Free guide — no order needed
Whether you are booking an alteration with us or simply want to know your own numbers, this guide shows you exactly where the tape goes and what each measurement means. Take ten minutes with a soft tape measure — the same guide works for men, women and children, and your numbers stay saved on this device so you never have to dig them out again.
A soft tape measure
Tailor’s tape, sold in any market or haberdashery for a few hundred naira. A piece of string plus a ruler works too.
Ten quiet minutes
Measure when you are relaxed and at normal temperature — not straight after the gym or a heavy meal.
A helper (optional)
Shoulder and sleeve measurements are far easier with a second pair of hands, but every number here can be taken alone.
A mirror or phone camera
The tape must stay level all the way round. A mirror — or a photo taken over your shoulder — catches tilts you cannot feel.
Five golden rules
Shirts, trousers, agbada and blazers — the seven numbers that cover almost every men’s alteration.
Interactive diagram
Tap a line or a card
The gold line shows where the tape sits for your neck measurement.
Where your collar sits — the base of the neck, not the Adam’s apple.
How to measure
What the seamstress uses it for
Shirt collars, agbada and kaftan necklines. Even half a centimetre here changes how a collar feels all day.
The classic mistake
Tilting your chin down — it shortens the neck and shrinks the measurement. Keep your head level.
All for men measurements
The measurements everyone mixes up
Half of all alteration confusion comes from three pairs of numbers that sound similar but sit in different places. Here they are, settled once and for all — and if you only memorise one, make it the first.
Natural waist vs hips
Your natural waist is the narrowest part of your torso — bend sideways and the crease that appears is it, usually just above the navel. Your hips are the fullest part lower down, roughly 20 cm below the waist. Low-rise jeans sit at neither. When we say “waist taken in”, we always mean the natural waist.
Bust vs underbust (band)
The bust is around the fullest part of the chest. The underbust — where a bra band sits — is 5–10 cm smaller and snugger. Garment sizing uses the bust; bra sizing uses both. Giving us the bust alone is fine for dresses and kaftans.
Inseam vs outside leg
The inseam runs from the crotch down the inside of the leg to the hem — it is the number trouser hemming needs. The outside leg runs from the waist over the hip down to the same hem, and it is always longer. If you measure a good trouser flat along its inner seam, you get the inseam directly.
Save your numbers
Fill in your numbers and save them here. They stay on this device — private to your browser, no account needed, never uploaded anywhere. The next time you book an alteration, tap “Attach my saved measurements” in the booking form and the seamstress gets your full set with the order, so you never type the same numbers twice.
Nothing saved yet
Save your numbers and they will be offered automatically next time you book an alteration — the seamstress gets them with your order.