How to Measure for a Suit: A Simple Guide for Singapore

What You Need Before You Start

Use a soft tailor's tape (a flexible tape, not a metal one), wear a thin shirt or just a fitted t-shirt, and stand relaxed with your feet together. If possible, ask someone to help, because it is almost impossible to measure your own back, shoulders and sleeves accurately.

The Five Key Measurements

Step by Step

1. 1.Stand tall and relaxed, and breathe normally.
2. 2.Measure your chest first. This is the most important number for your jacket size.
3. 3.Measure your waist and hips for the trousers.
4. 4.Measure sleeve length with your arm slightly bent.
5. 5.Write every number down in centimetres and keep it on your phone.

Turning Measurements Into a Size

Suit Archive's suits run on Asian sizing from 48 to 60, and most of our brands are slim fit. Every brand cuts a little differently through the shoulders, chest and waist, so a measurement that suits one brand may need a different size in another. Use your chest measurement as your main guide and size up if you are unsure, then confirm in the studio.

Common Measuring Mistakes

• -Pulling the tape too tight, which gives a number that is too small.
• -Measuring over a thick sweater or jacket.
• -Letting the tape sag at the back.
• -Sucking in your stomach when measuring your waist.
• -Forgetting that the shoulder seam is the one thing a tailor cannot easily change.

Measure in the Right Conditions

Your body changes through the day and with the weather, so the conditions you measure in matter more than most people expect. Measure in the morning or early afternoon, before a big meal, and not straight after a workout when your chest and arms are temporarily larger. In Singapore's humidity, avoid measuring right after a long walk in the sun, when a damp shirt can add a centimetre or two to the tape reading.

Stand in front of a mirror if you are measuring alone, keep your shoulders relaxed rather than pulled back, and look straight ahead. Many men unconsciously puff out their chest when a tape goes around them. Breathe out normally and measure at the end of a relaxed exhale, then take each number twice. If the two readings differ by more than a centimetre, measure a third time and use the one that appears twice.

What Each Measurement Actually Decides

It helps to know why you are measuring, because that tells you which number to trust when your measurements fall between two sizes.

How to Measure Your Shoulders and Back

Shoulder width is the measurement most people skip, and it is the one that causes the most fit problems. Ask a friend to hold the tape from the edge of one shoulder bone, across the top of your back, to the edge of the other. The tape should follow the curve of your back, not run in a straight line through the air.

If you cannot get help, there is a simple test you can do in a jacket you already own. Stand sideways to a mirror and look at where the shoulder seam sits. It should end exactly where your arm begins to turn downwards. If the seam hangs over the edge of your shoulder, the jacket is too big in the shoulders. If it sits inside the bone and the sleeve pulls, it is too small. Note this down, because it tells you whether to move up or down a size in a new jacket.

Measuring Sleeve Length Correctly

Sleeve length is easy to get wrong because the right number depends on your posture. Let your arm hang naturally at your side, then measure from the point of the shoulder, over the slight bend of the elbow, down to the wrist bone. A well-fitted jacket sleeve ends at the wrist bone, which leaves roughly one centimetre of shirt cuff visible. If you wear a watch, you may prefer to leave a touch more room.

A quick check with a shirt you own

If you own a shirt that fits you well, lay it flat and measure from the shoulder seam to the end of the cuff. Your jacket sleeve will be about one to two centimetres shorter than that number. It is not exact, but it gives you a sensible figure to compare against.

Measuring Your Trousers: Waist, Rise and Inseam

For trousers, the numbers that matter are waist, hips and inseam. Measure your waist where you actually wear your trousers, which for many men is slightly below the natural waist. Then measure the inseam on a pair of trousers that already fit you well, from the crotch seam down to where you want the hem to land.

• -Natural rise trousers sit at the narrowest part of your waist and suit most men with a standard build.
• -If you carry weight around the middle, measure the waist where the trousers will sit, not where a belt would ideally go.
• -For a clean line, the hem should just touch the top of your shoe with a slight break, not pool at the ankle.
• -Wear the shoes you will wear with the suit when you check length; a dress shoe and a sneaker change the break considerably.

Using Your Numbers at Suit Archive

Suit Archive carries Asian sizing from 48 to 60, and the jacket, waistcoat and trousers are sold as separate pieces as well as a $178 three-piece set. That matters for measuring, because your jacket size and trouser size do not have to match. If your chest says a 52 but your waist is closer to a 50, you can take a 52 blazer ($98) and a 50 pair of trousers ($48) and still end up in the same colour.

Send your chest, waist, hips, sleeve and inseam through the fit request tool before you visit, and we will pull a few sizes to try so you spend your appointment comparing fit rather than hunting for a size. Treat your numbers as a shortlist of two or three sizes, then let the mirror make the final call.

Mistakes That Lead to the Wrong Size

1. 1.Measuring over a thick shirt, a jacket or a belt, which inflates every number.
2. 2.Using a metal or stiff tape, which cannot follow the shape of your body.
3. 3.Reading the tape at an angle instead of straight on.
4. 4.Measuring once and trusting it, instead of repeating the measurement.
5. 5.Buying on chest size alone and ignoring the shoulders.
6. 6.Ignoring posture: standing stiffly makes the tape read differently from how you stand day to day.

When Your Weight Is Changing

If you are losing or gaining weight, or you are buying a few months before a wedding, remember that a suit is cut for the body you have on the day. Waist and chest are the numbers most likely to move. As a rule, buy for the body you will have at the event, leave a little room if you expect to gain, and use the separate trousers and waistcoat sizes to adjust. Because waistcoats are only $48, many customers simply swap a waistcoat size if their weight shifts.

Send Us Your Measurements

Not sure what your numbers mean? Use our fit request tool to send them to us, and we will suggest sizes to try before you visit. Suit Archive's studio is at 12 Lorong Bakar Batu #06-07, Singapore 348745, open Monday to Friday, 11am to 11pm, by appointment. Every complete 3-piece suit is $178. Book online or WhatsApp us at (65) 8979 1210.