“Plus size” is one of the least useful phrases in clothing. It has no agreed definition, no legal meaning, and no consistency between one brand and the next. A label that says XXL tells you almost nothing on its own. This is a guide to reading past the letter on the label — and an honest account of where our own range starts and stops.
What the term conventionally means
In US retail, plus size has traditionally begun somewhere around a size 14 or 16 and continued upward, usually labelled 1X, 2X, 3X and so on. That convention is not a standard. It is a habit, and plenty of brands ignore it. Some start their plus range at 12, some at 18. Others avoid the category entirely and simply extend their letter sizing, which is where most of the confusion in activewear comes from.
Letter sizing — S, M, L, XL, XXL — has no fixed relationship to numeric sizing at all. It is a manufacturer’s shorthand for a set of body measurements they chose. Two garments both marked XXL can differ by several inches at the hip. This is not deception so much as an absence of any authority to be consistent with.
Why international sizing runs smaller
Most activewear, including ours, is cut to international rather than US sizing, and international sizing is drafted from different base measurements. The practical effect is that it runs roughly one size smaller than the equivalent US label.
For our range specifically: our XXL sits at approximately a US XL, which is around a US 16 to 18. Our XXXL sits at approximately a US XXL, roughly a US 20 to 22. If you wear a US 16 and order an XXL expecting a US XXL, you will get something close to your size rather than the roomier fit you were picturing. Ordering by the letter is the single most common reason activewear gets returned.
Vanity sizing makes it worse
Over the last few decades, the measurements attached to a given number have drifted upward in much of the US market, so that a modern size 12 is more generous than a size 12 from thirty years ago. Different brands have drifted by different amounts and at different times. The result is that your “usual size” is a fact about the brands you happen to buy, not a fact about your body.
This is why we would rather you ignored the letter entirely.
The only reliable document is a chart in centimetres
A size chart that gives actual body measurements in centimetres is the only thing that transfers between brands. Our size guide carries one, along with instructions for where to measure. Three measurements do almost all the work for leggings:
- Waist — measured at the narrowest point of your torso, not at your hip bones and not where your jeans happen to sit.
- Hip — measured at the fullest point, standing with your feet together. This is the measurement most people get wrong by measuring too high.
- Inseam — from the crotch to the ankle bone, which tells you whether a style will be full-length or crop on you.
Measure over close-fitting clothing or bare skin, keep the tape level and firm without compressing, and write the numbers down. They will not change often, and having them saves you from guessing every time.
When your waist and hip fall in different rows
This is extremely common and there is a straightforward rule: go by the hip. Leggings are cut to the hip and thigh, which is where the fabric has to do the most work. A waistband has far more stretch to spare than the leg does, and a waistband that is slightly loose is a minor annoyance. A leg that is too tight is unwearable, and it is also what causes sheerness.
Between sizes? It depends on the fabric
The advice to “size up if in doubt” is too blunt. What you should do depends on what the garment is made of.
- Seamless knits stretch furthest and recover best, so they cope well with sitting between sizes. Either size will usually work; take the smaller if you want compression, the larger if you want comfort.
- Fleece-lined styles lose interior room to the lining itself. Take the larger size.
- Coated fabrics such as faux leather have restricted stretch and slow recovery. Take your measured size, not larger — a loose coated legging bags at the knee and stays that way.
- Styles with fixed panels, such as side pockets, have less give through the thigh than a plain knit. Lean larger.
Why the largest size in a run sometimes fits worst
Garments are graded: a base size is drafted, then scaled up and down by fixed increments. Grading is proportional, so it assumes bodies get larger uniformly. Real bodies do not. The further a size sits from the base, the more the proportions can drift — which is why the top of a size run occasionally fits oddly even when the measurements look right on paper.
A brand that genuinely designs for larger sizes re-drafts rather than simply grading upward. A brand that has extended its existing range has not. This is worth knowing because it explains an experience most people have had, and it is not something you did wrong.
Opacity is a sizing issue, not a quality issue
A knit gets thinner as it stretches. The same fabric that is completely opaque at M can go sheer across the seat at XXL, because it is being asked to cover more area with the same amount of yarn. Choosing your correct size helps. So does choosing a denser fabric, a lined style, or a seamless knit with a higher stitch density. Our squat test settles it in ten seconds, and it is worth doing with any new pair before you wear them out.
Where our range actually starts and stops
Here is the honest part, because there is no value in overselling this. Of the products we currently list, 19 offer XXL or larger, and only 9 go beyond that to XXXL, 3XL, 4XL or 5XL. The great majority of our range stops at XL or XXL.
Given that our XXL is roughly a US XL, that means most of our catalogue does not extend into what US retail would call plus size at all. We would rather say that plainly than tag everything with a plus size label and let you discover it at the checkout.
The styles that genuinely do run large:
- Button-Detail Faux Leather Leggings — S to 5XL, the deepest run we carry.
- Faux Leather Biker Shorts — up to 4XL.
- Fleece-Lined Skirted Leggings — M to 4XL.
- Thermal Culotte Leggings — up to 4XL.
- Fleece-Lined High-Waist Leggings and Seamless High-Waist Leggings — both to 3XL.
- Seamless High-Waist Gym Leggings, High-Waist Cycling Leggings and Heart-on-Hip Leggings — to 3XL or XXXL.
Our plus size page lists only styles where the larger sizes genuinely exist, rather than everything that happens to stock an XL.
If you are still unsure
Send your waist and hip measurements to contact@salesplashonline.com and we will tell you which row of the chart you fall in for a specific style. That is a faster and more accurate answer than any guide can give you, including this one.
You may also want the fabric guide, which explains how different fibres behave under stretch, or the full leggings range.