I know you might often read people saying things in reviews like "Order a size down" or "Order a size up" etc etc.  Maybe you have realized these suggestions tend to be wrong a lot of the time... but let me tell you, with this shirt you ABSOLUTELY have to order down a size unless you are happy with your shirt being oversized (could be ideal for overweight individuals). I would go even further and suggest maybe even order down TWO sizes.

My size is technically a XL reg, which for most shirts, fits me just right.  So I ordered an XL for this shirt... what I got was labeled as an XL regular but fit like it was a XXXL tall, it was ginormous!  To say I was swimming in the shirt would be an understatement.

Being this is Amazon with their awesome services, I quickly went online and initiated an exchange for a Large. I got my large shirt, and I am happy to say it is a decent enough fit, still a tad big, but I'm sure a run through the wash will take care of that.

So yeah, this is no joke or understatement, order a size down!  Also for reference, the shirts I got were made in Mexico.

As for the quality of the shirt, it is top notch!  Nice and thick and feels like it will last a lifetime.  Most shirts you get nowadays are thin (practically see-through), weak and barely last a month because of companies skimping out on materials to save a few $$, but no expense is spared with this shirt, and you definitely get what you paid for.  Also this shirt is pretty long, more so than I personally like but it would be ideal for tucking in.  And since it is plenty long, if you go untucked you can rest assure that you won't be getting any wise-cracks every time you bend down to pick something up.

EDIT 1/10/12:  I am dropping my star rating to 2.  As I mentioned above the sizing for these shirts is massive, but I liked my large charcoal shirt so much I decided to get a lighter colored one, in the Ash color.  Since I was reasonably assured by ordering the same size shirt I got last time (a large which fit me pretty nicely), I ordered another large thinking it would be of consistent sizing.

Sadly in this case even the large was WAY too big, in fact it is about 3 inches longer than my other large, and it is also much wider as well.  It is not a tall version, the tags and everything on the packaging and shirt say Large, Reg.  This is absolutely ridiculous to have this much difference in sizing.  This shirt is big enough to be considered a XXL tall by most standards.

For the record, this Ash color is made in Haiti (at least mine was), whereas my other large Charcoal color was made in Mexico.  So perhaps if I got a ash colored shirt made in Mexico a large would have fit me consistency with my other shirt, but since we have absolutely no idea what shirt is made where and which one we could get, I feel the inconsistent sizing and standards of these Carhartt shirts is beyond unacceptable.  It is sad to think a company like Carhartt is becoming so unreliable, it is getting so hard to find decent/reliable products nowadays and this situation has only soured me even more.

Since there is free return shipping I am sending the overly big large back and am going to try my luck on a Medium sized Ash shirt.  I will edit my review with my findings when it arrives.

EDIT 1/13/12: My new replacement medium shirt came in yesterday.  It was also made in Haiti.  The length of the shirt is identical to the large (it is extremely long for a medium, way too long) but its side-to-side sizing is definitely smaller, almost too small for me (which will shrink even more when I wash it).

Overall the sizing variance is highly unacceptable and I am keeping my star rating to 2.  And while I really like these shirts in terms of thickness and look, I am not sure I will dare try to order another color as the sizing may vary as wildly as the sizing between the ash and charcoal colors.  What a shame.