Measurements Here is some information on how to measure for clothing. For Misses’ and Misses’ Petite: BUST- Measure around the fullest part of bust and straight across back (1) CHEST- around body above fullest part of bust (2) WAIST- around body at natural waistline (3) HIP- around body at fullest part—usually 7-9" (18-23cm) below waist (4) BACK WAIST LENGTH - from the most prominent bone at base of neck to the natural waistline (5) SKIRT LENGTH - from the natural waistline to the floor (6) HEIGHT- measure (without shoes) standing against a wall For Junior, Women, Toddlers, Children and Girls: Take the same measurements as above, except eliminate Chest measurement. For Men and Boys: NECKBAND - around base of neck or buy shirt pattern by ready-made size (1) CHEST-around fullest part of chest (2) WAIST- at natural waist over shirt (3) HIP- at seat or fullest part of hip (4) SHIRT SLEEVE - from bony point of shoulder around bend of elbow to wrist (5) INSEAM - from inside crotch to desired pant length (6) HEIGHT- measure (without shoes) standing against a wall Making a Tape Form If your costume will be form-fitting, I may ask you to make a tape form. This process produces a copy of your body shape that I can use to customize my dress forms to more exactly match your own shape. Begin by wearing an old t-shirt that is quite snug. It will be taped, cut and sent to me, so be sure it is one that you don't need. You should wear whatever undergarments you are planning on wearing under the final outfit. My husband is wearing jeans, since he was having pictures taken, but you won't want a pants waistband to affect the shaping of the tape form. Take duct tape and cut strips long enough to go up over the shoulder to reach down to the armpit level on the back and front. Lay these over the shoulders in a criss-cross pattern, trying to capture the contours of the body. Continue adding tape strips until the entire upper chest area is covered. While wrapping the tape around the body, try to keep a normal chest volume. That is, don't breathe all the way in or all the way out. This would produce a tape form that is either too small or too large. Instead, breathe normally. Now begin wrapping tape around the body. Be sure that the first strips overlap the strips that came over the shoulders. You can raise the arms slightly to get the first strips up under the arm, but generally the arms should stay loosely at your sides. Note that the t-shirt will probably become wrinkled and creased under the tape. This is fine. You are not trying to get a form that matches the t-shirt, but rather one that conforms closely to the body. Continue wrapping tape strips horizontally until you have reach the bottom of the shirt. Ideally, this would continue down onto the hips to get the true shape of the waist and hip curve. Throughout the process, try not to compress the body too much. You aren't trying to produce a corset, you want to capture the normal shape of the body. Hopefully you've wrapped the person tightly enough that it conforms to their body, but not so tight that their breathing is constricted! This taped shirt will not be able to be pulled off other the head, since it is so snug. Use scissors to cut straight up the back to remove it. Pack it up and send it to me. I will use it to modify my dress form, which does have several variable size measurements, but can't exactly duplicate your unique shape. Once I have received the tape form, I will put it on the appropriate dress form and tape up the back. I can then stuff it with polyfill stuffing so that the final result is a padded form that mimics your body shape quite closely. In this case, I've taken a woman's dress form and modified it to take my husband's shape, where his chest measurement and waist measurement were both larger than the largest setting on the dress form.