How to Measure Your Body: Neck Around

Whether you are out to shop for a dress shirt, jacket, tie, or any other upper-body garment, accurate neck measurements play a vital role in getting the right fit. Sadly, many people don't know about the fact that the sizes for men's dress shirts are largely based on neck measurements. 

In other words, if you purchase a shirt just by your neck or collar size, it's most likely to fit you and look flattering under a jacket or vest (even if you don't put it on for trial). In this way, your neck size serves as a major reference point and determines the overall comfort and fitting. 

The importance of knowing your exact neck size can be predicted from the fact that neck size is almost impossible to alter. This, in turn, means your investment would be a complete waste if you ever get an outfit with the wrong neck circumference. 

Thus, to help you find dress shirts that would sit comfortably around your neck, today we are going to teach you how to measure your neck area. The process is quite straightforward and hardly takes 10-15 minutes so let's begin! 

How To Measure Your Body: Neck Around

• Step 1: Gather the essentials

To start with, you'd need to get some essentials, which include a flexible measuring tape, a pen & paper to note down the measurements, a mirror, and a friend to assist you. 

• Step 2: Take measurements

Once you have all the required things gathered, stand in front of the mirror in your most natural posture. Make sure your shoulders are relaxed and you are not flexing your muscles. Also, wear a collarless shirt or T-shirt so the collar won't add extra bulk to the measurements. 

Now wrap the measuring tape around the widest part of your neck (which is usually the point right below your Adam's apple) or ask your friend to do so while you are watching straight ahead. Do not tilt your chin up or down and make sure the tape is parallel to the ground, at the same level. 

In addition to this, the tape should not be too tight or too loose around your neck but should sit snugly. Now note the measurement where two ends of the tape are meeting. Add 0.5 to the measurements for breathing room and that will be your dress shirt neck size. 

FAQs

If you don't have a flexible measuring tape, you can use a ribbon or piece of thread as a substitute. Wrap the ribbon or thread around your neck and then tally the distance between both ends with a measuring scale. 

In an average-sized man, the standard neck size is about 14-19 inches. 

This method is used to check whether a pair of pants would fit you or not, without trying it out. For this, you need to wrap the waist around your neck. If its ends meet snugly, it means the pants will fit your waist.