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The statistical properties of prograde spanwise vortex cores and internal shear layers (ISLs) are evaluated for a series of high-Reynolds-number turbulent boundary layers. The considered flows span a wide range of both Reynolds number and surface roughness. In each case, the largest spanwise vortex cores in the outer layer of the boundary layer have size comparable to the Taylor microscale $$\lambda _T$$ , and the azimuthal velocity of these large vortex cores is governed by the friction velocity $${u_\tau }$$ . The same scaling parameters describe the average thickness and velocity difference across the ISLs. The results demonstrate the importance of the local large-eddy turnover time in determining the strain rate confining the size of the vortex cores and shear layers. The relevance of the turnover time, and more generally the Taylor microscale, can be explained by a stretching mechanism involving the mutual interaction of coherent velocity structures such as uniform momentum zones with the evolving shear layers separating the structures.