How to Measure Your Body for Clothing? Complete Guide

Shopping online has many benefits and bonuses, however one of the major minuses that is relevant to this day is finding the right size of clothing for your body.

If you found yourself in this situation many times before, we have something to help you!

Here you will find everything you will need on how to measure your body for clothing.

Why Are Measurements Important?

To ensure that your linen garment would fit you like a glove, it’s important to take all precautions to prevent ordering incorrect size.

A way to do that, is to measure your body before placing an order and compare the results with the given size guides to find the best-suited size for your new wardrobe darling.

How To Take Body Measurements in General?

Measuring your body has some general rules to help you obtain accurate results.

Firstly, for the most precise numbers, use a flexible measuring tape. If you don’t have one, there is a trick.

You can use a long band or lace to wrap around your body, fix the place where both ends of it meet and then lay it on the flat surface next to the long ruler or inflexible measuring tape.

Secondly, when using measuring tape make sure that it wouldn’t be wrapped too tight or too loose, it needs to be just right to replicate your natural body lines.

Thirdly, remember to stand straight in a relaxed position and breathe normally. You shouldn’t suck in your stomach or flex your muscles to be left with inaccurate body measures.

Finally, if you are measuring yourself without anybody’s help, stand in front of a big mirror to track the accuracy of placement and level of your tape.

Photo credit: @jovanarikalo

How to Measure for Women‘s Clothing?

Most common body measurements used when measuring a woman’s body are bust, waist, hips and inseam.

To ensure garment fitting your upper body like a glove, biceps, arm and shoulders measurements are needed as well.

How to Measure Bust?

Do you prefer wearing a padded bra or maybe no bra at all?

It’s important to know when measuring your bust since if you wear a bra on a daily basis, you should do the measurements with it, and if not, then you should be braless accordingly.

Wrap your measuring tape around your top making sure that it stays on under your shoulder pads on the back, goes beneath your armpits and sits on the widest part of your chest.

Pay attention that you wouldn’t have chest stuck out and your posture would be relaxed.

How to Measure Waist?

The goal is to find the slimmest part of your waist to have accurate measures.

A trick that can help you is bending to the side which forms a crease in the place where your natural waistline is.

How to Correctly Measure Your Waist for a Dress?

Measuring waists for a dress does not differ much from general waist measuring tips, the goal is to find the smallest part of your waist.

Wrap measuring tape around and make sure it’s above your belly button and below your rib cage.

How to Measure Hips?

It’s best to wear only your underwear since some tight pants or skirts might affect your body shape.

Place your feet together and stand straight. Wrap measuring tape around the widest part of your hips making sure it’s snug, but not digging in.

To test if the measurement is taken correctly, try to fit one finger under the joint tape. If you can fit more than one finger, then the tape is too loose.

How to Measure Inseam?

For this one you would need some help from somebody else to run the measuring tape from groin down to your ankle.

If there is nobody that can help, you can lay flat your favorite pants that fit you tightly measure from the top inseam to the hem, however, this way result would not be as accurate.

How to Measure Biceps?

Measuring your bicep will require some help as well.

You should stand with your arms hanging by your side completely relaxed.

Measuring tape should be wrapped around the widest part of your upper arm. Usually, this point is about 5 cm below an armpit.

How to Measure Arm?

Again, ask somebody for help on this one.

Relax your arm and bend it slightly. Place your measuring tape at the start of your shoulder above the crease of your armpit and measure the distance between it and your wrist letting the tape pass behind the elbow.

How to Measure Shoulders? 

The person assisting you need to take the measure from the back. It’s quite tricky to find the correct spot on the shoulder where to place your measuring tape.

A trick is to find a notional point where horizontal live of the shoulders and the vertical line of your arm meet. Run the tape across your back within in a straight line until the same spot on another shoulder.

If there is nobody nearby to help you, you can find a shirt that hugs your shoulders most fitted, lay it down and measure the distance between the two points where your shoulders would be.

Body Measurements for Size Charts: Should I Trust It?

After measuring your body and having all the accurate numbers you can find the measurements chart to compare which size, according to your body measurements, fit into which clothe size category.

At Son de Flor you can find measurement chart under any linen garment on our website.

Open the product window and it will be under the product size selection. There you can see what kind of body measurements are suitable for all the sizes we have.

The measurement chart is created carefully and precisely to provide you with the best help when choosing your size of the linen piece. 

Advanced And Easy Alternative: Virtual Fitting Room

To make the process of finding your size easier here at Son de Flor, we have added a Virtual Fitting Room to our website which you can find on the chosen product page next to the Measurement Chart.

The smart tool recommends you the best size according to the three simple criteria, height, weight, and age.

Hight and weight helps to understanding approximate your body proportion while age is needed since the body shape changes over the years affecting the calculation.

After that, to learn about your body shape, you are asked to choose your body proportions which can be chosen from smaller, regular or bigger with a picture representing your choices on a woman’s body to replicate your body shape.

And voilà!

You can see the size which the smart size calculator suggests you.

Moreover, Virtual Fitting Room will let you know how tight or loose your linen garment will fit you. If you want to have it fit you differently, you can check how it would be with a size up or down by pressing another size under “Also try the sizes”.

Conclusion

We hope this helped to answer the question how to measure your body for clothing.

All you need to do is to follow the instructions above and the measurements you will receive will be very accurate.

Of course, often you would need to kindly ask your family member or a friend for some help to measure yourself, but some measurements you can do by your own.

After that, you can either compare your results with the measurement chart or even a smart calculation tool such as Virtual Fitting Room as we have, and women find useful.

After having the correct size, all you need to do is order your dream garment and wait. Hopefully, these advices will help you to have the best experience on how to take perfect body measurements.