Stand as tall as you naturally do — not stretching. Mark the wall at the top of your head and measure to the floor.

If you are measuring alone, a book flat on your head against the wall gives a clean mark.

It is used only to work out what your other measurements are likely to be, so that we can check them. It is never shown to anyone and never printed on anything.

Round to the nearest five pounds or two kilos if you prefer.

Bring the tape around the fullest point of the bust and let your arms fall. Breathe normally and read the tape on the out-breath.

A mirror behind you, or a hand run along the tape across your back, settles it.

Slide the tape up until it sits in the crease right under the bust, firm against your ribcage. Snug — this one is meant to be tight.

Most people have never measured this. It is the single most useful measurement you can give us, because it tells our cutter how the bodice needs to be shaped — something a bust measurement alone cannot.

Bend slowly to one side. The crease that forms is your natural waist, usually an inch above the navel. Measure there, with the tape snug but not pulled in.

Do not hold your stomach in. The garment has to fit you breathing.

Feet together, tape level all the way round, at the fullest point — usually seven to nine inches below the waist.

Feet together matters. Standing with your feet apart changes this measurement.

Every piece is cut with a certain amount of room in it. This tells us whether to hold you to that, or to lean closer to the body or further from it. It does not change your measurements.

If you are unsure, leave it as the piece is cut. That is how the pattern was drafted.

This is the one you were told NOT to use for the hip. Measure it here on its own.

It decides whether a skirt or trouser sits smoothly or rides up. Worth the thirty seconds.

Hold the tape at the natural waist and read where the fullest part of the hip is. Keep it vertical, following your side.

How far down the fullness sits is a separate question from how full it is, and both change where a seam should go.

Find the bony corner where your shoulder ends and your arm begins. Measure straight across your back from one to the other.

This is the measurement we cannot alter afterwards, so it is the one most worth asking someone to help with.

Reach back and find the crease where each arm meets your back. Measure straight across between them.

Easier with help. If you are alone, measure a jacket that fits you well across the same place.

Tip your head forward — the bone that stands out at the base of your neck is the nape. Run the tape down your spine to your natural waist.

This is what tells us whether a waist seam will sit at your waist or above it.

Let the arm hang. Measure around the widest point of the upper arm without tensing.

The commonest reason a fitted sleeve will not close, and no size chart asks for it.

Bend your elbow a little and rest your hand on your hip. Measure from the shoulder corner, over the elbow, to the wrist bone.

The bend is the point. Sleeves are cut for arms in use.

Far easier from a pair of trousers that already fit: lay them flat and measure the inside leg seam.

Tell us the shoe you will wear it with when you order, and we will hem to that.

Around the head, just above the ears and across the middle of the forehead — where the band of a hat would actually sit. Snug, not tight.

Hair down, as you would wear it. A tight bun changes this by half an inch.

Around the base of the neck, where a collar sits — not up under the jaw. Keep one finger between tape and skin.

Tip your chin down for a moment to find the bone at the back; the tape passes just below it.

Around the wrist bone with the hand relaxed. Close, but you should still be able to turn the tape.

Measure the hand you write with — it is usually the larger of the two.

Around the upper chest, above the bust and high under the arms, angled up a little at the back. It should feel firm — this is the ribcage, not the breast.

With the full bust, this is what separates a broad ribcage from a full bust — the commonest reason a bra size is wrong.

Straight across from one bust point to the other, wearing the bra you usually wear. The tape stays flat and level; do not follow the curve.

This decides where the cups go, not how large they are. It is worth being exact.

From the middle of your shoulder — halfway between neck and arm — straight down to the bust point. Stand as you normally stand.

Wear your usual bra for this one. It is measuring where the bust sits when supported.

Standing with your weight even on both feet, take the tape around one thigh at its fullest — high up, close under the seat, not halfway down. Keep it level.

The tape wants to run downhill at the back. Feel round with your other hand to check it has stayed level.

Sit on a firm chair. Take the tape from your natural waist at the front, down between your legs, and up to your natural waist at the back. Read it while you are seated.

Of the six this is the one most worth the trouble, and the one most worth asking someone to help with. If you would rather not, leave it and we will cut the rise from the block.

Tape around the fullest part of the knee with the leg straight and your weight on it. Snug, not tight.

This only changes anything on a tapered or fitted leg. On a straight trouser it makes no difference at all — skip it without a second thought.

Bare foot or a thin sock, tape around the narrowest part of the ankle just above the ankle bone.

Only matters where a hem closes — a cuff, a tab, a narrow leg.

Put on the trousers or the skirt you reach for most, and measure around the top of the waistband where it sits on you.

Most waistbands sit lower than the natural waist, often by two or three inches. Telling us both is what lets a trouser sit where you expect it to.

Take the tape over the top of the shoulder joint, down under the armpit, and back up. Snug against the body without pressing into the armpit.

Matters on a tailored coat or a set-in sleeve. On a tee, or anything with a drop shoulder, it makes no difference.