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and the Silai scanner takes every measurement on this page in about two
minutes, free, for men and women.
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The measurements, and how to take them
Use a soft tape over thin clothing. Give body
measurements only; the tailor adds ease for the style you choose.
- Bust and chest: The same measurement with two names: around the fullest part of the chest, tape level front and back, arms down, normal breath. Women's charts say bust; men's charts say chest. It is the first column on almost every size chart and the number that decides a top, a blouse, a kurta or a jacket. A bust of 91 cm is 36 inches, which is why so many ready-made labels read 36.
- Underbust and band size: Around the ribcage directly under the bust, snug. On a bra label this is the band: 34 in a 34C. The gap between bust and underbust gives the cup (each 2.5 cm or 1 inch of difference is one cup letter). Fitted blouses and bodices are cut from both numbers, so a tailor asks for the pair.
- Waist: Around the natural waist: the narrowest part of the torso, usually a finger or two above the navel, where the body creases when you bend sideways. Size charts mean this waist. Jeans and trousers are a different story, see rise below: a mid-rise pair sits below the natural waist, so the jeans waist is a few centimetres bigger than the chart waist on the same person.
- Hips: Around the fullest part of the seat, feet together, tape level. The one number a tailor cannot change afterwards: a waist can be taken in, hips cannot be let out. When waist and hips point at two different sizes, buy the hips size.
- Inseam: The inside leg: from the crotch seam straight down to where the hem should end, measured on a pair of trousers that fits, or on the body from the top of the inner thigh to the ankle bone. It is the second number on a jeans label (the 30 in 32x30) and the difference between regular, short and long lengths. Your scan's hip-to-ankle length minus roughly 8 to 10 cm lands on the inseam of a full-length trouser.
- Outseam: The outside leg, from the waistband to the hem down the side seam. Shops list it for skirts, wide trousers and lehengas. Outseam equals inseam plus the rise.
- Rise: From the crotch seam up to the top of the waistband. Low rise is about 18 to 20 cm, mid rise 23 to 25 cm, high rise 27 cm and up. The rise decides where the waistband sits, which decides which waist measurement the label's number refers to: a high-rise 28 fits a 28-inch natural waist, a low-rise 28 fits hips that measure 28 inches a hand below it.
- 32x30 and W32 L30: Jeans and chinos: the first number is the waist size and the second the inseam, both in inches. W and L mean the same. The waist number is usually the garment's waist, which is cut 1 to 2 inches bigger than the body it is meant for, so a 32 often fits a 33 to 34 inch body waist. Check the brand's chart; lululemon, for instance, states the body waist each label fits.
- Chest 38, 40, 42 (men's shirts, kurtas, sherwanis): A body chest measurement in inches. A size 40 kurta is cut for a 40-inch chest with ease added on top, typically 4 to 6 inches on a kurta and 2 to 3 on a fitted sherwani. If a listing shows garment measurements instead, compare your chest plus the ease you like, not your chest alone.
- Collar size: Men's dress shirts: around the neck at the base, plus a finger of room, in inches or centimetres. 15.5 inches is 39 to 40 cm. It fixes the neck; the chest and sleeve are set by the fit (slim, regular, classic).
- Sleeve length: Two conventions. Tailors and most charts measure from the shoulder point to the wrist bone. Dress shirts measure from the centre of the back of the neck, over the shoulder, to the wrist, which adds about half the shoulder width. If a chart's sleeve looks 8 to 10 inches too long, it is the second kind.
- Shoulder width: Across the back from one shoulder point to the other, where a set-in sleeve would start. The number that makes a jacket or blouse look tailored or borrowed; it cannot be altered much, so charts that list it are worth reading.
- Thigh, knee, calf: Girths at the fullest part of the thigh, around the kneecap, and the widest part of the calf. Slim and skinny cuts list the thigh and the leg opening; churidar and fitted pajama charts list all three.
- S, M, L, XL (alpha sizes): Letters stand for a range of bust or chest, waist and hips that differs by brand. A women's M is roughly bust 91 to 96 cm at most mainstream brands and 96 cm at many Indian ethnic labels; a men's M is about a 97 to 102 cm chest. The letter is only useful next to that brand's own chart, which is what the fit finder reads.
