Can I measure myself for a suit?

You can, and it is the least reliable way to order one. You cannot measure your own back, shoulder or sleeve, and the attempts produce numbers that look plausible and are wrong. If you are going to do it, get a second person, use a cloth tape, and send a garment measurement as a cross-check. What no measurement carries is how you stand, and posture is a large part of what a fitting actually reads and corrects.

Which measurements matter most?

Chest, waist and hip around; shoulder, sleeve and back length along; trouser outseam and inseam with the shoes you will wear. Send height and weight too, because those are the cross-check that catches a mistyped number before it reaches the cloth. Take each one twice, on different days if you can, and send both figures rather than an average: two numbers that disagree are information.

How accurate do I need to be?

Half an inch matters on a chest and a shoulder. Length is more forgiving because it can be altered afterwards; width through the shoulder largely cannot. If you are deciding where to be careful, be careful across the shoulders, because a shoulder half an inch wrong is visible in every photograph of you wearing the suit. Worry less about the lengths.

Should I measure over clothes or under them?

Over light, close-fitting clothes, standing naturally rather than braced, and say in your message what you were wearing. The moment you reach for the tape yourself your shoulder changes, which is the main reason a second person is not optional for anything that runs along your body. Stand against a wall for the back measurements if you can, because it stops you leaning into the tape without noticing.

Is there a better option?

Two. Send a garment that fits, or be measured by any tailor near you and send those numbers. Someone who measures daily will produce a better set in five minutes than a careful hour in your bedroom will. If the trip is happening anyway, settle the detail first and be measured on arrival.

How should I send them?

In one WhatsApp message to 085 048 7655, with the units written out explicitly, centimetres or inches, and photographs of yourself front, back and side standing straight in a close-fitting top. Tell us the occasion, and the weather it will be worn in. Take each measurement twice and send both figures rather than an average. A mixed set of centimetres and inches is the commonest and most expensive error in remote ordering, and it is invisible until the suit arrives.

Will the suit fit if I get the numbers right?

It will fit the numbers. Whether it fits you is a different question, because a tailor reads posture as well as a tape, and no measurement carries how you stand. Read the risk section on the ordering-from-abroad page before you commit. If there is any chance of a trip to Bangkok, take it instead: agree everything by message in advance and be measured when you land.

From abroad

Measuring yourself, accurately enough

Eight measurements, taken with a soft tape and a second person. Or send a suit that fits instead.

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4.8 from 22 Google reviews
Tailoring in Bangkok since 2011
Suits from 6,000 THB

A navy jacket worn open over a white shirt, a patterned pocket square at the chest

Measuring yourself is the least reliable way to order a suit, and if you are going to do it anyway there is a right way. You need a second person, a cloth tape, and a garment that already fits you as a cross-check.

Before you start

Get three things ready: a cloth tape measure rather than a builder’s one, a mirror, and a garment that already fits you well. The garment matters more than the tape. Measuring a jacket that fits you, laid flat, is more accurate than measuring a body through clothes, and it gives the tailor something to check your numbers against.

A dark double-breasted jacket over a striped shirt and tie, a watch at the wrist

You need a second person

You cannot measure your own back, your own shoulder or your own sleeve, and the attempts produce numbers that look plausible and are wrong. Anything that goes round you — chest, waist, hip — you can just about do alone. Anything that runs along you needs someone else holding one end while you stand naturally. Standing naturally is the part people fail: the moment you reach for the tape, your shoulder changes.

A garment measures more reliably than a person does. sending a garment to be copied is the method when you have something that already fits.

A tailor taking measurements over a client’s waistcoat during a fitting

The measurements

Chest — around the fullest part, tape level, arms down.
Waist — at your natural waist, not where your belt sits.
Hip — around the fullest part.
Shoulder — across the back, point to point.
Sleeve — shoulder point to wrist bone, arm slightly bent.
Back length — base of the collar to where you want the jacket to end.
Trouser outseam and inseam — with the shoes you will wear.
Height and weight, which are the cross-check that catches a mistyped number.

Take each one twice, on different days if you can, and send both figures rather than an average. Two numbers that disagree are information; one number that is wrong is not.

Two rules prevent most of the mistakes. The tape sits flat against the body and close, but is never pulled tight: a tape that compresses gives a number the finished garment cannot use. And it stays level the whole way round. At the chest and the hip especially, a tape that dips at the back reads short, and the jacket that results is cut for a body nobody has.

Wear a shirt rather than a jumper, empty your pockets, and stand the way you normally stand rather than to attention — a straightened posture is not the posture the suit gets worn in. If a figure disagrees with the one you took yesterday, take it a third time instead of averaging the two. An average of a right answer and a wrong one is a wrong answer.

The shoulder and chest of an olive jacket hanging on a rail

How accurate is accurate enough

Half an inch matters on a chest and a shoulder, and a shoulder measured half an inch wrong is visible in every photograph of you wearing the suit jacket. Length is more forgiving because it can be altered; width through the shoulder largely cannot. That asymmetry is the thing to remember if you are choosing where to be careful. And no level of care makes self-measurement equal to being measured, because the tailor is not only reading a tape — they are looking at how you stand, which no number carries.

