Men's Measurements Buying Guide

With the discounted prices and quality brand-name products, especially clothing, at Overstock.com, you don't want to miss out on the deals here. However, shopping for men's clothing online can be difficult when you don't know what size to wear; without the ability to try on clothing, you may hesitate to buy it online. Fortunately, this guide is here to help you find the men's clothing that will fit. You just need a measuring tape, paper and pencil. Once you're finished measuring, check out the Overstock.com Apparel Sizing Guides to find the correct sizes to look for when buying men's clothing online, especially men's designer clothes.

Men's Suit Measurements:

1. Jacket. Stand up straight and let your arms hang straight at your sides. Have someone measure the broadest part of your shoulders, over your arms, and keep the measuring tape parallel to the ground. This is the overarm measurement. For the chest, have someone measure the fullest part of your chest, over your shoulder blades and under your underarms, keeping the measuring tape parallel to the ground. Add an inch to the measurement if you'd like a looser-fitting jacket and be sure to take the men's shirts you'll be wearing into account, too.

2. Suit sizes include a number with a letter or word, such as 40L or 40 Long. The number is your chest measurement or your over-arm measurement minus 7 inches. If these two numbers are about the same, use your chest measurement as your men's suit size. However, if the measurement over your arms (minus 7 inches) is larger than your chest, use your over-arm measurement as your men's suit size. The letter or word given in the size refers to your overall height. Thus, the sizes are as follows: Short: 5'5" - 5'7", Regular: 5'8" to 5'10", Long: 5'11" to 6'2".

3. Pants. To determine your waist measurement, bend over to one side to find the spot where your waist naturally creases. Measure this spot; it should be right under your navel. Keep the measuring tape parallel to the floor and snug against your skin, but don't pull it tight.

4. Drop. Suits have what is called a "drop," which is the difference between the number given in the size and your pant size. American suits typically have a 6-inch drop. For example, an American suit in size 38R would have pants that are size 32. European suits typically have a 7-inch drop, so, you will need to subtract 7 from the over-arm measurement to see what the pant size is. Most men's dress pants can be let out 1 inch and taken in up to 2 inches, so your body doesn't need to have the same measurements as the suit; however, you'll want to choose one that is as close as possible. Men's designer clothes may also have a snug, tailored fit.

5. Break. Pants, especially suit pants, are usually sold in one length, so you can have a tailor hem them to the right length. When they do this, tailors put in a "break." The break refers to how the bottom edge of your pants hits the top of your shoes. When you have men's dress pants hemmed, you can also decide if you want a cuff or not. In general, pleated-front pants can be worn with or without cuffs, while flat-front pants should not have cuffs.

6. Full break: The pants are hemmed to reach down to the top of the shoes' heels, with the front of the hem "breaking" naturally over the shoes. This look is considered very fashionable.

7. Half break: The pants are hemmed to reach about halfway down the back of the shoes. This look is considered classic.

8. No break: If pants have the "no-break" style, the hems end just above the shoes, leaving a bit of sock showing. This look is casual.

Men's Dress Shirt Measurements:



9. Neck and arm. Measure around your neck just below your Adam's apple. Add a half-inch to the measurement for comfort. Have someone measure one of your arms, with it hanging straight at your side. Measure from the center back of your neck, over the top of your shoulder and down to your wrist. For comfortable men's shirts, be sure that the armholes and arms don't fit too snugly.

10. Men's dress shirts will have one of two types of sizes: measurements or U.S. standard clothing sizes. Measurements will give the neck measurement and the arm measurement. US standard clothing sizes, such as small, medium and large, will correspond to those same measurements. The chest size and the length of the shirt will vary by brand, but you can have your men's dress shirts tailored to fit as long as the neck and arms already fit you well.

Men's Casual Clothing Measurements:


11. Casual pants. Casual men's clothing uses the same measurements as dress clothing, with more use of U.S. standard clothing sizes. After you've taken your measurements, find the corresponding standard size, such as small, medium or large. Your clothing should fit well. Casual men's pants usually are measured by waist and inseam, and they are already hemmed when you purchase them.

12. To find the inseam, stand up straight with your legs about 6 inches apart. Have your partner measure the inside of one leg from the crotch to the bottom of your ankle. In this case, measuring a pair of men's pants that fit you well can be fairly accurate, too.

Men's Casual Accessory Measurements:


13. Belts. Belts are meant to fit on your true waist, so you can use the same waist measurement as your pants, by bending to the side, finding the natural crease and measuring there. You'll want these men's accessories to give you a bit of room, however, to accommodate different pairs of pants and weight loss or gain.

14. Gloves. Measure the circumference of your dominant hand over your knuckles. Then measure from the tip of your middle finger to the base of your hand. Use the larger of these two measurements for your glove size. The size will either be in inches or in U.S. standard clothing sizes. Here's how they correspond:

15. Small: 7 inches

16. Medium: 7-9 inches

17. Large: 8-9 inches

18. Extra Large: 9-10 inches

19. Extra extra large: 10-11 inches

20. Hats. Measure the widest part of your head, about an inch above your eyebrows. Hats are often sold in standard sizes (small, medium, large), but you may also see some of these men's accessories are sold with numerical sizes. These are sometimes called 1/8 sizes because they are written as fractions.





Inches	1/8 Size	Standard Size
21 1/4	6 3/4	Small
21 5/8	6 7/8	Small
22	7	Medium
22 3/8	7 1/8	Medium
22 3/4	7 1/4	Large
23 1/8	7 3/8	Large
23 1/2	7 1/2	X-Large
23 7/8	7 5/8	X-Large
24 1/4	7 3/4	XX-Large
24 5/8	7 7/8	XX-Large
25	8	XX-Large