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How to measure yourself

Everything a size chart can ask for, measured at home with a soft tape. You only need the measurements the product asks for.

Before you start

  • Use a soft tailor's tape, not a metal tape measure. No tape? Use a piece of string, then measure the string with a ruler.
  • Wear thin, close-fitting clothes or underwear.
  • Stand straight and relaxed, and breathe normally.
  • Keep the tape level and snug: flat on the skin, not pressing in.
  • Measure twice. If the numbers differ, use the larger one.
  • A mirror or a helper makes back and shoulder measurements much easier.

Body

Height

You need: A wall and a flat floor, a book or ruler, a soft measuring tape, a pencil.

  1. 1Take off your shoes and stand with your back against a wall, heels touching it, feet together.
  2. 2Look straight ahead. Your shoulders, bottom and heels should touch the wall.
  3. 3Place a book flat on top of your head, pressed against the wall, and mark the wall under it.
  4. 4Step away and measure from the floor to the mark.

Avoid

  • Wearing shoes or socks with thick soles
  • Tilting your chin up
  • Holding the book at an angle instead of flat

Children and babies: For a baby who can't stand yet, lay them on their back on a flat surface and measure from the top of the head to the heel, with the legs gently straightened.

Chest / bust

You need: A soft measuring tape, a mirror, thin clothing or a non-padded bra.

  1. 1Stand straight with your arms relaxed at your sides.
  2. 2Wrap the tape around the fullest part of your chest, across the nipples and under the armpits.
  3. 3Check in the mirror that the tape is level across your back, not riding up.
  4. 4Breathe out normally and read the tape where it meets the zero end.

Avoid

  • Measuring over a sweater or a padded bra
  • Letting the tape drop at the back
  • Pulling the tape so tight it presses into the skin
  • Puffing out your chest

You should be able to slide one finger under the tape.

Waist

You need: A soft measuring tape, a mirror.

  1. 1Find your natural waist: bend to one side, and the crease that forms is your waist. It's usually a little above your belly button.
  2. 2Stand straight and wrap the tape around it, level all the way round.
  3. 3Breathe out normally. Don't pull your stomach in.
  4. 4Read the measurement.

Avoid

  • Measuring where your trousers sit instead of your natural waist
  • Holding your breath or pulling in your stomach
  • Tape twisted or tilted at the back

For trousers sizes, some brands mean where you wear the waistband. The FITLD size uses your natural waist.

Hips

You need: A soft measuring tape, a mirror.

  1. 1Stand with your feet together.
  2. 2Wrap the tape around the widest part of your hips and bottom, usually about 20 cm below your waist.
  3. 3Look in the mirror from the side: the tape should be level, not lower at the back.
  4. 4Read the measurement.

Avoid

  • Standing with legs apart
  • Measuring at the hip bones instead of the fullest point
  • Keys or a phone in your pockets

Shoulder width

You need: A soft measuring tape, someone to help, if you can.

  1. 1Stand straight with your arms relaxed.
  2. 2Find the bony tip at the top of each shoulder, where the arm begins.
  3. 3Have your helper measure straight across your upper back, from one tip to the other.

Avoid

  • Following the curve over the top of the shoulders
  • Measuring across the front
  • Shrugging or pulling the shoulders back

If you're alone, measure a shirt that fits you well, seam to seam across the back.

Arms

Sleeve length

You need: A soft measuring tape, someone to help, if you can.

  1. 1Rest your hand on your hip so your elbow bends slightly.
  2. 2Start at the bony tip of your shoulder.
  3. 3Run the tape down the outside of your arm, over the elbow, to the bone on the outside of your wrist.

Avoid

  • Keeping the arm completely straight (sleeves end up short)
  • Starting at the neck instead of the shoulder tip

Some shirt brands measure sleeves from the back of the neck. The FITLD sleeve starts at the shoulder tip.

Bicep

You need: A soft measuring tape.

  1. 1Let your arm hang relaxed at your side.
  2. 2Wrap the tape around the thickest part of your upper arm, usually halfway between shoulder and elbow.
  3. 3Keep the tape level and read the measurement.

Avoid

  • Flexing the muscle
  • Measuring at an angle

Wrist

You need: A soft measuring tape or a strip of paper and a ruler.

  1. 1Wrap the tape around your wrist, just above the round wrist bone (on the arm side).
  2. 2Keep it snug against the skin, not loose and not tight.
  3. 3Read the measurement.

Avoid

  • Measuring over the bone (adds about 1 cm)
  • Leaving slack in the tape

No tape? Wrap a strip of paper around your wrist, mark where it overlaps, and measure the strip with a ruler. For watches and bracelets, brands usually add room for comfort themselves.

Legs

Inseam

You need: A soft measuring tape, a book, someone to help, if you can.

