How to measure sleeve length for shirts and jackets

Which sleeve measurement you need

A dress shirt size such as 15.5 34/35 includes a sleeve length taken from the center back of the neck to the wrist, so it covers half the width of your back as well as your arm. Shirt makers use it because the shoulder seam on a shirt sits in slightly different places from brand to brand, and starting at the spine gives one number that works regardless. Most adult men land somewhere between about 32 and 37 inches (81 to 94 cm).

Jackets, suits, coats, and most women's blouses, sweaters and dresses measure from the shoulder point, the bony tip at the outer edge of the shoulder where a set in sleeve seam sits, down to the wrist. That number is much shorter, often in the low to mid 20s in inches for men. The two are related by simple geometry: center back sleeve length is roughly shoulder to wrist plus half your shoulder width. If a chart only says sleeve, look at the diagram or the starting point written beside it before you compare it with your own number.

How to measure sleeve length for a shirt

Use a soft sewing tape, wear a thin T shirt or nothing on top, and ask someone to help if you can, because reaching round to the back of your own neck skews the reading. If you have no tape, a piece of string marked with a pen and then laid along a ruler works.

1. 01

   Stand naturally

   Let your arms hang at your sides with a very slight bend at the elbow. Makers disagree a little here: some measure with the arm straight down, others with a slight bend or with the hand on the hip. A slight bend adds a little length so the cuff does not ride up when you move, so use it unless the chart you are ordering from says otherwise.

2. 02

   Find the center back of the neck

   Your helper places the end of the tape on the bony bump at the base of your neck, in line with your spine, where a shirt collar seam would sit. Starting on the collar instead of at the spine makes the result too short.

3. 03

   Go over the shoulder, not behind it

   Run the tape across the top of the shoulder to the shoulder point. Keep it on top of the shoulder rather than angled down across the shoulder blade, which adds length that is not there.

4. 04

   Follow the outside of the arm to the wrist bone

   Continue down the outside of the arm, over the elbow, to the prominent wrist bone on the little finger side. Stop there rather than continuing onto the hand. Read the tape and round to the nearest half inch; if you land between sizes, choose the longer one, since a slightly long cuff can be held by the wrist while a short one cannot be fixed.

How to measure sleeve length from the shoulder for jackets and blouses

For a suit jacket, blazer, coat or most women's tops, place the tape on the shoulder point, the outer tip of the shoulder bone that you can feel when you lift your arm slightly. Run it down the outside of a relaxed, slightly bent arm, over the elbow, to the wrist bone. That is your sleeve length for charts that use this method. A jacket sleeve is usually cut to end a touch shorter than the shirt sleeve, so that about a quarter to half an inch (roughly 1 cm) of shirt cuff shows below it.

Sleeve length measurement for women follows the same shoulder method on most charts, and many women's size guides list arm length or sleeve length under that name. Because women's tops are made in more shapes, the style changes what the number means: a dropped shoulder sleeve starts well below the shoulder point, a raglan sleeve starts at the neckline, and a three quarter sleeve is meant to end above the wrist. Our guide to types of sleeves explains those shapes, and for knitwear and loose tops the listed sleeve length is often less reliable than measuring a similar piece you already own.

How to measure sleeve length yourself

The shoulder method is easy alone: hold the end of the tape on your shoulder point with the opposite hand, let the tape fall down your arm and read it at the wrist bone in a mirror. The center back method is harder, because you cannot see or easily reach the starting point. Tape the end of the measuring tape to the back of your neck with a piece of masking tape, or measure shoulder point to wrist and add half of your shoulder width, which you can measure across your back from one shoulder point to the other.

The more reliable solo method is to skip your body and measure a garment whose sleeves you already like, which is also what many makers recommend. It captures your preferences, not just your bones. Measure both arms if you are having something made, since arms often differ slightly, and use the longer one for ready to wear.

How to measure the sleeve of a shirt you own

Pick a shirt or jacket that fits you well in the sleeves and lay it flat on a table, buttoned, with the sleeve smoothed out along its length and no wrinkles in the fabric.

5. 05

   For shirts, start at the center back

   Turn the shirt face down. Find the center of the collar seam at the back and measure along the yoke to the shoulder seam, then straight down the sleeve to the end of the cuff. Add the two parts if the tape cannot bend easily. This matches the number on a dress shirt label.

6. 06

   For jackets and tops, start at the shoulder seam

   Measure from the point where the sleeve meets the shoulder, along the top of the sleeve, to the edge of the cuff. Keep the tape along the outer fold rather than the underarm seam, which is much shorter.

7. 07

   Compare like with like

   Hold your number against the maker's chart, checking that they measure from the same starting point. Some makers measure a flat garment from shoulder seam to cuff even for shirts, which is often more consistent because it separates the sleeve from the width of the back.

Where a sleeve should end

With your arms hanging relaxed, a long shirt sleeve should reach the wrist bone or just past it, near where the wrist meets the hand, and stay at the wrist when you bend your arm or reach forward. A jacket sleeve should end slightly shorter so a sliver of shirt cuff shows. Our guides on how a dress shirt should fit and how a suit should fit cover the other checkpoints, including collar and shoulders.

If a sleeve is wrong, remember what can be fixed. Jacket sleeves are easy for a tailor to shorten and can be lengthened only by the fabric folded inside, and working cuff buttonholes make both harder. Dress shirt sleeves can be shortened at the cuff but not lengthened. For casual shirts that are a little long, rolling the sleeves is often a better answer than alteration, and our guide to dress shirt sizes explains how sleeve length combines with neck size.