How To Measure Yourself Correctly
Making sure you have the right size clothing to fit your body correctly may seem like an obvious concept, but with online shopping, so many of us just estimate it and hope for the best. Different brands have different sizing, and also some of us like our clothes to fit in different ways. Maybe you like your t-shirt baggy, or tight, long or short.
We’ve often found that sites don’t give enough information to make sure that the product that arrives is exactly as you expect it to be. We care about you, our customer, so it’s essential to us that what you get is right for you, because nobody is happy if you need to return your new purchase.
At The Rainbow Stores we use a print on demand company to print all of our items at the moment. So the blank garments we print on are ones we’re given by our print supplier. So we’ve put together this handy guide for you to see all the sizes and how they fit different body shapes.
Tips for measuring
1. Always use a cloth or a flexible plastic measuring tape, never a metal one. This will ensure that you’re measuring your body accurately.
2. When measuring around your body keep the tape measure comfortably snug rather than slack or tight.
Feminine Body Shapes
Chest or Bust
Place one end of the measuring tape at the fullest part of your bust, keep the measuring tape horizontal and wrap it around your body to get the measurement. So in other words over, not under, your bust.
Waist
Most clothing lines use the measurement of the “natural waist” for their size guides. To measure your natural waist, you want to find the narrowest part of your waist, located above your belly button and below your rib cage. If the garment lists a “low” waist measurement you would measure at the point where the top of your trousers would normally sit.
Hips
Stand in a natural stance with your legs together and measure the fullest part of your hips. Be sure to go over your buttocks as well. You may find it hard to keep the tape horizontal consistently when you do it alone so it may be worth asking a friend to help or try doing it in front of a mirror.
Inseam
This measurement is used for trousers and leggings. The inseam is the distance from the crotch down the inside of the leg, to the bottom seam of the trouser or legging. It is easiest to measure the inseam based on a well-fitting pair of trousers. It’s usually the number of inches, to the nearest ½”, or the nearest full CM. It’s best to measure your inseam with a pair of shoes on so that you can ensure the hem hits at the right point, either covering your shoe or higher on your ankle if you prefer. Keep in mind that an accurate inseam measurement depends on whether you’re intending to wear heels or flats with the garment and where you want the bottom of the leg to sit.
Sleeve measurement
This is usually only necessary with long sleeve items. You may need a friend to assist you for measuring sleeve length. Bend one arm at a 90 degree angle and place your hand on your hip. Have a friend measure from the centre of your back at the base of your neck, across your shoulder, down to your arm to your elbow and then to your wrist for your full sleeve measurement. Sleeve sizes are always in whole numbers; round up to the nearest whole number if needed.
Masculine Body Shapes
Chest
Place one end of the measuring tape at the fullest part of your chest, keep the measuring tape parallel to the floor and wrap it around your body to get the measurement.
Waist
For men we use a “low” waist measurement. For this, you would measure at the point where the top of your trousers would normally ride.
Inseam
The inseam is the distance from the crotch down the inside of the leg, to the bottom seam of the trouser or legging. It is easiest to measure the inseam based on a well-fitting pair of trousers. It’s usually the number of inches, to the nearest ½”, or the nearest full CM. It’s best to measure your inseam with a pair of shoes on so that you can ensure the hem hits at the right point, either covering your shoe or higher on your ankle if you prefer the trousers to sit higher.
Sleeve measurement
This is usually only necessary with long sleeve items. You may need a friend to assist you for measuring sleeve length. Bend one arm at a 90 degree angle and place your hand on your hip. Have a friend measure from the centre of your back at the base of your neck, across your shoulder, down to your arm to your elbow and then to your wrist for your full sleeve measurement. Sleeve sizes are always in whole numbers; round up to the nearest whole number if needed.
