Dresses are often the highlight of a woman’s wardrobe. They can also be surprisingly deceptive.
Yes, deceptive! Because on paper, finding your dress size seems like a walk in the park.
In reality, you must stick to a few important rules when measuring a dress.
Wondering how to find your dress size? Read our guide on finding the ever-elusive right fit.
Measuring yourself for the perfect fit
The number one rule before you start is to wear fitted clothing or undergarments. Never measure your body for a dress naked, as this will affect the fit.
Almost as important:
Stand naturally! Don’t slouch or tense your body when measuring. A relaxed posture is a prerequisite to finding your proper dress size.
Measuring your bust
We recommend you stand in front of a mirror to make things easier.
Locate the fullest part of your bust. After that, place the measuring tape around your back and under your arms. Run it across the widest part of your chest, making sure the tape is straight and parallel to the floor.
Don’t overtighten! The tape should feel snug and comfy. You should be able to breathe normally without any adjustments.
Measuring your waist
Finding your natural waist is slightly tricky. Our tip is to bend to one side – this will reveal the natural crease of your waist.
Quite often this crease is the narrowest part of your torso, slightly above your belly button.
Once you’ve located your natural waistline, wrap the tape around it. Once again, keep the tape straight and parallel to the floor. You shouldn’t feel uncomfortable or constricted. Exhale and inhale (not too deep!) to test if the measurement isn’t too restrictive.
Measuring your hips
An absolute must-do here is to stand with your feet together. Don’t spread them as this will jeopardize the fit.
Locate the widest part of your hips and buttocks. It’s not set in stone, but in most cases, the point should lie in the middle between your crotch and belly button.
Place the tape around the fullest part of your hips, keeping it leveled. Much like your bust and waist, the hips should feel comfy and there should be no pressure on your body.
With this set of three measurements, you’re golden with finding the right dress size for you!
Determining your dress size:
How to measure a dress
Stop wondering how to find your dress size! We are here to help! Start with a small preparation phase.
That would involve laying the dress flat on an even surface – a table or the floor works best. Make sure the dress is not wrinkled and there are no folds in the fabric. Lastly, if your dress has buttons or a zipper, fasten them before measuring.
Having ticked off this short checklist, you’re ready for the real deal.
Measuring the bust of a dress
You should measure from one side seam to the other, straight across the fullest part of the bust. Basically, you’re calculating the distance from one armpit to the other. Keep the tape straight and always measure across the front.
To get the full chest measurement, double the number you get. Bear in mind fabric elasticity – even non-stretch materials have 0.4-0.8 inches (1-2 cm) of give.
With elastic dresses, we recommend noting down two bust measurements – one for the relaxed fit and one for the stretched fit. You can obtain the stretched fit dimensions by gently pulling the bust to its maximum capacity and measuring the stretched bust line from end to end.
In case the dress isn’t made of elastic fabric, the bust measurement should exceed a person’s chest size by at least 1.5-3 inches (4-8 cm). This is just an example, though, as the amount of ease can vary depending on both the stretch and design of the garment.
Measuring the waist of a dress
You need to identify the narrowest part of the dress. Usually, this lies around the natural waistline. With dresses that have a loose or a cocoon design, finding the waistline is slightly more complicated.
As a rule of thumb, measure approximately 15.7 inches (40 cm) down from the highest shoulder point. Usually, this is where the waistline is located. Measure from one side seam to the other here.
Similar to the bust, it’s good practice to take both relaxed fit and stretched fit measurements. Just pull on the waistline, stretching it end to end and noting down the dimensions.
To get the total waist size, double the measurements. Our tip is to make sure the dress’s waist measurement is 0.8-1.1 inches (2-3 cm) larger than a person’s actual waist size. This amount of ease will guarantee a comfortable fit.
For elastic fabrics, pay attention: The person’s waist circumference should be smaller than a stretched dress’s waistline circumference.
Measuring the hips of a dress
Your guiding point here is the widest part of the dress around the hip area. Typically, this is around 23.6 inches (60 cm) from the highest shoulder point. Place the measuring tape and measure from one side seam to the other straight across.
To get the total hip size, double the result. In general, a dress’s hip measurement has to be 0.8-1.1 inches (2-3 cm) larger than a person’s hip size. Once again, the ease varies depending on the dress design and the materials used. You must provide some ease, though, otherwise the dress won’t fit properly.
Rules about measuring both the stretched and relaxed fit apply here, too.
Stretch the dress’s hipline and measure from end to end. With elastic fabrics, the body hipline circumference has to be smaller than the dress’s stretched hipline dimensions.
Measuring the length of a dress
This one is the easiest!
Simply measure from the highest point of the shoulder (where the shoulder seams meet the neckline) and glide the tape to the hemline at the bottom of the dress.
It’s imperative to keep the tape straight. Resist the temptation of gliding it over the dress’s curves – only by measuring straight will you get an accurate length.
Struggling with dress sizes? Unsure how to find your dress size? SizeSense can be your own personal fit assistant
We hope that we answered your question about how to find your dress size Even when doing everything (seemingly) right, online shopping can be a hit-or-miss experience.
We’ll be honest:
Whether you’re a fashion brand or a customer, you’re not the one to blame. The system’s just a mess.
We created Size Sense to help both sides of the equation. Our size recommendation tool outshines existing solutions by matching a person’s individual body measurements to the dress measurements provided by the brand.
Size Sense goes further, though. It additionally takes into account factors such as fabric elasticity and garment design. Where other tools remain generic, Size Sense achieves product-specific sizing with an accuracy rate of 94%.
Sounds too good to be true?
Check Size Sense on the Shopify store app and test it out. We’re sure you’ll be convinced by its effectiveness in no time.
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