When you were young, you chose your ultimate spider-man printed t-shirt and wore it everywhere proudly flaunting it.
But now?
You wouldn’t dare wear those prints unless they actually added some kind of flair to your style.
Similarly, you should stop choosing your shirts based on the S, M, L, XL, XXL, etc. You should start measuring your torso – your chest and waist.
You should want to look sharp and sill feel comfortable with the clothes you are wearing.
You do NOT want to choose shirts that fit too close to your skin which might highlight the protruding stomach or the muscles you have. You might think having to show off the muscles is a good thing – but sadly, no! You come across as a try-hard, and no one wants to be near a try-hard.
Similarly, you also do NO want to wear shirts bigger than you with the sleeve longer than your actual arm. So loose, that the top of the shirt that is supposed to stay at the neck region, drops down and exposes your cleavage. Sometimes, the shirt flows like a frock at the end of it.
Why would I want to Wrap the Tape Measure Around My Chest?
We, as men, can upgrade our looks by wearing well-fitted clothes, a good haircut, and a good beard trim.
We make sure our hair and beard look immaculate, but what about your garments?
Choose the S, M, L, XL, etc., from the rack like a child. Shameful!
Have an article of clothing that fits you well – preferably formal. Your formal attire should always look perfect no matter what.
To make it look perfect, you should measure your chest and waist, go to a tailor and get your garments stitched according to your liking.
Believe me, you will see the difference immediately!
How to Use a Tape to Measure Chest Size?
To get the perfect-fitting dress shirt or a jacket, you need to measure your neck, chest, shoulders, and waist. You can do this with or without a person.
Every man needs clothes that look the best and also fit the best.
Allow me to help you with the steps of measuring your chest –
Use a Fabric Tape Measure
Using a fabric tape measure is preferable so that you can easily wrap it around your chest, and possibly, not cause any skin irritation in the process.
If you don’t have one then use a string and then mark it with a pen. Then measure it out on your ruler.
Ask a Friend to Help You
Consider asking one of your friends to measure your chest for you. It’ll be better if someone else does it as they’ll make sure that the tape measure is aligned perfectly behind your back and is also parallel to the ground – to get the accurate measurement of your chest.
You can do it by yourself in front of a mirror, you just have to make sure that the tape is aligned perfectly with your back and chest, and also if it is parallel to the ground.
You might get easily annoyed by the continuous dropping of the tape, so it is better to get a mate of yours to do it.
That’s what your boys are here for! I’m sure they will help you out and make sure their boy looks dapper and handsome.
Remove the Piece of Clothing
You would want to get an accurate measurement of your chest – so remove the shirt/t-shirt you are wearing. You won’t get an accurate measurement if there is a piece of clothing between the tape measure and your body.
The extra clothes add extra inches on your chest and a shirt with that measurement will just end being loose for you.
Wrap the Tape Measure Around Your Chest
You need to make sure the tape measure you have goes around your chest correctly. It has to be tuck below your armpits and wrapping around the fuller part of your chest. usually above your nipples.
If you are doing it by yourself, then stand in front of the mirror and make sure the tape aligns itself with the number properly. Make sure the measuring tape isn’t twisted anywhere and see that it is at the same length all the way around.
You do NOT want to spend so much time struggling to measure your chest only to find out later that the tape was twisted, or not parallel to the ground.
We’ve all got much better things to do rather than waste time with a flailing tape.
Stand Normally
You need to stand normally. Please don’t puff out your chest or flex your muscles, for two main reasons. One, it hinders the measurement of your chest, and; two, no one cares how wham you are.
If you puff out your chest the whole point of getting your it measured will be for naught.
Similarly, don’t flex your muscles around that area.
Leave a Bit of Space
When you are measuring your chest, make sure there is a bit of a gap between your chest and the measuring tape. You are not taking the measurements to get in a scuba-suit, unless you are – for which we can say. why bother.
You need to have some sort of breathing space between your body and the clothes. You don’t want to have clothes stuck to your torso, because one food baby will launch buttons at your partner.
Therefore, when put the tape measure around your chest, make sure there is some room for growth/movement.
You want the size closest to your size, not the exact one. You need to give some room for breathing and to grow in.
Note Down Your Chest size/Measurement
After you know for sure that there is nothing wrong with the setup of the Tape, only then note it down.
Hold the end of the tape and the aligned measurement in front of your body to see the markings clearly.
Make sure you write it down properly, you do not want to have a misfitted dress shirt, jacket, coat, or suit.
Measuring the rest of the Upper Body
The chest isn’t the only part that defines our upper body – it is a major part, but not the only part. A dress shirt’s fit also depends on the size of the collar, the sleeve length, the shoulder, and the waist. When you see the sizes in the store it says numbers like 36R or 36L – this means that the shirt saying 36R is 36cm Regular.
Similarly, L is long – Regular(R) means anyone between the height of 5’7″ and 6′ and Long(L) means anything above 6 feet.
To know your chest size isn’t the only important measurement for your shirt. Therefore, let’s look at some other parts of our body to be measured –
Neck
Just like the chest measure your neck by wrapping the tape around your neck. Keep space between the tape and neck so that when the tailor stitches your shirt, he can allow the collar around your neck to have some space to breathe and move your neck around.
Sleeve Length
You also need to have the perfect length of your sleeves, you need the cuffs of your shirt to end properly at your wrists. Not before your wrists or after your wrists. Something that can make those cufflinks stand out. That’s why you need that perfect sleeve length to match your jacket.
Waist
We all know having that slim waist is very attractive – and I’m sure you possess one. But we need the shirt we wear to define our waist, to practically show off our hard work in abs. Therefore, we should also measure our waist to know our perfect size, for the perfect fit of not only the shirt but also our pants.
Shoulder
To measure your shoulder, take the tape from one shoulder to the other along the collar bone. This should give you the exact measurement of your shoulders.
Also Read: Marine Haircut: Cool Uniform Styles for Men
What to do After the Measurements?
Now that you have taken the measurements required – take ’em and print them inside your head. You will be needing those numbers every time there is an important occasion in your life.
Go to a tailor, choose the best cloth material – a material that would suit the occasion. Tell the tailor your measurements – and believe me, the tailor will be impressed! He will think that you take your clothing game seriously and maybe, just maybe add a bit of his flair to your shirt or your suit. Something of his jenesequa, if you may!
Here’s a fun fact for you! Even if you don’t know the numbers – the tailor will measure them out for you.
He will use his own tape measure to take your chest measurement. For some tailors, who feel at ease when they themselves have noted your chest size.
This is for the type of tailors who don’t trust your tape measure. As ridiculous as it sounds, it is true – because they are the masters of their game
Fitting –
The tailor will use your sizes and prepare a demo – a trial dress for you. That will enable him to correctly know what your fit is like. There are some cases the sizes that you have measured, where they might betray you. That’s why a tailor, who obviously knows better, will do a trial fitting to gauge your measurements and create the best dress for your body.
Now that you know all about what you need to about the measurement of your upper torso, you can now wear the shirts that will fit you properly helping you look suave. Wear clothes, dresses that the tailor has made for you and you will be looking nothing short of Chris Hemsworth from the Boss ad.
If done correctly – you will returning eyes and maybe, just maybe get lucky!
