How to measure yourself for clothes bought online: bust, waist, hip, shoulder and sleeve

Most clothing bought online that does not fit was never going to fit, and the reason is usually a measurement taken badly rather than a chart read wrongly. Five numbers, taken properly and written down, will do more for you than any amount of staring at product photographs. It takes about ten minutes once, and then you have them for a year.

What you need, and what you can use instead

A flexible dressmaker's tape, the fabric or fibreglass kind. A steel builder's tape will not follow a body and reads short across a curve, which is the one direction you cannot afford an error in.

If you do not own one, use a length of non stretch string or a strip of paper. Wrap it, mark where it meets with a pen, then lay it flat against a ruler. It is slower and exactly as accurate. Do not use anything elastic, including a phone charging cable, which stretches more than people expect.

Measure in thin underwear or a close fitting top, standing relaxed in front of a mirror, shoes off, feet together unless a measurement says otherwise. Taken over a jumper, every number comes out 2cm to 5cm large and you buy a size up for no reason.

Tension, which ruins more measurements than position does

Snug, not tight. The test is a finger: you should be able to slide one finger flat between the tape and your skin, and you should not be able to hook it under. If the tape dents your skin it is too tight, and if it sags anywhere it is too loose.

Breathe out normally and then stop. Do not hold your breath, do not push the air out, and do not pull your stomach in. The garment is going to be worn by the version of you that is breathing.

Check the tape is level all the way round, including at the back where it rides up without you noticing. That single error is worth 2cm to 4cm on the bust, which is most of one size, and it is the most common mistake in the whole process.

Bust, and underbust while you are there

Bust goes around the fullest part of the chest with your arms down at your sides and the tape level front to back. Wear the bra you would actually wear with the garment, because a different bra is a different measurement and the difference can be several centimetres.

Take underbust as well, directly beneath the bust where a band would sit, snug. Some charts use it, and any garment with a fitted or smocked band under the bust is effectively sized from it rather than from the full bust.

If you are buying something with a close bodice, a front only measurement across the fullest part is worth having too. It tells you whether the problem is the whole circumference or only the front, which is the difference between a size up and a different garment.

Waist and hip

Waist is the narrowest point of the torso. For most people that is 2cm to 3cm above the navel, but it is not the same place on everybody, so find it rather than assume it: bend sideways and the crease that appears is your natural waist.

Hip is the fullest part of the seat, which is usually 18cm to 22cm below the waist. Keep your feet together. Measured with your feet apart it reads small, and then the skirt does not do up over the hip no matter what the waistband says.

Which number governs depends on the garment. A fixed waistband is sized from the waist and nothing else. A skirt or dress with a tie or an elastic waist is effectively sized from the hip, because the waist will adjust to you and the hip has to get through the opening.

Shoulder and sleeve, the two that need help

Shoulder is measured across the back, from the bony point at the end of one shoulder to the bony point at the other, following the curve rather than cutting across. Find the point by raising your arm: the knob that moves under your fingers is it. You will need a mirror or another person for this one, and it is worth the trouble.

Sleeve runs from that same shoulder point, over the elbow, to the wrist bone. Bend the elbow to roughly a right angle first. A straight arm measurement comes out 3cm to 5cm short, and the sleeve is then short every single time you reach for something.

These two decide whether a garment fits in the places that cannot be altered cheaply. A chest that is tight is a wrong size. A shoulder seam sitting halfway down your upper arm is a wrong garment, and it matters most on anything tailored: on a long structured coat the shoulder is the whole reason it hangs properly or does not.

Turning numbers into a size

Write them down with the date, in centimetres and in inches. Overseas charts are in centimetres, and converting in your head at the moment of purchase is how people end up two sizes out.

Then add ease. A woven garment with no stretch needs roughly 5cm on the bust and hip over your body measurement before it is comfortable, and more than that if you want it loose. A knit with elastane can sit at your measurement or a little under it.

Check which kind of chart you are reading, because this is where ease goes wrong. A body measurement chart already has ease built into the pattern. A flat garment measurement chart does not: those are the dimensions of the garment itself, laid out on a table, and you add the ease yourself. Our printed cotton pieces, like the printed tees, are standard United States sizes from S to 3XL and run as you would expect, which makes them a useful calibration point for everything else.

Measure again, and measure the thing you already own

Bodies change. Re-take the five numbers every six months and after any noticeable change in weight, because a chart does not care what you measured last year.

The single most reliable method is not a chart at all. Find the garment in your wardrobe closest in cut to the one you are buying, measure it flat, and compare numbers to numbers. For a top or dress: lay it flat, measure across the chest 2.5cm below the armhole, and double it. Then do the same for length from the shoulder seam and for sleeve.

On a garment cut deliberately large, flat measurements are the only thing worth reading. A coat cut oversized on purpose is not trying to match your chest, so comparing its chest number to yours tells you nothing. The shoulder and the sleeve are the numbers that decide whether it works.

Questions people actually ask

Where exactly do you measure your waist?

At the narrowest point of the torso, usually 2cm to 3cm above the navel, though it varies. Find it by bending sideways: the crease that forms is your natural waist. Breathe out normally and do not pull your stomach in.

How tight should a measuring tape be?

Snug enough to stay level, loose enough to slide one finger flat underneath. If you can hook a finger under it, it is too loose. If it dents your skin, it is too tight and you will buy a size too small.

How do you measure sleeve length?

From the bony point at the end of the shoulder, over an elbow bent to about a right angle, to the wrist bone. Measuring with a straight arm comes out 3cm to 5cm short, which is why sleeves end up short when you reach.