Blouse Measurements at Home: How to Take Every One

A blouse is the most fit-sensitive garment most women order. It sits close to the body, it is worn for hours, and a centimetre wrong at the shoulder or the armhole is felt all evening. Tailors usually ask for around eleven measurements, and most of them can be taken at home with a soft tape and a mirror. This guide explains each one in the words tailors actually use, so you can give accurate numbers, or check the ones you are given.

Three decisions to make before you measure

1. Wear the bra you will wear with the blouse. A padded or push-up bra changes the bust and the position of the fullest point. A bralette changes neither. Measure in the exact one, and tell your tailor which it is.
2. Settle the style. A plain fitted blouse, a princess-cut, a padded blouse with cups, a sleeveless one and a backless one each need slightly different numbers. Decide before you measure, not after.
3. Decide the neckline and the sleeve. Front and back neck depth, and the sleeve length you want (short, elbow, three-quarter or full), are choices, not measurements of your body.

The eleven blouse measurements

How to take them, in order

1. Stand straight in front of a mirror, in your bra and a thin fitted top, arms relaxed at your sides.
2. Take the upper chest, then the bust, then the underbust, keeping the tape level all the way round. Check in the mirror that it has not climbed at the back.
3. Take the shoulder, ideally with a helper. On your own, measure the shoulder seam on a blouse that fits you well.
4. Take the armhole and sleeve round, then the sleeve length you want.
5. Take the blouse length, then the front and back neck depths.
6. Take the dart point last. It is the hardest to get right alone, so ask for help.

Checks that catch a wrong number

Before you send numbers to a tailor, run these three sanity checks. They take a minute and catch most mistakes.

• The order must make sense. Bust should be at least as large as the upper chest, and the underbust should be clearly smaller than the bust. If it is not, re-measure.
• The armhole is larger than the sleeve round. The armhole goes through the armpit and around the joint, so it is always the bigger of the two.
• Measure twice. If two readings of the same measurement differ by more than a centimetre, take a third and use the middle one.

How the style of blouse changes the measuring

• Padded or cup blouse. Measure in the bra you will wear, and tell the tailor whether you want lined cups. The dart point matters most here.
• Princess-cut. The seams follow the curve of the bust, so the dart point and the bust need to be accurate to the centimetre.
• Sleeveless. The armhole is the critical number. Too large and it gapes, too small and it cuts in.
• Deep or backless necklines. Give the back neck depth carefully and ask about ties or stays, because there is less fabric holding the blouse in place.
• Heavy embroidery or zari. Ask for a trial fitting before the work is finished, because embroidered fabric is much harder to alter afterwards.

When to get measured in person

Take your own numbers to compare quotes and to brief a tailor. For a bridal blouse, a corset-style blouse or anything with structured cups, let the tailor measure you in person as well, and book a trial fitting. A tape cannot see how one shoulder sits lower than the other, or how your posture changes where the bust falls, and a good tailor will adjust for both. You can also start with our free measurement scan: choose the women's chart and it includes bust, underbust and armhole. It is an estimate, so use it as a starting point and have your tailor confirm the numbers.

For the rest of the body, see our guide to taking body measurements at home. If you are having a lehenga made, the skirt has its own measurements, covered in how to measure for a lehenga.