How to measure clothes for reselling: which measurements to list

Why measurements matter more than the size tag

A size tag is the maker's statement about a new garment, cut to one brand's pattern in one particular decade. With vintage and secondhand clothing, you also have everything that has happened to the piece since: it may have been hemmed, taken in or shrunk in the wash. A medium from the 1980s and a medium from today don't have to fit the same.

Measurements describe the exact piece you're selling. Keep the tagged size in the listing, because buyers filter and search by it. Then add measurements to answer the question that actually decides the sale: will this fit me?

You won't find a “22 inches pit to pit = size L” chart here. Brands and decades cut too differently for a conversion like that to hold up. The better advice for your buyers goes straight into the listing: “Lay a piece that fits you well flat, measure it the same way and compare.”

What pit to pit means and how to measure it

Pit to pit, often shortened to P2P, is the width of a top measured flat, straight across from one armpit seam to the other, right where the sleeve meets the body.

• Lay the top face up, buttoned or zipped, and smooth it out without pulling.
• Put the end of the tape at one armpit seam and measure straight across to the other.
• No clear armpit seam, as on batwing or dolman sleeves? Measure just below where the sleeve starts and say where you measured.

Because it's taken flat, pit to pit covers only the front of the garment. As a rule of thumb, doubling it gives a rough chest circumference. If you add that figure, mark it “approx.” so nobody reads it as an exact body measurement.

Measuring basics: flat, smooth, clearly labeled

All you need is a soft tailor's tape and a flat surface. None of this is an official standard; it's common reseller practice. What matters is that you measure every piece the same way.

• Lay it flat, smooth it out, don't stretch it. Close zips and buttons and line up sleeves and hoods. Keep the tape straight, not at an angle.
• Say that it's a flat measurement. Write “measured flat” or “laid flat”. Without that note, a buyer may read 21 in as the full chest and wonder why the piece is twice as roomy.
• Inches first, centimeters in brackets. US buyers think in inches, buyers in Europe in centimeters. One inch is exactly 2.54 cm, so “22 in (56 cm)” serves both.
• Round sensibly. Our recommendation: to the nearest quarter inch. Two measurements of a soft garment often differ by a few millimeters anyway.
• Measure stretchy fabrics relaxed. For knits, jersey or elastic waistbands, measure unstretched and add “stretchy”.
• Keep the same order on every listing. Anyone comparing two of your pieces should find each number in the same place.

Which measurements each garment needs

The table is a recommendation for everyday reselling. Three to five measurements per piece are usually enough to judge fit. Pants tend to need more, a skirt fewer.

For the length of tops there are two common methods: from the high point of the shoulder at the front, or from the collar seam down the center back. Either is fine as long as you pick one and explain it once on your store. The same goes for every measurement. A short “How we measure” page, linked from each listing, can save you a lot of back-and-forth messages.

A copy-and-paste measurement block

Buyers read measurements most easily when they sit in the same spot and the same order on every listing. A block for tops:

• Tagged size: L
• Pit to pit (flat): 22 in (56 cm)
• Length (HPS to hem): 26.5 in (67 cm)
• Sleeve (from shoulder seam): 24 in (61 cm)
• Shoulders (seam to seam): 19.75 in (50 cm)

And one for pants:

• Tagged size: W32 L32
• Waist (flat): 15.75 in (40 cm), approx. 31.5 in around
• Front rise: 11.5 in (29 cm)
• Inseam: 32 in (81 cm)
• Thigh (flat): 12.25 in (31 cm)
• Leg opening (flat): 8 in (20 cm)

Notice that the tag says W32 while the waist measures a little under that. With worn clothing, that's nothing unusual, and it's exactly why the measurements are there. Copy numeric or dual sizes such as “52” or “XL/TG” exactly as the tag shows them and back them up with measurements.

Only add a fit note like “fits like a modern M” if you've actually compared the piece or tried it on. Otherwise leave it out and let the numbers speak. Put the condition right underneath, in the shorthand your buyers know, such as NWT (new with tags) or EUC (excellent used condition), and explain your grades once. Our guide to vintage clothing condition grading covers how to do that consistently.

Should the tape measure be in the photo?

Resellers disagree on this. Some lay the tape across every piece in a photo, others advise against it. Both have a point:

• For: the photo shows how you measured and backs you up if a buyer questions a number later.
• Against: the tape distracts from the garment, the numbers are hard to read on a phone screen, and numbers that only exist in a picture are hard to search for.

