How to measure yourself for clothes without sight
Every size chart is written in numbers about your body, so a few measurements turn a guess into an answer. Most of them you can take alone. Two are easier with a second pair of hands, and there is a way around that at the end.
What to measure with
A soft tailor's tape is best. If you do not have one, a ribbon or a length of string works: wrap it, pinch where it meets, then lay it along a ruler or a stick tape afterwards. Talking tape measures exist and read the number aloud; so do scales that speak or send the number to your phone. A braille or large-print tape marked every inch is easier to read by feel than a smooth one.
Keep the tape level, and snug
Level is where most measurements go wrong. Run a finger along the tape at your back and feel whether it sits at the same height as the front. Snug means you can slide two fingers under it. Pulling it tight takes an inch off and sends you a size too small. Breathe normally; do not hold your breath or suck in.
Height
Shoes off, back against a wall, heels touching it. Lay a book flat on your head, level, and press it against the wall. Step away, keep the book still, and feel for its lower edge. Measure from the floor up to that edge. A height from a recent doctor's visit is just as good.
Chest
Pass the tape around the fullest part of your chest, under your arms and across your shoulder blades. Check the back with a finger, keep it snug, and read where the tape meets.
Waist
Bend to one side. The crease that forms is your natural waist, usually just above the navel. Wrap the tape there, level and snug. This is not where your jeans sit; jeans usually sit lower, which is why a jeans size and a chart waist can differ by inches.
Hips
Feet together. Wrap the tape around the fullest part of your seat, usually about eight inches below the waist. Feet together matters: standing with your feet apart adds an inch or two.
Foot length
Stand on a sheet of paper with your heel against a wall. Mark the paper at your longest toe, which is not always the big toe, then measure from the wall edge of the paper to that mark. Do both feet and use the longer one. Measure at the end of the day, when feet are at their largest. If this is a nuisance, the shoe size you usually buy is a fine substitute.
Head
For hats. Pass the tape around your head just above the ears and eyebrows, where a hat would sit. Snug, not tight.
When a step needs another pair of hands
The back of the chest and the level of the hips are the two that are genuinely hard alone. Two ways around it: mark a ribbon and measure it afterwards on a table, where both hands are free; or ask someone. In Dress Aloud you can press Ask a friend to help me measure and send one private link. Your friend fills in the numbers and they land in your boxes. No photo is involved, and the link expires.
What the numbers are for
Dress Aloud keeps them on your own device, then compares them with the store's own size chart on the page you are shopping, and tells you which size to pick and why. If the store gave no chart, it tells you that too, rather than guessing. Nothing about your body is stored on our server.