Key Takeaways
- The strap should sit about 1 to 1.5 inches in from the edge of your shoulder. If it keeps sliding toward your neck or slipping off the side, no amount of tugging fixes what is a width problem with the tank itself.
- Armhole fit separates a tank that works from one you'll stop wearing after three times. On a regular tank the armhole should sit just below the shoulder joint. You shouldn't be able to see your side when your arms are hanging naturally.
- Length is the easiest thing to check and the thing most guys ignore. About 2 inches below the waistband for standalone wear. Any shorter and it rides up when you reach for something on a high shelf.
I bought a tank top online last summer that looked fine on the model, looked fine on the hanger when it arrived, and then looked completely wrong the second I put it on. The straps sat almost at my neck. The armholes gaped so wide I could basically see my own hip through the side opening. And the length was hitting somewhere around my upper thigh, which is a place no tank top should ever reach on a person who isn't seven feet tall.
So I returned it. Bought another one from a different brand, and this time the problem flipped in the opposite direction: everything was too tight, the armholes were so high they cut into my arms, and the straps dug into my shoulders like they were load-bearing.
Two tanks. Two returns. And zero useful information from either product page about how the thing was actually supposed to fit on a real person.
Here's the short version. A tank that fits has straps sitting 1 to 1.5 inches in from your shoulder edge, an armhole that ends just below the shoulder joint without gaping, and a hem about 2 inches past your waistband. Check those three things and you'll eliminate most of the bad purchases. If that covers it, you're done. For the longer version with specific tests you can do in front of a mirror, keep reading.
Where Should the Straps Actually Sit?
About 1 to 1.5 inches in from the outer edge of your shoulder. That's it. That's the whole measurement.
If the strap is riding the very edge of your shoulder, it's going to slip off every time you move your arm, and you'll spend the whole day pulling it back into place (which gets old roughly the third time it happens, trust me). And if the strap is bunching up near your neck, the tank is too narrow for your frame and you need to go wider, not bigger. Sizing up just makes the whole tank longer and the armhole bigger, which creates two new problems instead of solving the one you started with.
Muscle tanks are a different situation. The strap is supposed to be narrow, maybe an inch, inch and a half. It sits closer to the center of your shoulder by design. If that looks odd on you or feels like it's constantly migrating, the muscle tank cut probably isn't for your build. Not a sizing thing at all, just a shape mismatch between the cut and your body.
One test I started doing after those two returns: put the tank on and then just stand there with your arms at your sides for about thirty seconds without adjusting anything. Whatever the straps do in those thirty seconds is what they'll do all day long. If they stay put, you're fine. But if they start drifting in any direction at all, they'll keep drifting every single time you wear the thing.
How Should the Armhole Fit?
This is the part that ruins most tank purchases.
On a regular tank the armhole should end just below your shoulder joint, not so high that it's basically a t-shirt sleeve without the sleeve, and not so low that people can see directly through to the other side of your body. A well-cut armhole gives you full range of motion in your arms without the opening gaping when you lift something or reach forward.
Here's a quick test. Raise both arms straight up like you're trying to touch the ceiling. Look at what happens at the sides. The armhole should open a bit (that's normal, it has to) but you shouldn't see a massive gap running from your armpit to your hip. If you can, the armhole is too deep for your build and the tank will look sloppy every time you do anything more athletic than standing still (and yes, this includes just walking around a barbecue with a plate in your hand).
Now, muscle tanks have deep armholes on purpose. That's the whole point of the cut. With muscle tanks, the question isn't whether the armhole is deep, it's whether it's too deep for your particular frame. If the opening extends below your ribcage or the fabric flaps around like a flag when you walk, the tank is either too big or it was cut for somebody with lats that yours haven't caught up to yet.
And we get more exchanges on armhole fit than on any other single issue. And the pattern is always the same: the customer assumed they could fix an armhole problem by sizing up or down. You can't. The armhole is a cut decision the manufacturer made before you entered the picture. All you can do is find a cut that matches your frame.
How Long Should a Tank Top Be?