A practical middle ground: the numbers belong in the listing as text, because text is readable and searchable. Shopify also suggests including specifications such as size in the product description (Shopify Help: product descriptions). A measurement photo is then an extra. If you show one, put it further back in the gallery: the first image of a product is its main media item and appears on collection pages, in the cart and at checkout (Shopify Help: adding media).

Where measurements go on a Shopify store

You have two options, and they work well together.

1. The measurement block in the description

The simplest option needs no metafields and no theme changes: the block above goes into the product description, laid out the same way on every piece.

2. Measurements as metafields

Metafields are extra fields on a product. Shopify itself uses measurements as an example: a furniture store that wants to display detailed measurements might add a product metafield called Dimensions (Shopify Help: metafields). The benefit: each measurement lives in its own field and can be shown in a fixed spot on the product page instead of getting lost in running text.

• The right type: Under the “Measurement” category there's a content type called “Dimension”. It accepts whole numbers and decimals in metric or imperial units (Shopify Help: metafield types). Valid units are inches, feet, yards, millimeters, centimeters and meters, stored as a value plus a spelled-out unit, for example {"value": 25.0, "unit": "centimeters"} (shopify.dev: data types).
• One field per measurement: create a separate definition for each measurement you list regularly, such as “Pit to pit”, “Length” and “Sleeve”.
• Bulk editing by CSV: product metafields are supported in CSV import and export. The column header follows the pattern name (product.metafields.namespace.key), and you'll find the namespace and key under Settings → Metafields and metaobjects → Product metafields (Shopify's CSV help still calls this area Custom data). Shopify's example value for a dimension is 25.0cm. Variant metafields aren't supported in product CSVs (Shopify Help: using CSV files).
• Export before you import: export one product that already has the field filled in. That shows you the exact header and value format your store expects, including how it writes inches.

To show the fields on your store, connect them in the theme editor. Shopify's own walkthrough: go to Online Store, click Edit theme, choose Products → Default product, add a block such as a Collapsible row, then click the Connect dynamic source icon next to the row content and pick your metafield. This works with themes that support dynamic sources; with older themes, which Shopify calls “vintage themes” (nothing to do with vintage clothing), you'll need theme code changes. Because you're setting up the template, one setup covers every product: each shows its own values, and the section stays empty on products without a value (Shopify Help: using metafields).

Don't confuse this with category metafields. When you assign a clothing category from Shopify's standard taxonomy, Shopify offers matching fields, for shirts including size, neckline, sleeve length type and fabric (Shopify Help: product category). They help shoppers find products, but they don't replace measurements: a sleeve length type describes a kind of sleeve, not a length in inches.

If you use Klamox, know its limits for English-language stores. You set up measurement reading in the workflow under Images & order → Measurements photo: either a separate measurements photo, such as a photo or screenshot of your written-down numbers, or “Read from the label photo” if you write the numbers on your label card, which needs at least one label photo in the workflow. With “None”, no measurements are read. Either way the AI reads two values only, width and length, and it isn't designed to read a tape measure in a photo. Label them “Weite” (width) and “Länge” (length), the words the AI is asked to look for, and write them in centimeters without “approx.”: a number without a unit is saved as centimeters, and an approximate value stays in the description but doesn't become a metafield. A separate measurements photo is never published; a label card only goes to your store if “Upload label photos too?” is set to Yes (default: No). Typed numbers are the safer choice, because handwriting is recognized noticeably less well than print.

Listings come out in German by default; English is set per workflow by the Klamox team on request, and even then the two measurement lines added to the description stay German (“Weite” and “Länge”) and don't say “flat”, so add your inch block with the flat label in the draft. The values also go into the metafields custom.weite and custom.laenge as the Dimension type. If you define those two keys yourself, choose Dimension, otherwise product creation can fail. Any other measurement you let the tool fill through Custom fields (metafields) arrives as single line text, so give that definition the Single line text type, not Dimension. Products are created as drafts by default, so you can check every number before anything goes live. To combine measurements and your SKU on one card, see our SKU system for vintage resellers.

Pre-publish checklist

• Tagged size included?
• Every measurement the table lists for this type of garment taken?
• Flat measurements labeled “flat”, circumference only as “approx.”?
• Inches first, centimeters in brackets?
• Same order as your other listings?
• Stretchy fabric noted?
• Fit note only if you actually compared?
• Draft numbers checked against your notes?