What size do I order if I wear waist size 38" slacks? Will a 38" be longer to fit?

Hi, I should wear a 38 pants but squeeze into 36. I ordered the 38 belt and it works. If you like more than a little overlap, I'd suggest one size up. There are lots of holes so you can make adjustments easily. I love the quality.

1&1/4" now. Maybe it was 1& 3/8" when I first wore it but wearing it may stretch the length a little thereby reducing the width fractionally.

How long is a 42 inch belt end to end in inches?

I do not recommend this belt. It has very poor durability

Is this belt stretchy ?

A little bit, yes. HOWEVER just FYI this belt literally came apart (two pieces) within a few weeks of normal daily use of the same waist notch, which would certainly seem to be normal use when you are the same PERSON using the same belt on the same waist, right? You would think any quality belt would be designed well enough to withstand more than a few uses. Anyway, we returned/exchanged it for a different belt entirely (meaning, NOT another "Tommy Hilfiger" one). So, just fair warning ...