When you're buying items, like adult costumes or kids costumes online, it's very important that you know how to correctly measure yourself so you can look at size charts and select the right sizes for you. Being able to measure yourself will allow you to easily buy clothes or costumes online, which can be the easiest way to purchase clothes. If you're losing weight, being able to measure yourself can also help you to track not only the kilos you've lost, but the centimetres you've lost, which may show more progress.
Tools You'll Need
To correctly measure yourself, you'll need the following tools:
- Measuring Tape
- Paper
- Pen or pencil
- Mirror
Measuring yourself can be a very frustrating experience, since it can be hard to use the measuring tape, but it's not impossible.
What to Measure
For different clothes, you'll need different measurements. For instance, to order a bra, a woman needs her underbust measurement, her bust measurement and her overbust measurement. For a shirt, a woman will probably need only her bust measurement, but a man will need his neck measurement and sleeve measurement. Both are needed to get the right size. Sometimes, you may have to go up a size to make sure that the whole thing fits you, instead of just part of it.
For pants, men need to know their waist measurement and their outseam. The outseam is the area from just above the hipbone to the ankle, so that you can get pants that are the correct length. For women, the waist measurement and the hip measurement are necessary to make sure the pants fit correctly, hugging your hips and butt instead of hanging loosely.
When measuring for a fancy dress costume, the costume size charts should tell you what measurements you need. Each will vary since adukt costumes for vampires, nurses or a cat will each have different measurements, as will kids costumes for a princess, a superhero or a goblin.
How to Measure
To make it easier to measure yourself, stand in front of a mirror, because then you can make sure that you're pulling the measuring tape taut and that it's straight. Also make sure the tape is parallel with the floor. Make sure that you're wearing comfortable clothes that fit you well.
Waist: Measure the smallest part of your waist. Put your finger between your body and the tape to get an accurate measurement.
Hips: Stand with your feet together and measure both around the hipbone and your butt, and use the larger number to be accurate.
Neck: Measure the collar of a shirt that fits you well.
Remember that to correctly measure yourself, you should be comfortable and the tape should be taut.
