How to measure your body: 28 measurements to ISO 8559-1
The tape runs horizontally and lies snug without cutting in; measure over underwear or thin clothing, standing straight with your arms down, breathing normally. Below are all twenty-eight measurements that picking a size can call for: where exactly the tape goes, which of them you cannot take on your own, and which ISO 8559-1 clause defines each one.
Five rules that ruin a measurement most often
- The tape is horizontal. A measurement taken on a slant always comes out larger than the real one. Check it in a mirror from behind, not by feel: at the front the tape lies flat almost every time.
- Snug, not tightened. A finger should slide under the tape freely. A tightened tape gives a size that will not add up in the store.
- Breathe normally. A pulled-in stomach and a lungful of air each shift the waist and the bust by several centimeters.
- Thin clothing. A sweater adds 3–5 cm to the bust, and jeans lift the waist up to a waistband that has nothing to do with the waist.
- Not a working pose. Stand relaxed, weight on both feet, arms along your sides — but do not let the tape get pinned under your arm.
How far off a measurement taken alone is
Noticeably, and in a known direction. Yoon and Radwin (Human Factors 36(3), 1994, 103 participants) measured the error of self-measurement across nineteen dimensions: a spread from −4.54 to +6.15 cm, with hips systematically UNDERSTATED by about 4.5 cm. The same measurement taken by another person was more reliable in every case.
The worst ones to take alone are the ones where the tape follows a surface instead of closing into a loop: shoulder length, sleeve length, back neck to waist. They are flagged below — not as forbidden, but as the ones where it is worth asking for help if the size matters.
Torso
Height Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.1.1
Stand barefoot with your back to the wall, heels together, looking straight ahead. Mark the top of your head on the wall and measure from the floor to the mark.
Measure:
Weight ISO 8559-1 §5.6.1
Weigh yourself in the morning before eating, without shoes or outerwear.
Bust circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.4
Wrap the tape around your bust at its fullest point, holding it horizontal and parallel to the floor at the back. The tape should lie flat without pressing in.
Men’s phrasing: Chest circumference
Measure:
Chest circumference under the arms ISO 8559-1 §5.3.6
Wrap the tape around your ribcage right below your armpits, horizontal. This isn’t the same as the circumference at the fullest point — you need both, for different garments.
Measure:
Underbust circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.8
Wrap the tape horizontally right under your bust, along the underbust crease.
Measure:
Waist circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.10
Find your natural waist — the narrowest point between your ribs and hips. If it’s not obvious, bend to the side: a crease will form at your waistline. Don’t hold your stomach in.
Measure:
Hip circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.13
Wrap the tape around your hips at their fullest point, holding it horizontal — check in a mirror from behind. This is the measurement people shortchange most often: the tape needs to sit at the fullest part, not above it.
Measure:
Shoulder length Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.4.1
From the base of your neck to the bone at the tip of your shoulder. This is the length of ONE shoulder, not the distance between them — that’s called “shoulder width.” It’s nearly impossible to measure accurately on yourself — ask someone to help.
Shoulder width Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.4.2
Across your back from one shoulder point to the other — where a shirt’s shoulder seam sits. You’ll need someone to help. This measurement doesn’t affect the size you’re matched to: size charts don’t publish shoulder width. But it’s exactly why a garment in the right size can still not fit in the shoulders.
Back length to waist Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.4.5
From the prominent vertebra at the base of your neck, straight down your spine to your waistline. You’ll need someone to help.
Front length to waist Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.4.8
From the base of your neck at the front, over your chest, down to your waistline. You’ll need someone to help.
Neck
Neck circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.2
Wrap the tape around the base of your neck, where a collar normally sits. A finger should slide freely between the tape and your neck.
Arms
Armhole circumference Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.3.15
Around your shoulder joint: over the top of your shoulder and through your armpit. Let your arm hang down. You’ll need someone to help.
Upper arm circumference (bicep) ISO 8559-1 §5.3.16
Around the fullest part of your upper arm, with your arm relaxed at your side.
Wrist circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.19
Around your wrist, over the wrist bone, where a cuff would fasten.
Sleeve length Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.7.8
From the outer tip of your shoulder, down the outside of a slightly bent arm, to your wrist. You can leave this blank — the value will be calculated.
Legs
Thigh circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.20
Around the fullest part of one thigh, right at the top near your groin. This is the circumference of one leg, not your pelvis — that’s called “hip circumference.”
Knee circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.22
Around your knee, centered on the kneecap, with your leg straight.
Calf circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.24
Around the fullest part of your calf, with your weight even on both legs.
Ankle circumference ISO 8559-1 §5.3.26
At the narrowest point above your ankle bone.
Total crotch length Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.4.18
From your waistline at the front, between your legs, to your waistline at the back. You’ll need someone to help.
Body rise ISO 8559-1 §5.7.4
Sit up straight on a hard surface: the distance from your waistline at the side down to the seat. You can leave this blank — the value will be calculated.
Inseam length Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.7.6
From your groin down the inside of your leg to the floor, standing barefoot. You can leave this blank — the value will be calculated.
Outseam length Needs a helper ISO 8559-1 §5.4.22
From your waistline at the side, down the outside of your leg to the floor, standing barefoot.
Feet
Foot length ISO 8559-1 §5.5.5
Stand on a sheet of paper with your weight on the foot you’re measuring, and trace around it. Measure from the heel to the longest toe — that’s not always the big toe. Measure in the evening: feet swell over the course of the day.
Measure:
Foot width ISO 8559-1 §5.5.6
On the same tracing — at the widest point, across the heads of the metatarsal bones.
Measure:
Foot circumference at the ball ISO 8559-1 §5.5.7
Wrap the tape around your foot at its widest point, standing. This measurement determines shoe width that foot width alone doesn’t capture.
Arch length Needs a helper
From the heel to the head of the first metatarsal — the bump at the base of your big toe. If this measurement gives a bigger size than foot length does, the size is set by this one instead. It’s not in ISO 8559-1 — it comes from measurement practice with the Brannock Device.
Which measurements are needed for what
Clothing needs three measurements — bust, waist and hips; tops fit on the bust, bottoms on the waist and hips, and a dress is read from all three at once. Clothing size charts are built on exactly those.
Lingerie needs two and only two: the underbust and the bust — how the two make 75B. Footwear needs foot length, and for width the ball girth as well: shoe sizes and width. A ring needs no tape at all — the inside diameter of a ring you already wear is enough: ring sizes.
The rest — lengths, neck, arm, leg — come up in tailoring, and when picking a size at the stores that print their own chart against them: brand size charts.
That is why the row of garments sits under only six of the measurements above, the six that actually decide a size, and not under every one. Empty under the rest is an answer, not an omission: there would be nothing to press.
Where this wording comes from
The list of dimensions and their numbering come from ISO 8559-1:2017, the international standard for body measurements. One of the twenty-eight has no clause number: it is not in the standard and was added for footwear.
The wording itself, though, is NOT copied from the standard, and we say so plainly. The text of the procedures in ISO 8559-1 sits behind a paywall, copying it is not allowed, and we did not copy it: the descriptions above follow converging tailoring practice — what independent guides agree on among themselves. What was checked against the standard is the dimensions and their numbering, not the words.
The numbers on self-measurement error come from Yoon & Radwin, Human Factors 36(3), 1994. That paper is also the reason the «needs a helper» flag lives in the measurement catalogue rather than being invented for this page: the app shows it over the same fields.