Across our own range the same letter covers very different bodies depending on which garment carries it. That is less sloppiness than the nature of the fabric: a cotton knit stretches in a way a tulle skirt never will, so an XL in one is not an XL in the other. The workable approach is to ignore the letter until the last moment and start with a tape measure.
Take three measurements once
- Thigh. Stand up, feet slightly apart, and put the tape around the widest part of the thigh, usually within a couple of inches of the crotch. Do not pull it tight. Sitting down adds an inch or so, and that is the number thigh highs have to live with all day.
- Waist. Around the narrowest part of the torso, roughly at the navel or just above it. Breathe out normally rather than holding it in.
- Hip. Around the fullest part of the seat with the tape level front to back. This is the one that decides whether a pencil skirt sits or rides up.
Write them down. They will not change much, and every chart we grade to answers to one of them. Then open the fit finder, pick which measurement you took, and the range narrows to the pieces cut to cover it.
What our charts actually contain
Of 97 pieces, 75 carry a chart. The columns that turn up most often across the range:
- Length in inches, on 50 pieces. Useful for hosiery, less so for anything with a waistband.
- Waist in inches, on 45. This is the workhorse column for skirts and overalls.
- US shoe size, on 16. Foot size stands in for overall build on knitted hosiery, which is a rough proxy and we would rather give you the thigh figure where we have one.
- Hip in inches, on 26.
- Thigh circumference in inches, on 9. The most useful column on any hosiery page, and the reason most people end up on this site.
The letters, roughly
Where we grade from XL to 5XL, which is 42 pieces, the steps are close to even and each letter picks up about two to three inches of waist. As a rough orientation only, and never instead of the chart on the actual product page:
- XL tends to start around 33 to 34 inches at the waist.
- 2XL and 3XL carry most of the middle of the range.
- 4XL and 5XL run to the top of the graded span, which on our widest charts reaches 78 inches.
Thigh figures across the range run from 22.8 to 39 inches. If your thigh is above 30 inches, the standard hosiery section is mostly not for you and the plus size thigh highs are where the graded charts live.
When a piece is made as one size
26 pieces here are made that way. It is normal in hosiery and it means the garment is knitted to stretch across a span rather than cut to a figure, so there is no honest chart to print for it. If you are at either end of the usual range, a graded piece is the safer buy: one size is the label that produces most returns in this category, in both directions.
Two habits that save a return
Measure again if it has been a year. Bodies drift, tapes get borrowed and nobody remembers the number correctly. And when you sit between two sizes on a knit, size up rather than down. A slightly loose thigh high with a silicone band stays put; a tight one rolls, and a rolled band cuts a line you can feel for the rest of the day.