Outseam

Outseam is the length of pants along the outside of the leg, from the top of the waistband to the bottom of the hem. It covers the whole garment, so it is longer than the inseam, mostly by the rise, the distance from the crotch to the top of the waistband. Two pants with the same inseam can have different outseams when one sits higher.

How to measure

1. Lay the pants flat, front up, legs smooth.
2. Start at the top of the waistband, at the side.
3. Run the tape straight down the outside of the leg, along the side seam, to the bottom of the hem.
4. Note the unit, and that it is an outseam: the two numbers are easy to mix up.

On the body, the same line runs from where the waistband sits, down the outside of the leg, to where the hem should fall.

On a size chart

Outseam appears on garment specs more than on shoppers' charts. None of Ruban Size's 39 templates has an outseam row: the pants templates give the waist, the hips and the inseam, and pant labels like "W32 L32" use the inseam too. If you list an outseam, put it in a garment tab with a caption that says where the tape starts.

In Ruban Size

An outseam row works like any length in the editor: type or paste the values, give the row its unit, and the cm/in switch converts it for shoppers, with fractions if you choose them. Find my size doesn't ask for it: it sizes pants by waist and hips, with the inseam read as a length. The size chart editor adds rows and tabs to any chart, the Men's pants template included.