Club Obi Wan

How do you measure just your chest when going by one of the measurement charts? Is it armpit to armpit? If not, where do you measure to?

I have a 42" chest and had a Wested 44L that was 25.5" armpit to armpit and found that snug. One merchant was saying with a 42" chest, I shouldn't have a jacket with a chest wider than 23". I do work out some and don't want to outgrow the jacket. Can anyone shed some light? Thanks!

I've always heard to measure just under the armpits, wrap the tape all the way around so it meets in the center of your chest, and round up to the nearest whole size.

That should be the widest part of your chest, and should give you the most accurate measurement. Rounding up will give you a little "wiggle room" to grow but not so much it should make the garment fit poorly if you lose a little either.

Regards!
Indydawg

The pits measurment is doubled for the total width of the jacket, so that if you are a 42, then a 25.5" pit measurment should fit, that's 51 total inches around the torso. The tape should be placed under the arms and around the widest part of the chest. Of course, it depends upon how much extra room in the jacket you want to give yourself. For some, the belly measurement might be more important...?

It's my understanding that Wested typically adds 4-5 inches to initial measurement they are provided. All things considered and if these measurments are true, then the jacket should have been loose.

Texan Scott wrote: All things considered and if these measurments are true, then the jacket should have been loose.

Loose for an Indy jacket that is. I can imagine an Indy jacket seeming snug to someone who's used to wear jackets that have a more baggy/roomy fit.

Regards, Geert

gwyddion wrote:

Texan Scott wrote: All things considered and if these measurments are true, then the jacket should have been loose.

Loose for an Indy jacket that is. I can imagine an Indy jacket seeming snug to someone who's used to wear jackets that have a more baggy/roomy fit.

Regards, Geert

Perhaps I did have that wrong; .

Anyways again what should just the chest be (not the all way around as I have that at 42") and how do I measure that?

Well, I'm a 42 as well and I have a Wested that has a 23.5" armpit to armpit measurement and a TN Raiders that has a 22.75" armpit to armpit measurement, so I'd say 23" should be enough if you are a 42 with a normal build.

Regards, Geert

EDIT: You measure it with the jacket lying flat with the zipper done up and the action pleats closed. Then you measure it from one armpit to the other on the jacket.

And if I'm understanding what you're asking, I take my measurement (44-45 in my case) and add 4-6" then divide by half. Then I compare the jacket chest measurement that is advertised. The best thing you can do is take a jacket that fits well and take it's flat pit measurement and use that.

Excelsior!
Riothamus

gwyddion wrote:Well, I'm a 42 as well and I have a Wested that has a 23.5" armpit to armpit measurement and a TN Raiders that has a 22.75" armpit to armpit measurement, so I'd say 23" should be enough if you are a 42 with a normal build.

Regards, Geert

EDIT: You measure it with the jacket lying flat with the zipper done up and the action pleats closed. Then you measure it from one armpit to the other on the jacket.

A-ha, closed pleats. I think when I measured they were open. When I had the Wested zippered up, it would pull straight across the chest. I wish I had pics of it.
And thanks all, I just wanted to know if measuring armpit to armpit is the same as measuring your chest or if that was measuring "too much"?

You just report your true measurement around your chest and under the armpit with the measuring tape. They will take your measurement and add the extra inches.

Take it from a guy who has screwed up some jacket sizes and learned the hard way. If you're doing a custom order, do as Texan Scott says and give them your actual measurements.

If you're comparing your measurements to a sizing chart, this is how to read it. If the chart says the jacket is 25" in the chest, that means it's 25" measured armpit to armpit. All you have to do to determine whether the jacket fits your actual chest size is double the measurement. So a 25" chest size on a jacket fits up to a 50" actual chest measurement. So if you had a chest that measured 46", you would have 4" of extra room.

You can also measure a jacket that fits you nicely and take it from there if you can see a sizing chart. For example, I ordered a L in the Antique Cowhide from US Wings even though I have a 46" chest, and many would assume that should be an XL. Why? The chest measures 25 an 1/2 inches (according to a chart Michaelson posted some time ago), and so the jacket will fit someone with up to a 51" chest. I should have 5" of extra room, which is plenty for me as I don't want the jacket to be super baggy. Also, my shoulder measurement on a suit coat is 20.5" (seam to seam), and this jacket is 21.25", so I have an extra .75" in the shoulders compared to the way a suit coat fits.

