How to Measure a Skirt?

This guide shows you everything you need to know about measuring a skirt. Before we start with the measuring, lay down the garment on a flat hard surface and smooth out any wrinkles.
Written by
Alize Mendez
Published on
June 25, 2024

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First Things First

Before we start with the measuring, lay down the garment on a flat hard surface and smooth out any wrinkles.

picture of a skirt laying flat

Steps to Measure a Skirt:

  1. Waist: Measure along the waist, make sure its laying flat on the ground when taking this measurement.
  2. Hip: This is the widest part of the hip, Measurement is taken approximately 7–9 inches (ca. 15-23 cm) below the natural waistline. The measurement is taken from side to side directly at the hip line
  3. Length: The length measurement is obtained from the top of the waist line to the bottom of the hemline.
  4. Hem: This is length of the flare of your skirt. Flare is the bottom wide length of your dress.
  5. DONE
Pro Tip: If you are selling clothing online, sign up for the free size chart creator.

Tips for Taking Measurements:

  • Take all measurements lying flat. Do this on a clean floor or table. Hanging clothes can stretch as you measure and if you have them on a dress model of a different size this can skew your measurement.
  • Use a flexible tape measure at least 36″ long. Don’t try to take clothes measurements with standard 12″ ruler you’ll end up with an inaccurate measurement. If you have no tape measurement handy and this is somewhat of an emergency, you can always download a printable measuring online.
  • Measure twice! If you don’t get the same measurement both times try again.
  • Record measurement to the nearest ¼ inch. Anything more specific is irrelevant but remember lying flat measurements are generally doubled (e.g. lying flat waist of 12.5″ can be understood as a 25″ waist) so a ¼ inch could make a difference.
  • Take measurements when you’re taking photos. Trying to measure as your listing at your desk ends up taking a lot more time and energy moving back and forth between tasks.

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