How to measure for a women’s leather jacket

Body or garment: choose one and say which

Body measurements are taken on you, over the kind of thin top you would normally wear. They describe your shape, and we add the room a jacket needs on top of them. Garment measurements are taken from a jacket laid flat on a table. They already include that room, because they describe a finished piece.

Both work, and both are welcome. The trouble starts when they are mixed: a garment chest next to a body waist describes nobody. Pick one method, write body or garment at the top of your list and keep every number to it. Our page on body and garment measurements explains the difference in more detail.

If you measure a jacket, use a leather or denim jacket or a structured blazer you enjoy wearing, not a knitted cardigan, which stretches while you measure it.

How to measure for a leather jacket, one number at a time

Use a soft tape, stand naturally and ask someone to help with the shoulders and the back. For a jacket you own, close the zip, lay it flat and smooth it out first.

• Shoulders: across the back, from the tip of one shoulder bone to the other. On a jacket, from one shoulder seam to the other across the back.
• Chest: around the fullest part of the bust, with the tape level under your arms and across your back. On a jacket, measure straight across from armpit to armpit, double it and say that you doubled it.
• Waist: around the narrowest part of your middle, usually a little above the belly button. On a jacket, straight across at the narrowest point, doubled.
• Hip: around the fullest part of your hips, only if the jacket will reach them. Skip it for a cropped jacket.
• Sleeve: from the shoulder tip down the outside of the arm, over a slightly bent elbow, to the wrist bone. On a jacket, from the shoulder seam to the end of the cuff.
• Body length: at the back, from the bone at the base of your neck straight down to where you want the hem. On a jacket, from the collar seam at the centre back to the hem.

Cropped or hip length: deciding where the hem sits

Body length changes the look of a jacket more than any other number, and it is the one people tend to guess. A cropped jacket finishes at the natural waist or just below it. It suits high-waisted trousers, skirts and dresses with a defined waist. A hip-length jacket reaches the top of the hip bone or a little lower and covers the waistband of most jeans.

To find your number, put on the trousers or dress you will wear most with the jacket, then measure from the base of your neck at the back to the point where you want the hem. Stand straight, then lift your arms: a short hem rises when you reach, so if you are in two minds, ask for a little more length and tell us why.

Our cropped leather jackets include a black biker with a buckled belt and a chestnut moto shaped to the waist with curved seams. Racers such as the princess seam racer sit at the hip. Any of the twelve in the leather jackets collection can be made cropped, hip length or longer.

Tell us what goes underneath

A jacket worn over a T-shirt and one worn over a chunky jumper need different amounts of room, especially across the chest and in the sleeves. You do not need to add that room yourself. Send your real measurements and a sentence such as: mostly over shirts and thin knits, sometimes a hoodie. We allow for it and show the result in your quote.

Say how close you like a jacket to feel, too. Some people want a biker that zips snugly over a thin top; others want space to layer in winter. Both are fine, as long as we know before the leather is cut.

Sending your measurements

We check every number with you before anything is cut. A leather jacket takes 2 weeks to make from approval and full payment, then it is shipped to you in the UK, Canada or anywhere else, with delivery and any import charges included in the written quote.

When your list is ready, ask for your quote and put everything in one request, in centimetres or inches but not both:

• Your list of numbers, marked body or garment
• Your height, which helps us check the sleeve and body length
• The design you like, or a photo of the jacket you want made
• What you will wear underneath and how close you like it
• Any change to the length, such as cropped instead of hip length