how to shop online, part 5: knowing your measurements

first, some amazing news i heard a few weeks ago: h&m will sell clothes online to u.s. residents starting in 2012! ahh! i live four hours from h&m right now, so i’m very excited to have more access to their great, affordable clothes! »»»»»»

a key component to successful online shopping is knowing your measurements. i love a good, detailed size chart. it’s the best way to tell if an item will fit you. this is different from reading reviews because most reviewers do not share their height and weight, what size they ordered, and how the item fits. and even if they did, they might not be the same size as you!

how to find your measurements:

  1. get measured by someone else. it doesn’t have to be a seamstress—with some instruction, my husband does just fine. go here to learn what and how to measure. if you don’t have a running tape measure, you can use a piece of string and then measure it with a ruler or yard stick. (isn’t my tape measure cute? i got it for Christmas a few years ago.)
  2. after you buy something (in store or online) that fits you great, measure it or check online for the size chart. for example, i found these amazing jeggings that are a perfect fit for me. i want to buy more pants like this, so i hopped online and found out that the inseam is 32.5”-33", the knee opening is 13.5” and the ankle opening is 10.75”. with this information, i can shop better in the future when i’m not able to try things on.

i suggest keeping a note of all your measurements somewhere. i know my bust and waist measurements by heart because i use them most often, but i keep the others in evernote (along with many other notes). so like a store, i have my own little chart with all my sizes.

this is the only way i’ve found to make sure i know what size i wear from store to store (especially if i don’t yet own anything from a particular store), and it helps me feel confident when ordering online. i also went into j.crew the other weekend just to try on tops to figure out what size i wear. now, when they have great sales online, i can pounce and know that the items will fit! check out the other installments in this series:

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