How to measure your belt size

A belt size is a length, not a waist. By convention it runs from the buckle to the middle hole, so the belt can close a hole or two tighter or looser on either side of it. Belts are sold either by that length (34, 36, or 90, 95 cm) or by letters (S, M, L) tied to trouser sizes.

The usual rule is belt size = trouser size + 2 in. Those 2 in (5.08 cm) are the gap between a trouser size and a belt measured to its middle hole, and the 5 cm Ruban Size adds when a chart gives belt lengths.

Three ways to find your belt size

1. Measure a belt that fits (the best way)

1. Pick the right belt. One you wear with the same kind of trousers: jeans and dress trousers don't always sit at the same height.
2. Unbuckle it and lay it flat on a table, strap straight.
3. Find the hole you use most. Worn leather or a stretched hole shows it.
4. Measure from where the strap meets the buckle to that hole. Start at the fold where the leather wraps around the buckle's bar. Don't count the buckle itself or the tail beyond the hole.
5. Read in inches or centimeters and write the unit down. That number is your belt size. On a belt with five holes, a belt of your size puts you on the third one.

Some brands measure from the tip of the buckle instead of the fold. Their chart should say so; if it doesn't, the buckle-to-middle-hole convention is the safe guess.

2. Measure where the belt sits

1. Put on the trousers you'll wear the belt with, buttoned and zipped.
2. Pass the tape through the belt loops, over the trousers. A belt goes around the fabric, not your skin.
3. Keep it level all the way round, snug but not pulled.
4. Breathe out normally and read.
5. Add 2 in (5 cm) to get a belt size measured to the middle hole. A chart that asks for your waist, like the Belts template below, does this step for you.

3. Start from your trouser size

Add 2 in to the waist size on your usual trousers: a 32 takes a 34, a 36 takes a 38. It's quick, but trouser labels aren't measurements. Two brands' 32s can differ, and labels drift smaller than the bodies they fit (more in what vanity sizing is). Use it when there is no belt to measure.

Common mistakes

• Measuring the whole belt, buckle and tail included. That's the total length, not the size.
• Measuring to the last hole or the first one instead of the one you use.
• Using your natural waist when the belt sits lower, on the hips, with jeans. The waist guide explains the two lines.
• Measuring on bare skin for a belt that goes over trousers.
• Mixing units. A 34 belt is inches; an 85 belt is centimeters.
• A women's belt worn over a dress at the natural waist, sized from jeans. Measure where it will sit.

Belt sizes in the Belts template

Ruban Size's Belts template sizes belts by letter, with the trouser sizes each one fits:

Its note says "Choose the size of your usual trousers." The waist column is what Find my size compares with. The belt length column is there for reading: it isn't marked as a measurement, so Find my size doesn't use it. These are typical values; a store puts in its own before publishing.

What it means for a Shopify store

• Say which length you give. Buckle to middle hole, or end to end. Two belts both listed at 100 cm can be different sizes.
• Give the trouser size or waist next to the belt size. Shoppers know their trouser size better than their belt length.
• Say where it's worn. A waist belt and a hip belt for the same person aren't the same size.
• Show both units. US shoppers think in inches, most others in centimeters.

How Ruban Size handles belts

Belts are one of the product types with their own rules in Find my size, listed under fit by product type. A chart is read as belts from its words (belt, ceinture, Gürtel, cinturón) or by choosing Belts as the garment type in the chart's Fit tab. The Fit tab's help text for belts sums it up: "Waist measurements are read as they are; a belt length line (buckle to the middle hole) gets the belt allowance. Shoppers are reminded they can go two holes tighter or looser."

Charts by waist. On the Belts template, Find my size asks for the waist and compares it as it is. There is no "Fit I like" choice, because a belt adjusts by its holes. A 33 in waist gets "Your size: M", with the line "Waist 33 in: M, middle of the range". Between two printed ranges it suggests the larger size: a 35 in waist, between M (32 to 34) and L (36 to 38), reads "You are between M and L. We suggest L." Under the answer, the shopper reads "Belts are measured from the buckle to the middle hole: you can go two holes tighter or looser."

Charts by belt length. When your table gives the belts' own lengths, mark that line as the waist measurement (click the line's label in the editor). Because its header says belt length, Find my size treats it as the product's length and adds the belt allowance, 5 cm unless you change it in the Fit tab ("Belt allowance"). On a chart of lengths 85, 90, 95, 100, 105 and 110 cm, an 85 cm waist becomes 90 cm and gets "Your size: 90". On a chart of belt sizes in inches, 30 to 40 in steps of 2, a 32 in waist gets 34: the trouser size plus 2 in, worked out from the measurement instead of the label.

That allowance is a kind of ease, fixed for belts. Rings, bracelets, hats and shoes each get their own.

Try it with your waist:

Questions

How do I know my belt size?

Measure a belt that fits from where the strap meets the buckle to the hole you use most. Without one, add 2 in (5 cm) to your trouser waist size.

Is belt size the same as pant size?

Usually not: a belt measured to its middle hole is about 2 in longer than the trouser size. A 32 in trouser waist takes a 34 belt. Charts by letter (S, M, L) list the trouser sizes each belt fits.

How is a belt measured?

From the buckle, where the strap folds around the bar, to the middle hole. Some brands give the total length instead, so read the chart's header.

What if I'm between two belt sizes?

Take the larger one. A belt can close a hole or two tighter, but it can't get longer.