How do I take measurements for a tux?

Factual Questions
1

A friend of mine who lives in a distant city has asked me to be a groomsman in his wedding and has asked me to send him measurements for the tux, so it can be ready for me to pick up the day before the rehearsal.

So what measurements should I take and how should the be taken? For example, if I’m measuring sleeve length, where does it start and where does it stop?

I’m guessing that these measurements are critical –

Neck circumference
chest
waist/belly
hips
sleeve
inseam (starts where and ends where?)

2

Add outseam to that list, as well as the rise for jackets and trousers. This may help, click on “sizing chart.”

This is purely my advice, and I say it as someone who is a bit uptight about suits – nay, that’s too negative – as someone who really enjoys nice-fitting suits: go to a decent men’s store, like a Macys, Joseph Banks, or Nordstrom or something like that where you can find staff who know something about suits, and ask them to measure you. They might charge you a nominal fee, but a good chance they’ll do it for free, and the measurements will be accurate. (for some reason, I’ve never trusted the tux rental places, even though they do a lot of this… and forget about going to a dry cleaners!)

3

Allow me to disagree with Ravenman. A tux rental shop will do a fine job getting your measurements. Regardless, you don’t have to worry about what measurements to get. Whether you go to a tux shop or a department store, just tell them you need to get your tux measurements and they’ll know what to do.

–Cliffy

4

I thought about going to a rental place, but I felt odd about asking someone to take measurements for a tux I’m going to rent from a different establishment. Is this kind of thing common?

5

Just tell them that the wedding is in a distant city and that all of the tuxedos are being rented from the same place. I’m sure they won’t have any problem helping, particularly since you may come back as repeat business.

6

I’ve done this several times and never had a problem. I assume it’s quite common, since the clerks never made a fuss and didn’t charge me anything.

Don’t try measuring yourself.

7

What anson2995 said. My wife used to run a bridal gown/tux store and she says they did this all the time. It only takes a couple of minutes and, as plnnr said, it encourages people to come back to the store when they do need to rent or buy something.

8

I did this a few years ago, when my brother got married in Ohio. I live in New York, and he asked me for my measurements. I just went to the local Brooks Brothers store and they measured me, charging me nothing, as others have pointed out. They even handed me a card with the measurements on it.

I was surprised that tux measurements work on a different scale from regular clothes. So was my brother, who said, “I knew I’d gained weight, but I didn’t think I’d gained nearly this much!” I eased his mind by letting him in on the secret that the folks at Brooks Brothers did, where the different scale figures in.