovery: waistband and thigh both snap back after wear. No permanent stretch.
- Knees: no bagging, which is the first thing to go on worn-out compression.
- Opacity: still opaque at the seat under stretch.
- Seams: flat-locked, intact, no chafe points.
So the durability verdict and the fit verdict point in opposite directions, and it matters which question you are asking.
Who these still work for
Length stops mattering when nothing is looking at the hem. If you are wearing compression as a base layer under joggers, under ski or work trousers, or under shorts for the gym, a mid-calf hem is invisible and the fit above the calf is genuinely good — 24 inches around the thigh under stretch is real room, and the waistband at 41 inches around is not fighting a 285 pound frame.
They stop working the moment the tight is the outer layer. Running in them, cycling in them, wearing them under shorts where the leg shows — the hem is the whole look and the hem is in the wrong place.
| If you are… | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Wearing them under something | Works. The hem never shows and the fit above the calf is good. |
| Wearing the 3XLT as the outer layer at 6 foot 6 or above | Does not work. Mid-calf hem. Try the 4XLT, unmeasured here. |
| Under about 6 foot 3 | Probably fine as full length. Measure your own inseam against 31 inches. |
How to check this against yourself
Take your jeans inseam — the seam from crotch to hem on a pair that fits you. Compare it to 31 inches. That is the measured stretched inseam of the 3XLT, and the difference is how far above your ankle the hem will sit. My gap is four inches. At 6 foot 4 you are probably looking at one or two, which reads as a deliberate crop rather than a mistake.
And do the same thing before you buy any compression in a tall size: ask for the stretched inseam, not the size label. A tall designation on a stretch garment tells you far less than it does on denim, because the pattern maker has already assumed the fabric will make up the difference. Above about 6 foot 5, it does not.
Under Armour compression tights, 3XLT
Available in 3XLT and 4XLT. The 3XLT is the pair measured above — owned several years, washed many times.
- Stretched inseam, 3XLT: 31 in, measured by hand.
- Buy it if you are wearing it under joggers, trousers or shorts.
- Size up to 4XLT if you want them full length above 6 foot 5. Not measured here.
- Held up: no knee bagging, no waistband blowout, still opaque.
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The bottom line
Well made, still going after years of washing, and four inches too short in 3XLT on a 6 foot 8 frame. Buy the 3XLT as a base layer at my height and it is a good garment. Want them as full-length outer-layer tights above 6 foot 5, and you need to be looking at the 4XLT — which I have not measured yet.
Measured on my own pair, owned several years and washed many times. Every number above came off a tape measure, not a size chart.
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