How Long Should the Shirt's Back Length be?

You can't randomly pick any dress shirt with arbitrary back length since it's a crucial aspect to consider. The right-back length of a shirt enables you to keep it tucked in during a busy day and flaunt a casual, untucked look simultaneously. This way, you can use your typical dress shirt in a number of versatile ways, beyond wearing it to formal settings. 

So How Long Should the Shirt's Back Length be? Is the rule of ideal back length the same for each type of shirt? Should every shirt cover your rear or just be long enough to go down your waistline? To know the answers to these and other such questions, keep reading! 

How Long Should the Shirt's Back Length be?

• Ideal back length for dress shirts

Ideally, a dress shirt should be long enough to cover your hips completely. On choosing a shorter shirt, you'll have to face the hassle of tucking it in over and over again, after basic movement. On the other hand, if you get a too-long shirt, the extra fabric will look absurd, even when tucked in, as it will make a bulge around your rear. 

The thumb rule here is that the back of your dress shirt should fall right on the middle of your pants’ back pockets. 

Or in other words, the tail should fall 2” past your butt high. A shirt that's too high or below the pocket should be considered a big NO. If you have an average height, a tail length of 30-34 inches would be perfect. 

• Ideal back length for casual shirts

For casual shirts, which are meant to go untucked, the rule for ideal back length varies a little. In this case, the tail of your casual shirt should fall somewhere between the bottom and middle of the back pockets. In other words, your casual shirt should fall about 2” above your butt high. If you have an average height, the perfect shirt length is 26-32 inches. 

In the case of t-shirts, these should end right below your belt line, at the midpoint of your pants zipper. However, you can go for a slightly longer tail with workout t-shirts as the extra length will prevent it from riding up during exercise. 

Otherwise, it will look quite unappealing if a casual shirt is too long and covers the pockets completely. Likewise, on wearing a shorter casual shirt, your skin will be exposed during movement. 

• Ideal back length for hybrid shirts

Hybrid shirts are those which are designed to be worn both tucked and untucked. The ideal tail length for such shirts is one inch below your butt high. 

Besides, the length of your shirt's tail also depends upon your body type. For example, if you have fat around your belly or midsection, you should get a relatively longer shirt to thoroughly cover your body. This is especially true in the case of dress shirts, as the extra fabric will help create a more streamlined and neater silhouette. 

On the other hand, if you have an athletic or slim body type, you better avoid buying a too-long shirt as it will end up looking disproportionate and baggy on your frame. 

FAQs

Start by placing one end of the measuring tape at the base of the collar seam and stretch it to the yoke. Note the measurement. Then place one end of tape on the yoke and take the other end straight down to the hem of your shirt. Combine both measurements to get your shirt back in length. 

Yes but no more than 2-3 inches.