Hope that helps. Probably more info. than you wanted.

Rick Deckard wrote:Take it from a guy who has screwed up some jacket sizes and learned the hard way. If you're doing a custom order, do as Texan Scott says and give them your actual measurements.

If you're comparing your measurements to a sizing chart, this is how to read it. If the chart says the jacket is 25" in the chest, that means it's 25" measured armpit to armpit. All you have to do to determine whether the jacket fits your actual chest size is double the measurement. So a 25" chest size on a jacket fits up to a 50" actual chest measurement. So if you had a chest that measured 46", you would have 4" of extra room.

You can also measure a jacket that fits you nicely and take it from there if you can see a sizing chart. For example, I ordered a L in the Antique Cowhide from US Wings even though I have a 46" chest, and many would assume that should be an XL. Why? The chest measures 25 an 1/2 inches (according to a chart Michaelson posted some time ago), and so the jacket will fit someone with up to a 51" chest. I should have 5" of extra room, which is plenty for me as I don't want the jacket to be super baggy. Also, my shoulder measurement on a suit coat is 20.5" (seam to seam), and this jacket is 21.25", so I have an extra .75" in the shoulders compared to the way a suit coat fits.

Hope that helps. Probably more info. than you wanted.

Thanks Rick, that helps. The more info the better. I just wanted to know if the chest/armpit to armpit measurement was the same.

....sometimes you have to reverse the process if you see something for sale in a OTR jacket. If they say the pits are 25" then you know that the total width is 50", and you can compare that with your "true" measurement...your own measurement without any slack. But usually, the measurement is directly under the arm pit at the seam of the jacket, from one seam to another with the jacket zipped up. Other times, they will just give you the total measurement of say, 50".

I am a 44", so 50 total inches is approaching a loose fit for me, not quite, but getting there.

The "pits", "back length" and sleeves are the basic critical measurments for a good fit.

Back length is from the bottom of the collar stand to the end of the jacket, although, on Ebay, you will find that sometimes they measure from the top of the collar to the end of the jacket. You have to make that distinction, depending on the seller.

Sleeves...the "proper" measurement is from the base of the neck at the back bone, with arm slightly bent to the first nuckle of the thumb, for instance, for an Indy jacket. For a suit coat, it would be to the wrist. The "informal" sleeve measurment is from the shoulder seam to the end of the cuff.

I just got measured by a tailor and he has me at 23" from armpit to armpit. So I guess I have a larger chest than one would think when I'm a total of 42". Guess that's why the Wested at 24" chest did not fit right.

One more thing you should keep in mind is how you want the jacket to fit. If a tailor tells you that you are 23" in chest size, he's probably referring to your suit coat chest size (armpit to armpit). If you want your Indy jacket to fit like a suit - snug with little to no room for layering - then that is the size you should get. If you want some extra space, then you are probably okay ordering a jacket with a 24" to 25" chest measurement. Either way the chest measurement on the Wested that you provided should not have been snug. If it was 25.5" as in your original post, it may have been a bit too big, but again that depends upon the fit you are looking for.

Sometimes if the shoulders are too small it can cause the jacket to pull in odd ways. Did you check the shoulder measurement? Measure seam to seam across the back- where the shoulder seam meets the sleeve. Then compare to a jacket that fits you the way you like.

One last caveat: The chest measurement on a garment is taken one inch below the armpit and then across. Not right up against the armpit seam.

Think of it this way, if you're sure that your actual chest measurement is 42", then a jacket chest measurement of 22", 23", 24" ought to fit you. 25" inches is getting into 8" of extra room and is probably too big, even if you want to layer. 22" would give you two extra inches of room - very fitted. And you can take it from there.

Thanks Rick. Well I believe I had the pleats open, not closed when I measured. So instead of 25.5", it was most likely 24". The jacket I had was 7" in the shoulder and I'm 7.5" and the back width from shoulder to shoulder was 20.25" where I am 22". Perhaps that's where it caused the jacket to feel tight. But I'm going with 26" since I do work out and don't want to outgrow it. It may be baggy but I'd rather err on the larger side. And that's the problem with working out, you outgrow certain clothes.