Hello everyone! 

Measuring our body parts is quite an important topic as knowing your bust, hips and waist measurements to name a few can be key to having garments tailor made, but also as the ever growing trend of online shopping continues, it allows us to determine our sizes on size charts that now show when shopping online. In regards to online shopping, knowing your body measurements will enable you to pick the correct size when choosing a garment and ensure a perfect size and fit as we all know different brands and shops carry different sizes! 

  

For some of us it may be a daunting task as you may not know what parts of the body to measure, like where your waist begins and how to correctly measure the bust. Or it may just be the case that you may feel a little bit embarresed to get your bits and bobs out! 

For me, I remember the exact day that we were learning about this topic in college, as for the annual fashion show we needed to know how to properly measure models and know their exact sizes for when the stylists were pulling the clothes. So along comes our lecturer with a lovely basket of tape measures, and of course I nearly fell off of my chair! We had to measure each other, and this was something that I really did not want to do as at that time I was very self concious about my body. Of course I pretended to complete this task which left me not knowing how to correctly measure the body or knowing my own body measurements. Learning form my mistakes, I stayed back and learned every single measurement and so, I am going to talk to you all about it today, so you will be able to complete your measurements.

Measuring 

So firstly, you need to compose a good posture when taking your body measurements, standing in an upright position and not slouched over is the key to getting an accurate measurement. During this post I will talk to you about the eight main areas when measuring the body. This includes: 

• Bust
• Waist
• Hips
• Arm length 
• Upper arm
• Shoulder width
• Inner leg
• Inner thigh

For this task you will need: 

• A tape measure
• A pencil/pen
• Paper
• The assistance of a friend

Have your tape measure at the ready, and start measuring!!✏️ 

  

The bust – 

Taking your tape measure, wrap it around your back, across your shoulder blades and to the fullest part of your bust. Keep the tape straight, and place your thumb or a free finger underneath the tape to ensure that the measurements are correct and the tape is not too tight. The end of your tape measure should meet with a number on the longer part of the tape, this will give you your bust measurement. 

Measuring under the bust – place the tape measure around the chest area, directly below your bust (where your bra would sit) and record the measurement in the exact same way. 

The waist – 

A lot of people can get confused about where the waist actually is and where it is located. Your natural waistline is located at the smaller part of your torso, between your lowest rib and the top of your hip bone. Taking the tape measure, place it around the waist keeping your thumb or a free finger underneath to ensure an accurate measurement. 

The hips – 

Your hips are located around 7-9 inches below your natural waist line. Take the  tape measure and place it around the fullest part of the hips and top of the buttocks. Measure in the same way ensuring you keep a little space with your finger to get accurate results. 

Arm length – 

Ask a friend for a little assistance for this one! Stand with your arm at a 90 degree angle and place the tape measure from the top of your shoulder, down to the elbow and on to the wrist. Keeping your arm at this angle will ensure an accurate measurement as the measuring process should not be broken while measuring the arms length.

Upper arm – 

Asking a friend for assistance, extend the arm outwards, place the tape measure at the thickest part of your arm (usually the top) ensuring you keep a finger tip distance between the skin and tape.

The shoulders width  – 

With a little help, place the tape measure from the outer left shoulder and stretch it across to the right shoulder. Keep your posture straight for this one, but relax your shoulder blades. 

The inner leg – 

This measurement is usually used as a guide to determine the correct fit for trousers.

Note – When measuring the inner leg, take account if you may be wearing a high shoe or heel as this will alter the measurements. 

Asking a friend for help, stand up straight with legs slightly apart and measure from your ankle to the bottom of the crotch area to get an accurate measurement. 

The inner thigh – 

Standing up straight with your legs slightly apart, take the tape measure and like the upper arm, place it around the thickest part of your leg. Keep your thumb or a free finger underneath to ensure the tape is not to tight against the skin. 

I hope you have all enjoyed this post on how to measure your body correctly. 

Stay fabulous and enjoy measuring all! 

The Style Shaper x