How to Get Suit Measurements From Clothes

The waist size of a suit pant is typically 6 inches less than the suit size.

Although sizes vary from suit to suit and each man's body is different, there are some guidelines that you can follow for determining suit measurements just by using the sizes of everyday clothes. While the ideal suit should always be measured to a man's exact specifications, in the case of an emergency, educated guesses can be made by determining waist and chest sizes as laid out in typical size charts that almost all manufacturers reference. So doing a little research work can make a purchase quick and easy with just a minimal amount of tailoring to be done.

Instructions

1. Determine your waist size. This is a good starting point to figure out what your suit size should be since the general rule of thumb is that the waist size of a suit pant is usually 6 inches less than the suit size. Therefore, if you have a 44 inch waist, you're probably going to need a size 38 suit. Suit pants will need some inseam tailoring but normally, whatever the waist size and pant length of your favorite jeans or loose-fitting pants happens to be, this will also be the size suit pants you will need.

2. Check your dress shirt size tag as this will help to more accurately measure your suit jacket size. Men with a 42 inch chest will need a 42 inch jacket. So refer to your dress shirt and find the tag that has neck and sleeve length sizes, usually found at the collar or at the bottom front of the shirt. You will find three numbers; the first one is the neck size and the other two are sleeve length. For example; 15 1/2-34/35 means the neck size is 15 1/2 inches and the sleeve length is 34 to 35 inches. So if the neck is 15 1/2 inches, most size charts determine that equals a chest size of 36-38 inches. Therefore, it's likely you'll need a 38 inch suit jacket.

3. Decide what type of suit jacket length is needed based on your height. Jacket suit sizes come in size designations that use a number followed by a letter; S for "short," R for "regular" and L for "long". Once a suit jacket size has been determined, the retailer has to know what length the jacket should be. Since the suit size has only been determined through chest size so far, sleeve length must also be accounted for or the suit jacket will still not fit properly. According to most typical size charts; men who are 5 foot 4 to 5 foot 6 inches tall are usually fit for "S" jackets. Five foot 7 to 5 foot 11 inches tall usually needs an "R" jacket and men 6 feet and over will need an "L." So if your chest size is a 38 and you are 5 foot 9 inches tall, you'll need a regular or a 38R suit jacket.

Tips & Warnings

• Shirts with size tags that read S, M, L and XL, can also help determine chest size for a jacket. Refer to a size chart and you will see that each letter size corresponds to a general chest size.

References

• Su!tupp: How to Measure Your Suit Size
• MyBarong: Size Chart - Men's Wear