How to measure yourself for jeans (and how to use a size chart)

What you need

• A soft tape measure. A sewing tape is ideal. No tape? Use a piece of string or a phone charger cable, mark it with your fingers, then lay it along a ruler or a metal tape.
• A mirror, so you can check the tape is level around your back.
• Thin clothing. Measure over underwear or thin leggings, not over jeans or a sweater.
• Somewhere to write. Note every number, and the date. Bodies change, and so do brands.

Stand naturally with your feet together and breathe normally. Keep the tape snug and flat but not pulled tight. If it leaves a mark, it's too tight; if it slides down at the back, it's too loose.

Your body measurements

Waist

Wrap the tape around your natural waist. Many people are surprised that this number doesn't match the size they buy. That's normal: a jean size is a label, not a tape measurement, and every brand decides for itself how its numbers line up with real inches. Use the tape, not the label.

Hips

Stand with your feet together and wrap the tape around the fullest part of your seat, keeping it level all the way round. Check the back in a mirror; the tape tends to drop. Measure two or three times, a little higher and lower, and keep the biggest number. For curvy shapes, this is usually the measurement that decides your size.

Thigh

Measure around the fullest part of one thigh, usually just below the crotch. If you've had trouble with jeans pulling at the thighs while the waist is fine, this number helps you compare legs between brands.

Measure a pair of jeans you already love

This is the most useful trick in denim shopping. If a size chart lists garment measurements (the jeans themselves), you can compare it directly with a pair that already fits you.

1. Waist. Button the jeans and lay them flat, front up. Measure straight across the top of the waistband from edge to edge, then double it.
2. Hip. Measure straight across at the widest point of the seat, usually just below the bottom of the fly, and double it.
3. Front rise. Measure from the crotch seam up to the top of the front waistband.
4. Inseam. Fold one leg back and measure from the crotch seam down the inside leg seam to the hem.
5. Outseam (length). Measure down the outside of the leg from the top of the waistband to the hem.

Smooth the denim out with your hands but don't stretch it. Measure on a table, not on a bed, and write down which jeans and what size the numbers came from.

Body chart or garment chart?

Before you compare, check what kind of chart you're looking at. Brands use two very different kinds, and mixing them up is the most common reason a "correct" size doesn't fit.

With a garment chart, how much room you need depends on the fabric. Very stretchy denim is often made a little smaller than the body, because it stretches to fit. Denim with little or no stretch needs to be at least your size, and a touch more is comfortable when you sit. If the brand doesn't say, look for words like "stretch," "comfort stretch" or "rigid" in the fabric details, or ask them.

A worked example

Say your body measures 31" at the natural waist and 42" at the hips, and you're looking at a high-rise jean with a little give and a garment chart.

1. Find the hip first. Look for the first size whose hip measurement is at least 42". In our own chart, that's size 31, with a 42.9" hip.
2. Check the waist. Size 31 has a 33.1" waist, which clears your 31". You'll have about two inches of room at the waist.
3. Sense-check with a pair you own. If your favorite jeans measure about 32" at the waist and 43" at the hip flat and doubled, you're in the right place.
4. Check length. Compare the inseam with the inseam of pants you like, worn with the shoes you'll wear most.

The room at the waist in that example is normal for someone whose hips are about 11" fuller than their waist. It's the classic waist gap situation, and it's why a shaped back waistband matters. More on the waist gap here.

Common measuring mistakes

• Measuring over clothes. Even thin jeans add an inch or more.
• Holding your breath or sucking in. You'll be breathing while you wear them.
• A tilted tape. If it dips at the back, the hip number comes out bigger than it should; if it rides up, smaller.
• Measuring the hip too high. The hip bones aren't the fullest point for most people. Go lower, around the fullest part of the seat.
• Using the label instead of the tape. Your usual size is a starting point, not a measurement.
• Mixing inches and centimeters. One inch is 2.54 cm. Our size finder switches between the two for you.