Yes, but will the thing FIT me?

I've had people ask me some questions about FIT lately, so lets take a look at that in regards to my coats...

It sounds crazy that someone with a 34" bust would want to wear a coat with a 50" bust. Gah! The insanity! Well, not quite... see, these coats are meant to be forgiving. The slap-dashery is intentional.  Don't tell that to my great-great-great-grandma though. In the 1800's, misbehaving flesh was cinched into place and squished into submission. They also didn't yet have overlock machines and all these fantastic stretchy fabrics that we have now, so fit had to be more precise. She's probably rolling over in her grave at the way I dress, but times change and we've got more freedom now.  They do look dapper though, don't they? 🤩 They're not smiling though, so I wonder if the clothes back then were a lot less comfortable.. 🤔

(Yes, these are my ACTUAL great-great-great-grandparents.
OMG look at how long his arms are!!) 
👇

Rest in peace, dear great-great-great grandma and grandpa Beem 💖... back to the present day we go... so again, back to a person with a 34" bust wearing a 50" bust coat. Yes, it CAN work. I'll show you. See, that doesn't look so crazy, does it?? It actually looks pretty good.👇

And now, dear friends and readers... I will show you a series of marvelously explanative photos that are marked up to show just how I measure these coats. Imagine that the red lines that you see are my measuring tape, and you're all set.....

Take a look with the arms outstretched and NOW you can see the extra room - it does exist! I've also marked where I measure the coat. So *technically*, it's not the bust itself that I measure... it's the armpit-to-armpit, which I measure flat and then double. I do the same with the waist, and I've marked these two measurements in the photo so you can see where I take these. 👇

I'm a short little lady, so this coat is almost full length on me. Here's the measuring points for length. If you are taller than me, the coat won't fall as close to the ground. I measure from the base of the hood (where it's attached to the bodice) to the bottom of the skirt-piece. This is not at all intended to be exact and perfect but gives a general idea of whether the coat will fall closer to the ankles, or whether it will be more of a "midi" length coat (great for really really short folks). 👇

I'm going to show you this same photo, only now again with the shoulder-to-shoulder measurement so you can visualize that too. Remember, this is a coat, so it should be bigger than your own shoulder-to-shoulder measurement because I'm assuming you're going to wear clothes under this. I take the shoulder-to-shoulder measurement across the back... using the seams where the sleeves attach to the bodice, just as you see here: 👇

I also take the time to measure the sleeve length, because people have arms that are shorter, some longer. (Didya notice how LONG my great-great-great-grandpa's arms were? OMG!) So here's how I measure the sleeves. I use the shoulder seam as the starting point and then measure down to the bottom of the cuff, like you see here. 👇

I also measure the hood length too because I get a lot of requests for coats with "extra long hoods". For that, I measure from the brim of the hood, to the tail, just like you see here: 👇


So just remember - coats aren't bras or knickers - they are not supposed to exactly match your body measurements. Bigger is better because these are intended to be overcoats - you need room for your clothes underneath 'em. The princess-like seams in my newer coats don't always quite sit right on the bust, I'm getting better with each coat.. but my main goal is that there's enough room that you can zip up the coat comfortably and not feel like you're uncomfortably squeezed into the thing. But see? Wearing a coat with a 50" bust over a 34" bust is completely reasonable. I've got room, but not so much that it's shapeless. 👇

And... in my coats & hoodies section, the ability to filter by waist and bust measurement... IS FINALLY HERE! 🥳

I had to overhaul everything to gain this sort of functionality but for my coats and hoodies, you should now see filters that say "max bust size" and "max waist size"... (If you're on mobile, it's all under "filter and sort".) 👇

Keep in mind, the main point of these filters is for you to eliminate anything that is too small for you. You'll probably get best results if you pick your existing measurement, along with several larger measurements. Remember, these are coats/outerwear, more room = better. If you play around with those filters, you'll see that there is a lot of variation in the fit in my coats - that's intentional. People are not made uniform, and thus fashion shouldn't be either. It's sooooo much simpler if you know your own measurements, and can shop by those instead of some ridiculous concept of "tag size" that isn't even consistent from brand to brand...  I can't stand the way fashion manipulates tag sizes, so my cool measurements filters are here to try to save us from that sort of nonsense. 😎

I am quite sure I am not the only person that has found something cool, taken it to the Dressing Room of Truth and then thought... "Um, that is NOT a large!".😉 The fashion world has such treachery sometimes.... Let's move towards measurements instead and push the rest of the fashion industry to do the same.😁 

Oh - there are a FEW things that I don't regularly measure and that is not meant to neglect you, dear friend... just to save myself some time and insanity:

• circumference of the sleeve cuff
• circumference of the upper arm
• distance from the nape of the neck to the waist
• total "sweep" of the skirt
• pocket length
• pocket width at top

If any of these are likely to be a sticking point or something you're not sure about, it's okay to ask. I'll be candid in that dealing with returns is time-consuming and awful and never fun for anyone. Boooo!😥  I'd rather get it right the first time. It is less time for me to answer questions about fit than we both get stuck dealing with a return. It is okay to bug me, don't at all feel bad about it! I like email, or you can use one of the contact forms. I'm really shy though, so I will probably stroke out if you try to call.😱 OMG I adore you, but don't call. 😳 I promise I will try REALLY hard to get back to you quickly. Pinky swear!!

Now if you need help measuring YOU, here's a quick article to help you out. This one is geared towards folks that don't have a measuring tape for sewing, so whether or not you have one, I think this should cover you:
https://www.wikihow.com/Take-Clothing-Measurements-Without-Measuring-Tape

I love that you're interested in these coats enough to look, and wherever you get your coat from, get one that FITS... and wear it at every opportunity!! I hope this helps explain all the coat measurements and you feel enlightened and joyous. Thanks for reading. 💖💖💖💖💖💖

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