How to Measure Yourself for a Jacket

Ten minutes with a tape measure will save you more returns than any amount of guessing. With your numbers written down, every size chart becomes readable.

What you need

• A soft tape measure (the fabric or plastic kind from a sewing kit, not a metal DIY tape)
• A thin, close-fitting top such as a T-shirt or base layer
• A mirror, and ideally someone to help
• Your phone's notes app or a pen and paper

Without a soft tape, use a piece of string, pinch it at the right point, then lay it against a metal tape or ruler.

Work in centimetres if you can. Most size charts give them, and they're more precise than inches.

Five rules for accurate numbers

1. Measure over a thin layer. A T-shirt, not a jumper. The size chart already allows for clothes underneath.
2. Keep the tape level. Check in the mirror that it hasn't dropped at the back.
3. Don't pull it tight. The tape should sit flat against you, with room to slide a finger underneath.
4. Measure twice. If the two readings differ by more than a centimetre, do it a third time.
5. Get help. You can measure your chest alone, but shoulders and sleeves are far more accurate with a second person.

Stand relaxed with your feet hip-width apart and your arms by your sides. Breathe normally and take each reading at the end of a normal breath out, not with your chest puffed up.

Step by step

1. Chest

Pass the tape under your armpits and around the fullest part of your chest, across the shoulder blades at the back. Keep it level all the way round. For women, this is the fullest part of the bust, and it's the number most jacket charts call "chest" or "bust".

2. Shoulders

Find your shoulder points: the bony outer edge of each shoulder, where the top of the arm begins. Lift your arm slightly and you'll feel a small dip just beside it. Measure across your back from one shoulder point to the other, letting the tape follow the gentle curve of your upper back.

This is the measurement most people skip, and the one that matters most, because shoulders are the hardest part of a jacket to alter. Our guide to how a jacket should fit at the shoulders, chest and waist explains why.

3. Sleeve

Size charts use one of two methods, so check which one before you compare.

• From the shoulder point: start at the shoulder point and run the tape down the outside of your arm, over a slightly bent elbow, to the wrist bone.
• From centre back: start at the prominent bone at the base of your neck, run across to the shoulder point, then down the arm to the wrist bone. Some brands use this method, particularly for shirts and some outdoor jackets. The number is much bigger because it includes half your shoulder width.

Measure to the wrist bone either way. Where the sleeve of a particular jacket should end is a separate question, covered in are your jacket sleeves too long or too short.

4. Waist

Measure around your natural waist: the narrowest part of your torso, usually a little above the belly button. That's often higher than where your trousers sit. Stand normally and don't hold your stomach in.

Waist matters most for tailored and shaped jackets, much less for a straight-cut rain jacket. For a longer coat, measure your hips at their widest point too.

5. Back length

Start at the same bone at the base of your neck and measure straight down your spine to where you'd like the jacket to end. A hip-length jacket and a thigh-length rain coat will give very different numbers, so note what you measured to.

6. Height

Stand in bare feet with your heels against a wall, lay a book flat on your head, mark the wall and measure. Height matters because jacket length and sleeve length are often graded by it, and some brands offer short, regular and long versions.

Quick reference

Save your numbers on your phone. When you're ordering online and a return means queuing at the post office, they're what saves you the trip.

Comparing your numbers with a size chart

1. Find the brand's own chart. Use the men's, women's or unisex chart that matches the jacket, and the chart for that product line if there's a specific one.
2. Check whether it lists body or garment measurements. A body chart ("to fit chest 96 to 101cm") is matched against your numbers directly. A garment chart gives the jacket's own dimensions, which should be bigger than your body to leave room to move and layer.
3. Start with chest. It usually decides the size. Then check shoulders and sleeve against the same size.
4. If you fall between sizes, think about what you'll wear underneath. If you'll often wear a fleece or thick jumper under it, the larger size usually makes more sense. Our guide to room for layering helps you decide. If you have broad shoulders, let the shoulders decide.
5. Read the fit description. A slim fit medium and a relaxed fit medium from the same brand can feel like different sizes.

The alternative: measure a jacket that already fits

If you own a jacket that fits well, its measurements are often more useful than your body's, especially against a garment chart. Use a jacket of the same type: your favourite fleece won't tell you much about a winter parka.

1. Lay it flat on a table or bed, zipped or buttoned, and smooth out the creases.
2. Pit to pit: measure straight across the front from one armpit seam to the other, just below the armholes. Double it for the full chest.
3. Shoulders: measure from one shoulder seam to the other across the back.
4. Sleeve: measure from the shoulder seam to the end of the cuff along the top of the sleeve. If the jacket has raglan sleeves (seams running diagonally to the collar), measure from the centre of the collar instead.
5. Back length: measure from the collar seam at the centre back down to the hem.

Compare these figures with the garment measurements in the brand's chart, allowing a little leeway either way. For the whole fitting process, see how to choose a jacket that fits properly.