How to measure clothes for selling online
A size label tells a buyer almost nothing — a size 12 from 1998 is not a size 12 today, and no two brands agree. Four numbers off a tape measure tell them everything. This is how to take them.
The rule that matters: measure the garment, not the person, and measure it lying flat. Never measure while it is being worn, and never stretch it to make it sound bigger.
Waist and hip are measured across the flat garment and then doubled, because you are measuring half a tube. Chest is pit to pit and is not doubled — it is quoted flat, which is the convention every second-hand marketplace uses. When a buyer's own bust is compared with it, we do the doubling.
What to measure, by garment
| Piece | Measurements worth taking |
|---|---|
| Tops, shirts, jumpers, jackets and coats | Chest, pit to pit, Length, Sleeve, Shoulder |
| Jeans, trousers, shorts and joggers | Waist, Hip, Inside leg, Rise |
| Dresses, playsuits and jumpsuits | Chest, pit to pit, Waist, Hip, Length |
| Skirts | Waist, Hip, Length |
| Shoes and trainers | Insole |
| Swimwear, lingerie and underwear | Chest, pit to pit, Waist |
| Bags, jewellery and accessories | None — nothing here is sized on a body. |
Asking a skirt for a sleeve length is how listings end up with nonsense on them. Nonsense does more damage to a buyer's trust than a missing number.
Each measurement, exactly
Chest, pit to pit
Lay flat, armpit to armpit.
Length
Highest point of shoulder to hem.
Sleeve
Shoulder seam to cuff.
Shoulder
Seam to seam across the back.
Waist
Lay flat and double it.
Hip
Widest point, laid flat and doubled.
Inside leg
Crotch seam to hem.
Rise
Crotch seam to top of waistband.
Insole
Heel to toe inside the shoe.
How much room to leave
Buyers compare a garment against their own body, and a garment that matches their body exactly will not fit. These are the allowances we apply when telling a buyer whether something suits them:
| Measurement | Ease | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Chest | 8 cm all the way round (4 cm on the pit to pit) | A top measuring exactly your bust will be skin tight. |
| Waist | 2 cm | Waistbands have less give than you would think, especially on rigid denim. |
| Hip | 4 cm | The widest point decides whether it goes on at all. |
| Inside leg | none | A length is a length: it either ends where you want it or it does not. |
The four mistakes that cause returns
- Measuring yourself instead of the garment. The buyer is not your shape. They want the piece's numbers so they can compare against their own.
- Forgetting to double the waist. A 38 cm flat waistband is a 76 cm waist. Listed as 38, it reads as a child's.
- Pulling the tape tight on stretchy fabric. Measure it relaxed. Say separately that it stretches.
- Rounding to flatter. Two centimetres is the difference between "fits" and "going back", and a refund costs more than an honest number.
Why bother
Because "will this fit me?" is the question that stops a sale, and answering it before it is asked is the cheapest thing a seller can do. It also removes the most common reason a buyer opens a dispute, which is the piece arriving smaller than they pictured.
On Rewear these numbers do something extra: a buyer can save their own measurements once, and every listing measured for fit then tells them how it compares — "should fit you: chest 56 flat (112 round) against your 104". Sellers who measure get found by the buyers those measurements suit.
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