Once numbers have been corrected at a fitting they stop being a guess: the pattern kept on file is what the second order works from.

The skywalk with a blue sign pointing ahead to MBK Center

The easier way

Send a garment instead, or be measured by any tailor near you and send those numbers. A jacket that fits you, measured flat by someone who does it daily, is worth more than a careful hour with a tape in your bedroom. Better still, if you are coming to Bangkok at all: agree everything in advance and be measured when you land. A suit takes two to three days on the bench, and a 48-hour stopover, hour by hour shows what even a short trip allows.

A burgundy cloth book open on a wooden table beside a second book, swatches showing

Sending them

Send the numbers on WhatsApp to 085 048 7655, in a single message, with the units written out — centimetres or inches, said explicitly, because a mixed set is the commonest and most expensive error in remote ordering. Add photographs: front, back and side, standing straight, in a close-fitting top. Say what the suit is for and what climate you will wear it in. Then read ordering bespoke from abroad again, particularly the part about risk, before you commit.

Our bespoke work

A man in a navy suit and tie standing outdoors

A man in a dark suit and gold bow tie against a brick wall

A man in a dark suit, full length against a black studio backdrop

A man in a blue suit seated on a stool, trousers and shoes in view

A man in a blue suit photographed from above against a panelled wall

A man in a blue check double-breasted suit, jacket open

A man in a blue double-breasted suit walking a red carpet

A man in a blue suit standing full length against a dark wall

A man in a blue suit seated in a chair, jacket buttoned

A man in a blue blazer over a white T-shirt and jeans against a dark grey studio backdrop

A man in a white shirt holding up a dark jacket in a meeting room, in black and white

Four jackets hanging on a rail — cream, grey, dark green and navy

Questions people ask

Can I measure myself for a suit?: You can, and it is the least reliable way to order one. You cannot measure your own back, shoulder or sleeve, and the attempts produce numbers that look plausible and are wrong. If you are going to do it, get a second person, use a cloth tape, and send a garment measurement as a cross-check. What no measurement carries is how you stand, and posture is a large part of what a fitting actually reads and corrects.
What do I need?: A cloth tape measure rather than a builder’s one, a mirror, a second person, and a garment that already fits you well. The garment matters more than the tape: measuring a jacket that fits, laid flat, is more accurate than measuring a body through clothes and gives the tailor something to check your numbers against. A garment that fits, measured flat, is the single most useful thing you can send, because it answers questions a tape on a body cannot.
Which measurements matter most?: Chest, waist and hip around; shoulder, sleeve and back length along; trouser outseam and inseam with the shoes you will wear. Send height and weight too, because those are the cross-check that catches a mistyped number before it reaches the cloth. Take each one twice, on different days if you can, and send both figures rather than an average: two numbers that disagree are information.
How accurate do I need to be?: Half an inch matters on a chest and a shoulder. Length is more forgiving because it can be altered afterwards; width through the shoulder largely cannot. If you are deciding where to be careful, be careful across the shoulders, because a shoulder half an inch wrong is visible in every photograph of you wearing the suit. Worry less about the lengths.
Should I measure over clothes or under them?: Over light, close-fitting clothes, standing naturally rather than braced, and say in your message what you were wearing. The moment you reach for the tape yourself your shoulder changes, which is the main reason a second person is not optional for anything that runs along your body. Stand against a wall for the back measurements if you can, because it stops you leaning into the tape without noticing.
Is there a better option?: Two. Send a garment that fits, or be measured by any tailor near you and send those numbers. Someone who measures daily will produce a better set in five minutes than a careful hour in your bedroom will. If the trip is happening anyway, settle the detail first and be measured on arrival.
How should I send them?: In one WhatsApp message to 085 048 7655, with the units written out explicitly, centimetres or inches, and photographs of yourself front, back and side standing straight in a close-fitting top. Tell us the occasion, and the weather it will be worn in. Take each measurement twice and send both figures rather than an average. A mixed set of centimetres and inches is the commonest and most expensive error in remote ordering, and it is invisible until the suit arrives.
Will the suit fit if I get the numbers right?: It will fit the numbers. Whether it fits you is a different question, because a tailor reads posture as well as a tape, and no measurement carries how you stand. Read the risk section on the ordering-from-abroad page before you commit. If there is any chance of a trip to Bangkok, take it instead: agree everything by message in advance and be measured when you land.

4.8 from 22 reviews on Google

What a customer said

5 out of 5 stars

We stumbled upon The Loft Tailors getting off the sky train going to MBK. The price of the suit was very competitive and the craftsmanship was great. My son went to the fitting appointment and needed slight adjustment. When we came back to fit again it was perfect. They also are very fast.

Fai Gelfand · 2026-09-07 read it on Google · quoted in part

the reviews in full

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