T-Shirts for Restaurants: size splits
By The Velocity Wear Team
Split a restaurant order by role first and size second. Sizes inside the 50-piece minimum cost nothing extra to arrange, so the real question is how many shirts each person needs and how much of the run should be unallocated. In hospitality, plan for a team that will not be the same team in six months: weight the middle sizes and keep a genuine reserve rather than issuing every shirt on day one.
How do you split sizes across front and back of house?
Take the current team, multiply by two or three shirts each, and then decide how much of the balance stays in the cupboard. Front of house is customer-facing and the fit matters more, so those are worth sizing individually. Back of house wears the shirt in heat for long shifts, and a slightly roomier fit is usually the right call rather than a precisely measured one. That is a fit decision, not a separate design, so it stays inside one order.
Publish measurements when you collect sizes. Regular and boxy fits differ across the chest, and staff choosing from letters alone will get it wrong in both directions. Our blanks run 150–240 GSM combed ring-spun cotton in both fits, and a heavier shirt sits differently on the same body than a light one does.
Why does hospitality turnover change the split?
Because a size sheet is a snapshot of a team that moves. Ordering exactly to today headcount means the first three new starters have no shirt, and the replacement is a fresh 50-piece run rather than a top-up. So the split should include a block of unissued stock in the sizes most commonly needed. Think of it as stock rather than as spares: it is the thing that lets you kit out a new starter on their first shift.
Size the reserve against how quickly your team actually changes rather than a rule of thumb. A site that hires steadily through the year needs a deeper reserve than one with a stable team. Either way the cost of carrying it is small next to the cost of ordering again — what a restaurant t-shirt order costs shows how the tiers reward the deeper run.
Should the fit differ by role?
Often, yes, and it is worth asking rather than assuming. Kitchen staff generally want room and a heavier fabric that copes with heat and washing. Floor staff usually want a closer fit because the shirt is part of how the room looks. Both can come from the same design in different fits, which keeps the whole thing as one run. What would split it into two runs is different artwork, since the 50-piece minimum applies per design.
Which sizes should you keep spare?
The ones your team actually wear, not an even spread. Look at the split you just ordered, take the two or three sizes that account for most of it, and hold the reserve there. Extreme sizes should be ordered against a named person rather than stocked on spec, because an unissued shirt at either end of the range tends to stay unissued. Keep the issued list written down so you know what is out and what is left. Our restaurants and hospitality page covers the rest of the uniform, and handing out t-shirts to a team covers issuing them without a queue at the pass.
How do you check the split before you order?
Lay it out as a table: size, how many people need that size, how many shirts each, how many go to reserve. The totals should add up to your order quantity, and if they do not, the gap is usually a role you forgot rather than a maths error. Measure the sample against the chart you are asking staff to use — the wholesale t-shirts page lists the fits, and they do not measure alike. Ten minutes on that table is what stops a delivery arriving with eight mediums for a team that wears large.
