How to Measure Inseam for Women, With Brand Inseam Lengths

The jeans are in the basket and the length menu says 28, 31 or 33, or worse, Petite, Regular and Long. Picking Regular because it sounds like the middle is how a pair ends up folded on your shoes or stopping above the ankle bone, and hemming is a second bill on top. Below is the two-minute measurement from a pair you already own, and a table of what the length words mean in inches at four brands that print the number.

The quick answer

If you need a starting number before you measure, the generic pant-length chart runs like this:

Your height	Typical pant length	Length label
5’1” or under	28 in	Extra short
5’2” to 5’3”	30 in	Short
5’4” to 5’7”	32 in	Regular
5’8” or taller	34 in	Long

Treat it as a guess. The same guide’s own warning is that height does not determine inseam, because leg length varies at any height, and the brand rows further down show a “Regular” ranging from 27.5 to 31 inches. Measure, then match the number.

Method one: measure a pair that fits

This is the method to use when you own one pair of trousers you are happy with, because a garment measurement can be taken exactly.

1. Pick a pair of the same kind as what you are buying, worn with the same height of shoe. Wide-leg linen will not stand in for skinny jeans.
2. Lay them flat on a table, buttoned, with the front facing up and the legs lined up. Smooth the crotch so there is no fold in it.
3. Start the tape where the four seams meet at the crotch and run it down the inside leg seam to the bottom of the hem.
4. Round up to the nearest quarter inch. The inseam guide is specific about the direction: a 34⅛ reads as 34¼, not 34.
5. Write down what you measured, not just the number. “31, from the black straight-leg” is a number you can reuse next season.

Method two: measure your body

When nothing in the wardrobe fits, measure crotch to floor. Stand barefoot with your back flat to a wall and your feet a little apart, in leggings or something close-fitting. Hold the tape at the very top of your inner thigh, where the seams of a pair of trousers would meet, and measure straight down to the floor, looking ahead rather than down. That is the measurement Nobody’s Child’s chart calls the inside leg, crotch to floor, and its own instruction runs the tape “from the very top of your inside thigh all the way down to your lower ankle.”

Then adjust:

• Heels: add half an inch to an inch if the pair will be worn with them.
• Cotton with no stretch: add half an inch for shrinkage.
• Cropped and ankle styles are cut short on purpose, so a 27-inch ankle jean is not a mistake and not a petite.

What the length words mean, in inches

This is the table that saves the return. Every number is the figure the brand prints on the product page or size guide, with September 2026 list prices.

Brand and style	Length label	Inseam	Sizes	Price
Nobody’s Child size guide	Short / Regular / Long	29 / 31 / 33 in inside leg	UK 4 to 24	Cord Barrel Putney Jean £85
Good American Good Petite Straight	Petite	25.5 in	00 to 32 Plus	$98
Good American Good Legs Straight	(regular)	27.5 in	00 to 22 Plus	$98
Good American Good Legs Straight Long	Long	32 in	00 to 32 Plus	$108
Good American Always Fits Classic Bootcut Long	Long	36 in	00-4 to 20-26 Plus	$169
Warp + Weft NCE Plus Wide Leg	(single length)	33 in	14W to 24W	$63
Warp + Weft Vancouver Plus Straight	(single length)	29 in	14W to 24W	$118
Warp + Weft NCE Wide Leg	31 or 33	31 / 33 in	24 to 32 waist	$63
Universal Standard Keira Barrel Leg	(single length)	28 in	0 to 40	$188
Alloy Tall Hampton Trousers	35 or 37	37 in	XS to XXL	$74

Read the two Good American “Long” rows again: 32 inches on the straight jean, 36 on the bootcut, and a flare in the same range lists 37. The word Long is a position inside one style’s range, not a measurement, which is why the number you wrote down matters more than the label you recognise.

Three things the table shows about where to shop:

• At Warp + Weft, plus sizes come in one length per style. Its 14W to 24W styles each come in one inseam, from 25 inches on a skinny to 33 on a wide leg, so you choose length by choosing the style. Its straight sizes 24 to 32 get two inseams on some styles.
• Petite is a range, not a number. Good American’s petite jeans list 25.5, 28, 29 and 30-inch inseams depending on the cut, and Democracy designs its petite line for women 5’4” and under.
• Long is where the tall specialists start. Alloy’s length menu offers only 35 and 37, so if you measured 34 or more, that is the shelf to open.

Rise moves the hem

Two pairs labelled 31 inches can finish at different points on your leg, because the inseam starts at the crotch seam and the rise decides where that seam sits. Democracy publishes its rises: mid rise 9 to 9½ inches, high rise 10 to 10½, sky rise 11.

So if a pair in your usual inseam suddenly reads as cropped, check the rise before you order longer. Record both numbers for every pair you measure.

Before you order

• Look for the inches, not the word. Good American prints the inseam in its jeans descriptions, Warp + Weft puts it in the length menu. If a page only says Regular, open the size guide.
• Check the length exists in your size. Good American’s Long styles run to 32 Plus on the straight jean and to 20-26 Plus on the Always Fits range.
• Match the shoe. A 33-inch inseam measured in trainers is a 34 in a two-inch heel.
• Check the returns page before paying, especially on a first order from a brand.

Waist and hip are the other two numbers a trouser chart asks for, and how brands lay them out is in the women’s clothing size chart guide. If the retailer is British, the label side of the same problem is in uk size 6 to us. The other measuring walkthroughs are in size guides.

Where these numbers come from

The inseams, size ranges and prices are copied from each brand’s product pages and size guides on 19 September 2026, in dollars for the US brands and pounds for Nobody’s Child. The height table and the rounding and heel adjustments come from the generic guides linked above.

Frequently asked questions

How do I measure my inseam without a pair of pants?

Stand barefoot with your back to a wall and your feet slightly apart, hold the end of the tape at the top of your inner thigh where the seams of a pair of trousers would meet, and measure straight down to the floor. Round up to the nearest quarter inch. That is the crotch-to-floor number Nobody's Child's chart uses: 29, 31 and 33 inches for its Short, Regular and Long.

Is a 30-inch inseam short or regular for women?

It depends on the brand. Nobody's Child's Short is cut for a 29-inch inside leg and its Regular for 31. Good American's petite jeans list 25.5 to 30-inch inseams and its Good Legs Straight, the regular cut, 27.5. Look for the inches on the product page rather than the word.

Does height decide inseam?

Only roughly. Generic charts put a 5'4" to 5'7" woman at a 32-inch pant length and 5'8" and taller at 34, but legs and torsos vary at the same height, which is why the measuring guides say height does not determine inseam. Measure once and keep the number.