  1. 1Stand straight, barefoot, feet slightly apart.
  2. 2Hold a book up between your legs, spine up, gently touching the crotch, like a bike seat.
  3. 3Keeping the book level, mark the wall at its top edge (or have your helper hold it), then measure from the mark straight down to the floor.

Avoid

  • Measuring with shoes on
  • Bending the knee
  • Starting below the crotch

Easier: measure the inside seam of trousers that are the right length on you, from crotch seam to hem.

Outseam

You need: A soft measuring tape, someone to help, if you can.

  1. 1Stand straight, barefoot.
  2. 2Start at your natural waist on the side of your body.
  3. 3Run the tape straight down the outside of your leg to the ankle bone, or to where you like your trousers to end.

Avoid

  • Following the curve of the hip instead of letting the tape drop straight
  • Starting at the hip bone

Thigh

You need: A soft measuring tape.

  1. 1Stand with your weight on both feet, legs slightly apart.
  2. 2Wrap the tape around the thickest part of one thigh, usually about 3 cm below the crotch.
  3. 3Keep it level and read the measurement.

Avoid

  • Tensing the leg muscles
  • Measuring halfway down the thigh

Ankle

You need: A soft measuring tape.

  1. 1Sit or stand with your foot flat.
  2. 2Wrap the tape around the slimmest part of your lower leg, just above the ankle bone.
  3. 3Read the measurement.

Avoid

  • Measuring over the ankle bone
  • Pulling the tape tight

Used for boots, socks and tapered trouser hems.

Feet

wall

Foot length

You need: A sheet of paper bigger than your foot, a wall, a pencil, a ruler or tape.

  1. 1Put the paper on a hard floor against a wall. Wear the socks you'd wear with the shoes.
  2. 2Stand on the paper with your heel touching the wall and your weight on that foot.
  3. 3Mark the tip of your longest toe. It isn't always the big toe. Keep the pencil upright.
  4. 4Measure from the edge of the paper at the wall to the mark.
  5. 5Do both feet. Use the longer one.

Avoid

  • Sitting down (feet spread when you stand)
  • Holding the pencil at an angle
  • Measuring only one foot
  • Measuring in the morning: feet are a little bigger by evening

Children and babies: Children's feet grow fast: measure again every 2 to 3 months. For a child, stand behind them and make sure their toes aren't curled.

wall

Foot width

You need: The paper from foot length, a pencil, a ruler.

  1. 1Stand on the paper again with your weight on the foot.
  2. 2Mark both sides of the foot at its widest point, across the ball of the foot, just behind the toes.
  3. 3Measure the straight distance between the two marks.

Avoid

  • Measuring while sitting
  • Wrapping the tape around the foot (that's girth, not width)

Hands

Hand length

You need: A soft measuring tape or a ruler.

  1. 1Lay your hand flat on a table, palm up, fingers together.
  2. 2Find the crease where your palm meets your wrist.
  3. 3Measure from that crease to the tip of your middle finger.

Avoid

  • Spreading the fingers
  • Measuring to a fingernail that sticks out

Use your writing hand for gloves; it's usually slightly bigger.

Palm width

You need: A soft measuring tape or a ruler.

  1. 1Lay your hand flat, fingers together.
  2. 2Measure straight across the widest part of your palm, at the knuckles, from the side of your index finger to the side of your little finger.
  3. 3Leave the thumb out.

Avoid

  • Including the thumb
  • Wrapping the tape around the hand

Head and neck

Neck

You need: A soft measuring tape, a mirror.

  1. 1Stand straight and look ahead.
  2. 2Wrap the tape around the base of your neck, just below the Adam's apple, where a collar would button.
  3. 3Slide one finger under the tape for comfort, then read it.

Avoid

  • Measuring high up near the jaw
  • Pulling the tape tight with no finger room

Weight and age

kg

Weight

You need: A bathroom scale on a hard floor.

  1. 1Put the scale on a hard, flat floor, not carpet.
  2. 2Weigh yourself in light clothing, without shoes, ideally in the morning.
  3. 3Enter the number in the unit shown (kg or lb).

Avoid

  • Scale on a rug or uneven floor
  • Weighing with shoes or heavy clothes

Weight only refines a size when other measurements are missing. It never shows to brands.

Children and babies: For a baby, weigh yourself holding the baby, then weigh yourself alone, and subtract.

Age (years)

  1. 1Enter the age in full years.
  2. 2For children, height usually matters more than age: add height too if you can.

Used for children's sizing only. In family profiles, the age comes from the date of birth.

Age (months)

  1. 1Enter the baby's age in full months, for example 7.
  2. 2Add length (height) and weight too: babies of the same age vary a lot, and they give a closer size.