Buzz
Accurately measuring your hip size is crucial for tailoring clothes or monitoring weight loss progress. To measure your hips, remove any outer clothing, stand with your feet together, and wrap a measuring tape snugly around the fullest part of your hips. Your hip measurement is where the end of the tape meets the remaining length.
Steps
Prepare to measure your hips accurately
Find a full-length mirror. While measuring your hips is easier than other body areas, a mirror ensures the measuring tape isn’t twisted or misaligned. Therefore, stand in front of a mirror while taking the measurement.
Remove your clothing. Outer garments like trousers or shirts should be taken off. You don’t need to remove your underwear to get an accurate measurement. Wearing jeans or any thick clothing can alter the actual measurement.
Stand with your feet together. Spreading your legs can result in a measurement larger than your actual hip size. Therefore, keep your feet together while measuring. At the very least, your feet shouldn’t be wider than your shoulders, but it’s best to keep them close.
Distinguish between your waist (vòng hai) and hips (vòng ba). Your natural waist is the narrowest part of your torso, while your hips are just below the waist and typically wider. The hip measurement includes both your hips and buttocks.
Find the widest point. Your hip measurement should be taken at the fullest part of your hips. This ensures the measurement accurately reflects your body shape, as the hips are the widest part of the lower body. To ensure clothing fits well, measure at the widest point.
Use a measuring tape
Hold the measuring tape on one side of your hip. This means keeping one end of the tape on one side of your hip. It doesn’t matter which side you start with. You can also place the tape’s end in the middle if it feels easier to measure. Just ensure the remaining tape wraps around to meet that end.
Wrap the tape around your back. Carefully loop the measuring tape around your back to ensure it doesn’t twist. Pull the tape to the other side of your hip, making sure it lies flat and even on both sides.
Check the mirror. Now that the tape is around your back, use the mirror to confirm it’s straight and aligned. The entire tape should run parallel to the floor without twisting. It should also look neat and even.
Tighten the tape. The measuring tape should fit snugly around your hips. However, avoid pulling it too tight to restrict blood flow. Just tighten it enough to allow a finger to slide underneath.
Read the measurement. Look down at the tape to read your measurement. Your hip size is where the end of the tape meets the remaining length after wrapping around your hips. Use the mirror to make reading the number easier.
Record your hip measurement. Now that you know your hip size, write it down for future reference. You’ll also need other measurements for tailoring clothes, such as chest, thigh, waist, and inseam length, depending on the garment you’re making.
Add ease to your measurements for clothing. When sewing clothes, you won’t use your exact body measurements, as this would make the garment too tight and restrict movement. Therefore, you must add ease to ensure comfort and flexibility.
Tips
- Some people find their upper hip area wider than their lower hips. In this case, measure both the fullest part of your upper hips and the fullest part of your buttocks. Clothing measurements should be slightly larger to ensure a proper fit.
