Inseam or outseam: which trouser length to send

Why one cannot be turned into the other

The difference between the two is the rise, the depth from the waistband to the crotch. On women’s trousers worn at the natural waist it is often 9 to 12 inches (23 to 30 cm), and less on a pair that sits low on the hip. It changes with your build and with where you like your waistband.

So two people with the same 30 inch inside leg can need outseams several inches apart, and the same person needs a longer outseam for high-waisted trousers than for low ones. Adding a guessed rise to an inseam is how hems end up at the wrong height. Our guide to rise, waist and length explains how to measure the rise properly.

How to measure each one

Use the same unit throughout, and note whether each number came from your body or from a garment.

• Outseam on your body: tie a ribbon where your waistband will sit. In the shoes you will wear, measure from the ribbon down the side of your leg, over the hip, to where the hem should end.
• Outseam from a pair you like: lay them flat and measure the side seam from the top edge of the waistband to the hem.
• Inseam on your body: stand against a wall, hold a hardback book between your legs with its spine upwards and level, and measure from the spine to where the hem should end. A helper makes this far easier.
• Inseam from a pair you like: lay them flat with one leg folded back, and measure the inner seam from the crotch join to the hem.

Which styles need which

• [Shalwar](/styles/trousers/shalwar): outseam only. The crotch is cut low and roomy, so an inside leg figure tells the cutter very little.
• [Straight trousers](/styles/trousers/straight-trousers) and cigarette pants: outseam, plus the rise or the inseam so the crotch sits at the right height.
• Churidar: your true leg length to the ankle bone. The extra length that gathers at the ankle is added in the cutting.
• Palazzo and wide-leg: outseam in the shoes you will wear, because the hem sits close to the floor.
• Sharara and gharara: outseam, and for a gharara the length from waist to knee as well.

What to send with your order

Put the outseam in the trouser length box on the quote form and say where on your body the waistband sits: natural waist, just below the navel or on the hip. If you are ordering fitted trousers, add the inseam or the rise in the notes with a label. The trouser measurements page lists the other figures, and measuring clothes that fit you shows how to read a pair laid flat.

If the only number you know is the inside leg printed in your jeans, send it, but add the outseam of the same pair measured from waistband to hem. With both, the rise is known and nothing has to be guessed. Custom stitching explains how the measurements are confirmed in writing before cutting.