- US 8, UK 12, EU 40 (numeric women's sizes): Three scales for one body. As a rule of thumb a UK size is the US size plus 4, and an EU size is the US size plus 32, so US 8, UK 12 and EU 40 all mean roughly bust 91 cm, waist 73 cm, hips 99 cm. Brands drift from the rule by a size, so treat it as a starting point and read the chart.
- Indian sizes 32 to 46 (blouses, kurtis, kurtas): The number is the bust or chest in inches, body measurement, not garment. A kurti marked 38 is for a 38-inch (96 cm) bust. Utsav Fashion and most ethnic wear sites size this way.
- Petite, regular, tall; short, regular, long: Length variants of the same size, not smaller or larger sizes. Petite is cut for women under about 160 cm, tall for over 170 cm, with shorter or longer torso, sleeve and inseam. Trouser lengths short, regular and long change the inseam by about 5 cm a step.
- Plus sizes: 1X, 2X, 14W: A separate pattern block cut for fuller figures, not just a bigger straight size: more room in the bust and hips relative to the shoulders. 1X usually overlaps 16 to 18, 2X 18 to 20. A W after a number (14W) marks the plus-cut version of that size.
- Garment measurements vs body measurements: Some charts (Uniqlo is one) list the finished garment laid flat: chest width across the front, doubled for the full girth. These already include ease, so compare them with a piece you own that fits, not with your body. Body charts, the kind the fit finder uses, list the body the size was cut for.
- Ease: The gap between the garment and the body that lets you move: about 5 cm on a fitted top, 10 cm or more on an oversized one, 1 to 2 cm on stretch leggings or none at all. When a chart lists body measurements the ease is the brand's business; when it lists garment measurements, you add it yourself.
- Runs small, runs large, true to size: Reviewer shorthand for how the garment compares with the chart. Runs small means buy a size up from what the chart says. True to size means the chart is honest. The scan plus the chart plus these notes is the whole decision.
Why the same body gets five different sizes
A size label is a shortcut for a range of body measurements, and every brand draws the ranges where it likes. A mainstream label aims its M at a 91 to 96 cm bust; an ethnic-wear label calls that a 36 to 38; a jeans maker ignores the bust and sizes the garment waist. None of them is wrong, they are measuring different things and labelling them differently.
The fix is to stop shopping by label and shop by measurement. Know your bust or chest, waist, hips and inseam, then read each brand's chart for those numbers. That is exactly what the fit finder does for the brands we track, and what a tailor does with a full sheet.
Mistakes that ruin the fit
- Reading a jeans waist number as your natural waist. Most jeans sit lower; measure where the waistband actually sits.
- Comparing your body to a garment-measurement chart without adding ease, then buying a size that cannot close.
- Assuming M is the same at two shops. It can differ by 5 cm of bust.
- Buying by waist when the hips say otherwise. Hips cannot be let out.
- Converting UK, US and EU sizes with the rule of thumb and stopping there instead of reading the brand's chart.
- Measuring over bulky clothes. A tape over a sweater adds 3 to 5 cm.
Or skip the tape entirely
Scan yourself with your phone camera on Silai: about 2 minutes, free,
no tape and no second person. You get every measurement on this page,
and you can see your own sheet right now, no account needed.
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How the scan works
Common questions
What does inseam mean?
The inside leg length, from the crotch seam to the hem. It sets how long trousers are; the 30 in a 32x30 label is a 30-inch inseam.
What is rise on jeans?
The distance from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband. Low rise sits on the hips, high rise sits at the natural waist, and the rise decides which waist measurement the size number refers to.
What does 32x30 mean?
Waist 32 inches by inseam 30 inches. The waist is normally the garment waist, cut about an inch or two larger than the body it fits.
What is the difference between bust and chest?
Nothing in how it is measured: around the fullest part of the chest. Women's charts call it bust, men's call it chest.
Is a UK 12 the same as a US 8?
Roughly. UK sizes run about four numbers higher than US sizes for the same body, and EU sizes about 32 higher, but brands vary by a size, so the chart beats the conversion.
What does size 38 mean on a kurta or kurti?
A 38-inch chest or bust, as a body measurement. The garment is cut larger than that to allow ease.
I do not have a tape measure. How do I get these numbers?
Scan yourself on Silai: prop the phone, turn around twice, and the sheet gives bust, waist, hips, inseam-related lengths and 17 more in about two minutes.