Waist

Waist is the distance around the waist, with the tape level. Body charts mean the natural waist, the narrowest part of the torso. Pants often sit lower, which is why a pant size and a waist measurement don't always match.

How to measure

1. No belt, no waistband under the tape.
2. Stand relaxed, weight on both feet, stomach not pulled in.
3. Wrap the tape level around the narrowest part of the torso.
4. Breathe out normally and read, snug but not pressing in.
5. For pants, measure the line where the waistband of a pair that fits sits, too.

On a size chart

Pant sizes in inches are names for waist ranges. On the Men's pants template, a 32 fits a body waist of 32 to 33 in (81.3 to 83.8 cm):

Women's charts often give it in centimeters: 72 to 77 cm for an M on the Dresses template. A belt is sized by the waist too: the Belts template's M fits a 32 to 34 in waist.

In Ruban Size

On pants, Find my size weighs the waist and the hips, and the one that needs the larger size wins: a 32 in waist with 42 in hips gets a 36 on the Men's pants template. On tops, the waist only refines the answer near a boundary. When a chart lists the garment's own waist, it adds 2.5, 3.2 or 3.8 cm for pants (Snug, Regular, Loose) and 1.3, 2.5 or 3.2 cm for jeans before comparing. Shoppers who type centimeters into inch fields read "These look like centimeters, and the fields are in inches." Try it on the Men's pants template.