First things first...
Let me first say that if you know what size gloves you normally wear (small, medium, large, etc.) and the gloves you'd like to purchase come in the letter sizes, then order that size. The gloves that we sell in the letter sizes follow industry standards and should fit you fine. If you know your letter size and are planning to purchase one of the American Heritage brand gloves then you can scroll down to the table at the bottom of this page and convert your letter size to a number size. Before using the measuring system described below, you should know it's not very accurate since it only uses two dimensions to figure out your size. If you have worn gloves before, use that size and ignore any measurements you come up with! If you've never worn gloves before we HIGHLY recommend that you find a local store that sells gloves and try on some leather gloves (not stretchy, synthetic ones) on to find your size. They won't have our quality but the sizing should be the same. If you're buying number sized gloves (American Heritage) you can convert the letter sizes to number sizes in the chart below.
If the paragraph above answers your questions, IGNORE the measuring information... It's only used as a LAST RESORT!
If you've never worn gloves before and it's not possible for you to go to a local store and try gloves on until you find the size that fits you best, then please read the instructions below on how to measure your hand and you should be able to come up with a fairly good fit if you have an average hand (and very few people have an "average" hand so it will be a compromise). Nothing beats trying them on and measuring to find your size is the absolute last resort but careful measurement will get you pretty close unless you have unusually long or short fingers in comparison to your palm size. If you get your gloves and there's a problem with the fit, we're happy to exchange them. See our exchange policy here...
| Letter Sizes | XS | S | M | L | XL | XXL | XXXL | XXXXL |
|
Number Sizes/ |
6 | 7 | 7.5-8 | 8.5-9 | 9.5-10 | 10.5-11 | 11.5-12 | 12.5-13 |
| Centimeters | 15.2 | 17.8 | 19.1-20.3 | 21.6-22.9 | 24.1-25.4 | 26.7-27.9 | 29.2-30.5 | 31.8-33 |
There are two ways you need to measure your hand...
A) Measure your Dominant hand around the knuckles at the fullest part (exclude
thumb). A sewing tape works great but, if you don't have one handy, use a piece of string and a ruler. It's easier too if you have someone else do the measuring...
If you are RIGHT handed, take measurements from your RIGHT hand
If you are LEFT handed, take measurements from your LEFT hand
B) then measure from the tip of the middle finger to the base of the hand where
the wrist starts (there's usually a crease in the skin there)
C) Use the LARGEST of these two measurements for the correct size glove.
The largest dimension (either around the knuckles or the length) equals the size of
the glove (example: A 7" measurement equals a size 7 glove)
There's an old saying in the building trades that I think pertains here and I'll state it with a slight modification:
MEASURE TWICE - ORDER ONCE
If you'll measure both dimensions; measure them again and then read ALL the information below, your odds of getting a pair of gloves that fit right the very first time go way up!
Things to consider when figuring out your glove size...
Using the measurements you wrote down when measuring your hands according
to the above instructions will give you a VERY snug fit. That being said,
understand that a "snug" fit is like a second skin fit... extremely snug at first and
then should stretch to conform to your hand after a few wearings. (Note: the
exception are the fingerless gloves which have a large amount of stitching and
WILL NOT STRETCH. In fact, they run tight so we strongly suggest moving up
one size from what you normally wear).
MOST people find a very snug fit very uncomfortable, even to the point of
claustrophobic so we'd recommend moving up at least a 1/2 size and maybe a
whole size depending on the type of fit you like.
If you suffer from arthritis pain in your fingers, knuckles or thumb joint, we
definitely recommend moving up one size for a looser fit that doesn't put pressure
on those joints.
Some manufacturers indicate glove sizes by number and others by letters
standing for Small, Medium, Large, etc. We always indicate the size of a pair of
gloves the same way the manufacturer does. (For example, American Heritage
uses inch number sizes while Atlas uses letter sizes)
Use the table above to translate between "letter sizes" and "number sizes" and to
convert from centimeters to inches.
All number sizes used on the website are measured in inches. If you're using
metric measurements, please convert them to inches before ordering using the
table below.
If you're converting to Letter Sizes and your size falls in between, we recommend
going with the larger size.
Glove sizing is a bit of a compromise... if you have long fingers in relation to the
circumference of your hand (your length measurement is longer than your
circumference measurement), your gloves will be a little looser in the palm and
vice versa... if your fingers are shorter compared to your palm (your length
measurement is less than the circumference measurement), your gloves will have
a little more room in the fingertips. The human hand is as different from person to
person as our faces are and, since the gloves are cut for an "average" hand,
many of us will have gloves that fit a little looser in one direction or the other.
The most important thing to look for when trying on your new gloves is to make
sure they seat in the valleys between the fingers without putting pressure on the
fingertips. If they hit the fingertips without seating in between the fingers (the
valley), DON'T wear them.
This will cause pain in your fingertips after wearing them for a short while. If this is the situation you find yourself in when you first try on your new gloves, contact us and we'll gladly exchange them for a pair that fit.
You should also be able to make a fist without discomfort. A "fits like a glove" fit will be snug but the gloves will stretch after 2 or 3 wearings and conform to the shape of your hand.
Above all, if you have any questions about anything relating to any of our products, please contact us and we'll do our best to answer your questions.