About 2 inches below your waistband for standalone wear. If you're layering under a flannel or button-down, go an inch or two longer so it stays tucked without bunching up at the waist.
The arms-up test works here too. Reach for an imaginary shelf above your head and check whether the hem pulls above your belt line. If your stomach shows up uninvited, the tank is too short. This happens more than you'd think with muscle tanks because the tapered cut eats up length, so a muscle tank that measures the same body length as a regular tank will ride higher in practice because the taper pulls the fabric closer to the body instead of letting it drape.
What About the Chest?
It should lay flat against your chest without pulling or bunching anywhere.
If the fabric stretches across your chest and you can see the outline of whatever's underneath through the tension in the material, size up. If the chest area has extra fabric pooling at the sides and the tank looks like a small tent with straps, size down.
Muscle tanks are supposed to be fitted through the chest. But fitted doesn't mean vacuum-sealed to your torso. You should still be able to breathe without the fabric announcing every breath you take. If you can't move your arms freely because the chest panel is too tight, it's too small. Don't convince yourself it'll stretch out. It won't. Not enough to matter, anyway.
Regular tanks drop straighter from the shoulder, and the chest area is less fitted overall, so the fabric should hang without any dramatic pulling or sagging. If the side seams are getting pulled toward the front of your body, that's the tank telling you it doesn't have enough room through the chest. Side seams should run straight down your sides, not curved forward or backward. And here's something I never thought about until a friend who used to work at a screen printing shop pointed it out: the fabric grain matters too. If the print or the weave pattern on the front of a tank looks like it's twisting to one side, the tank was either cut off-grain or it's being stretched unevenly by your body. Either way, not a great fit.
What If You're Between Sizes?
For regular tanks, try your normal size first because the relaxed cut usually has enough room that you don't need to go up unless the chest is genuinely tight.
But for muscle tanks, go up. Almost always. The tapered cut means a muscle tank in your true size will fit tighter than a regular tank in the same size, and the armhole sits differently when there's more room. We see this in our exchange data constantly: about two-thirds of muscle tank exchanges go from smaller to larger, not the other way around.
But really, the answer to "what size should I get" is "check the measurements." Every product page in our men's tank top collection lists chest width, body length, and shoulder measurements by size. Grab a tank that currently fits you, lay it flat, measure it, and compare. Thirty seconds with a tape measure saves you a return.
And if you're wondering about the difference between the two cuts before you figure out sizing, the muscle tank vs regular tank comparison breaks down when each one makes sense.
Last updated: May 2026
FAQ
How much should a men's tank top shrink after washing?
If it's pre-shrunk, barely at all. Maybe a quarter inch in length after the first wash, tops. If a tank shrinks noticeably after one machine cycle on cold, the construction isn't holding up its end of the deal. Our tanks are pre-washed before they ship, so what you try on is what you keep.
Should men size up in tank tops?
For regular tanks with a relaxed or semi-fitted cut, your normal size usually works. For muscle tanks, going up one size often helps because the armhole sits better and the straps don't dig. But honestly, check the size chart measurements rather than guessing by the letter on the label. An L from one brand is an M from another. The tape measure doesn't lie.
Can a men's tank top be too long?
For wearing on its own, yes. A tank hitting mid-thigh just looks like a short dress, and nobody set out that morning to achieve that look. For layering under a button-down or jacket, longer is fine because it stays tucked and nobody sees the hem. The sweet spot for standalone wear is about 2 inches past your waistband.
What is the right amount of space in a tank top armhole?
Enough to raise your arms without the seam pulling, but not so much that the opening shows your whole side when you're standing with your arms relaxed. Quick test: lift both arms straight overhead. If the hem stays near your waist and the armhole doesn't yawn open, you're good. If you can see daylight through the gap while your arms are down, it's too wide for your frame.
How do you know if tank top straps are the wrong width for your build?
If straps keep sliding off your shoulders during normal activity, they're sitting too far toward the edge of your shoulder for your frame. If they're pulling inward toward your neck and bunching up, the tank is too narrow across the shoulders. A strap that fits stays in one place all day without you thinking about it.
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