Sleeve length

Sleeve length is the length of the arm, or of the sleeve, from the shoulder to the wrist. Tops and jackets measure it from the shoulder point or seam; dress shirts measure it from the center back of the neck, across the shoulder and down the arm. The same arm gives two very different numbers, so a chart has to say which one it means.

How to measure

1. Bend the arm slightly, hand resting on the hip. A straight arm reads short.
2. From the shoulder point, run the tape down the outside of the arm, over the elbow, to the wrist bone.
3. For a dress shirt, start at the center back of the neck, go across to the shoulder point, then down to the wrist.
4. On a garment laid flat: from the shoulder seam, along the top of the sleeve, to the end of the cuff.

On a size chart

Ruban Size's templates list sleeves as garment measurements, from the smallest size to the largest:

The gap between a 65 cm jacket sleeve and an 88 cm shirt sleeve is where the tape starts, not the fit. The big and tall note adds: "Tall sizes (T) add about 2 in to the body and sleeve length."

In Ruban Size

Every row has its unit, so the cm/in switch converts sleeves too, with fractions such as 34½ in if you choose them. Find my size doesn't ask for the sleeve: it picks the size from the chest, and the neck on dress shirts, and leaves the sleeve row for shoppers to compare. Say how the sleeve was measured in the tab's caption, as the Women's tops template does with "Garment measurements, laid flat".