How to make a size chart for your clothing brand

The short version

1. Decide whether you are publishing body measurements (the shopper's body that each size is made for), garment measurements (the finished piece, measured flat), or both.
2. Pick the points that matter for each category: chest, waist, hip and length for tops and dresses; waist, hip, inseam, rise, thigh and leg opening for trousers.
3. Measure a production sample, not the first prototype, in every size you sell. Measure two or three pieces per size if you can and use the average.
4. Check that the gaps between sizes are consistent. An uneven jump usually means a measuring mistake.
5. Publish it as a text table, in cm and inches, on the product page or a linked size guide. Avoid putting the chart only in an image.
6. Add a fit note for each product ("true to size", "relaxed, size down for a closer fit") and the model's height and size.

Body measurements or garment measurements?

Most confusion with size charts comes from mixing these two up. A shopper who measures their own chest at 96 cm and sees "chest 96 cm" will assume they fit, but if 96 cm is the garment's flat chest doubled, that piece will be skin tight.

The strongest charts label clearly which one they are, and many brands publish both: a brand-wide body chart, plus garment measurements on each product page. Write the word "body" or "garment" in the table caption so nobody has to guess.

How to measure a garment for a size chart

Lay the piece flat on a table, buttoned or zipped, smooth it without stretching, and measure with a soft tape. For circumference points (chest, waist, hip), measure straight across and double the figure, and say in the chart that you have done so.

Tops, shirts, knitwear and dresses

• Chest or bust: straight across, 2.5 cm below the armholes, side seam to side seam. Double it.
• Waist: across the narrowest point, or a stated distance from the shoulder for straight cuts.
• Hip or hem width: across the hem, or at the widest point for dresses.
• Length: from the highest point of the shoulder, next to the collar (HPS), straight down to the hem. Say which point you used; "back length" from the collar seam gives a different figure.
• Sleeve: from the shoulder seam to the cuff edge. For raglan or dropped shoulders, measure from the centre back neck instead and say so.
• Shoulder width: seam to seam across the back.

Trousers, jeans and skirts

• Waist: across the top of the waistband, doubled. Note if the band is elasticated or stretch, and give relaxed and stretched figures.
• Hip: across the widest point, usually just above the crotch seam, doubled.
• Inseam: from the crotch seam down the inside leg to the hem. This is the figure denim shoppers look for first.
• Front rise: from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband at the front. It decides whether trousers sit high or low.
• Thigh: across the leg, 2.5 cm below the crotch, doubled.
• Leg opening: across the hem, doubled.
• Skirt length: from the top of the waistband to the hem at centre front.

Measure the same way every time. If two people on your team measure, have them measure the same piece once and compare; differences of more than 1 cm usually mean they are not using the same points.

Check the gaps between sizes

Pattern makers move from one size to the next by fixed amounts called grade rules. Your published figures should step up in a steady pattern: if the chest grows by about the same amount from S to M as from M to L, the chart is probably right. A size that jumps twice as far as its neighbours, or goes backwards, nearly always points to a measuring or typing error.

Factories work to a tolerance, often around 1 cm either side on main points, so two pieces of the same size rarely match exactly. That is why measuring two or three production pieces and averaging gives a better chart than measuring the sample your factory sent first.

If you sell petite, tall or plus ranges, give each its own rows rather than one note under the main chart. Shoppers in those ranges are the ones most likely to read the figures closely.

Publish it so people and machines can read it

Our audit of 829 Shopify fashion stores on 24 September 2026 found that only 31.6% had a size chart we could read as text on the page. 27.1% published it as an image, and 27.7% had no chart we could find. Among stores with a readable chart, 47.7% gave measurements in only one unit.

• Use a text table, not a picture. A table can be read aloud by screen readers, zoomed on a phone, and read by search engines and AI shopping assistants. If you keep an image for design reasons, put the same figures in text underneath.
• Give centimetres and inches. Either side by side or with a switch. Round to the nearest 0.5 cm or quarter inch.
• Say what the numbers are. "Garment measurements, laid flat and doubled" or "Body measurements". One line above the table is enough.
• Use one label per size. Pick "S" or "Small" and use it on every product. 23.3% of the stores we audited labelled the same size different ways, which breaks filters, charts and size apps.
• Cover every size you sell. 9.0% of stores sold a size their guide did not include.

On Shopify, the simplest no-app method is a size guide page linked from the product page, or a per-product chart in a metafield. Our guide to adding a size chart in Shopify walks through both for Dawn, Horizon and other themes.

Add fit notes and model information

Measurements tell a shopper the size of the garment. They do not tell them which size to pick. Two short lines do that:

• A fit note on every product: "True to size. Relaxed through the body; size down for a closer fit." Write it from the garment's actual measurements against your body chart, not as a stock phrase.
• The model's height and size: "Model is 178 cm and wears a size M." It gives every shopper a reference point in the photos.

In the same audit, only 20.3% of sized products said how they fit and only 10.3% gave the model's size or height. 73.8% of stores never gave model information on any product. These are the cheapest improvements on this page.

A larger scan on 21 October 2026, of 74,111 sized products in 459 stores’ public product data, found the same gap: on the average store only 9.7% of product descriptions gave sizing advice and 15% gave the model’s size or height. See the figures by clothing category.

Free size chart template

The template (CSV) has one row per size for tops, bottoms and body measurements, with a column for each point above, the unit, and whether the row is body or garment. Fill in the points that apply to your category and delete the rest. Then run through the size chart checklist before you publish.

When the chart is in place, you can check what a shopper and a crawler can see with the free size chart audit.

From size chart to size recommendation

A good chart still leaves the shopper doing the work: measuring themselves, finding a row and guessing between two sizes. A size recommendation app reads your chart for them. The shopper enters a few details once, and each product page suggests a size for that garment from your own measurements.

That is what Rendered Fits does on Shopify, which is why a clean chart matters to us. See how size recommendations work on Shopify, or compare size chart apps for Shopify if you only need the chart itself.