How to measure yourself in four minutes
Three numbers, two units, and the four minutes that make every chart in this shop work for you.
Standing in a thin top in front of a mirror, a soft tape, and four minutes is all the equipment fit requires. Stand relaxed with your arms down and let the tape breathe — snug against the body, never squeezing.
The three numbers
Bust, across the fullest part with the tape level under the arms and around the back. Waist, at the narrowest point of your torso, usually just above the navel. Hip, around the fullest part of your seat with your feet together. Breathe out normally for the bust and the waist.
A tape measure beats every size label ever printed.
— the studio, Kelowna, British Columbia
Write both units
We publish charts in centimetres first, inches where they help: divide centimetres by 2.54. Write the three numbers somewhere you'll find again and note which one changed last — for most people the waist moves before the bust does.
Against the chart
Compare your numbers with the chart on any piece you're considering. A garment reads larger than the body it goes onto, and how much larger depends entirely on the cut — that's what the chart minus body tells you. When a piece arrives and the numbers disagree, the return window is 30 days.
More from the journal.
- What we're wearing this OctoberCold mornings, warm afternoons — the season is one long layering problem and a handful of pieces solve it.
- Packing a carry-on in knitsKnit fabric rolls flat, springs back, and never reads as slept-in — a good carry-on is a knit problem.
- A five-piece weekOne dress, one knit, one jacket, one skirt, one set — and how they cover Monday to Sunday.
- How to layer a knit over a dressThe fastest way to take a summer dress into autumn, and the three proportions that always work.
- Matching sets, three waysA set is one outfit you don't have to think about — and two separates when you do.