Want to buy your best gal a new dress for Christmas but don’t know what size to get? Here are the top 10 tips to covertly acquire her measurements.
The Super Sneaky
- Skulk around her favourite shopping websites and look for her profile, she may have added her measurements.
- Check the tags of the dresses she already owns and go with the most repeated size. Compare this size to a sizing chart and cross-reference with another tip on this list.
Some will have letters, some will have numbers, some will be UK sizing and some won’t even be right.
Find one of these babies and you’re set for conversions.
- Blindfold her. Play a sexy game of tie up. Mark the circumference of her bust, waist and hip on the string/rope/what-have-you. Have a bout of evil laughter several days later while measuring it against a ruler.
- Lay her best fitting dress flat and measure from armpit to armpit, from side seam to side seam at the waistline, and from seam to seam again at the fullest part of the hips (about 8 inches below the waistline). Multiply these numbers by 2 to get a good approximation of her measurements. Hip measurements can be tricky, especially if you are taking them from a dress with a fuller skirt; fit and flare style dresses are a safer bet to buy because they don’t have to fit as well in the hip as other styles.
Where to measure.
- Ask a friend she often borrows clothes from for either her or your girl’s measurements.
- Check her bra for a size tag, the number should be her bust circumference measurement. For example, if she wears a 34C, her bust measurement is most likely 34 inches. Use this information to plot the rest of her measurements from a sizing chart.
- Did she email you a wishlist from Amazon or the like? Did she include the size she wants the dress in? Did you check?
The Ones That Might Blow Your Cover
- Say, “hey (insert pet name here), what are your bust, waist and hip measurements? You see, I’m asking for a friend of mine….”
- Get someone else to ask her for her measurements while you hide behind a corner and jot down her answer. Create a diversion. Run away.
- Get out your measuring tape and take her measurements while she’s sleeping.