How a Jemvic trench fits, and how to measure yourself properly

Trenches are won or lost on fit: an inch too long reads as borrowed, an inch too short as a mistake. This guide gives you every measurement behind our coats – body charts, garment charts, and the length each style falls on your height – plus the two-minute method for measuring yourself so the numbers actually mean something. Five minutes with a soft tape saves a fortnight of posting boxes.

Start here: the two-minute version

Every Jemvic trench is true to size, but ‘true to size’ only helps if you know your own numbers. Take them once, write them in your phone, and every fit note on every product page becomes specific to you. You need four numbers: bust, natural waist, hip, and height. Height matters more with trenches than with any other garment, because length is the whole silhouette – which is why we publish a length table for every style rather than a vague ‘long’ or ‘short’.

How to measure yourself accurately

1. Use a soft tailor’s tape measure. If you only have a metal one, measure a piece of string and lay it against a ruler.
2. Measure over thin clothing or underwear – measuring over a heavy jumper adds five centimetres you do not actually have.
3. Bust: measure around the fullest part, with the tape level under your arms and across your back. The tape should skim, not squeeze.
4. Natural waist: bend sideways – where your body creases is your natural waist, usually just above the navel. Measure there, relaxed, without holding your breath.
5. Hip: feet together, measure around the fullest part, roughly twenty centimetres below your waist.
6. Height: stand against a wall without shoes, mark the top of your head, measure from the floor.
7. Write down all four numbers in centimetres. If you are between sizes, the fit note on each product page tells you which way to go for that specific coat.

Women’s body size chart

These are body measurements, not garment measurements. Our coats are cut over these bodies with layering ease already built in – you do not need to size up ‘for a jumper’ unless the product page’s fit note says so. The Marlow, our double-breasted style, is the one exception worth reading carefully: double-breasted fronts need room to close flat over knits.

The length table: where each style falls on you

Length is the decision that makes or breaks a trench. Our lengths are measured from the centre back collar seam straight down to the hem – stand straight and measure the same line on yourself to see exactly where each style will finish. The table gives the actual garment length by size.

How to read it: on a 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) frame, the Wren lands just below the knee, the Halden brushes the ankle, the Lark sits at mid-thigh and the Swift at the hip. Below about 5 ft 4 in, the mid-calf styles start reading as longline and the Halden needs a hem plan; above about 5 ft 9 in, the Wren reads shorter and more brisk than it does on our 5 ft 7 in fit model. A tailor can shorten any of our coats from the hem – the facing and the hem allowance allow a clean adjustment of up to ten centimetres on the lined styles.

Garment measurements: the coat laid flat

The most reliable fit method for outerwear is comparison: lay your best-fitting existing coat flat, measure straight across the chest from armhole to armhole, double it, and match it to the chart below. If your favourite coat measures 108 cm around the chest, the Wren in M will fit you the same way.

Sleeve lengths run 60 to 62 cm across the range, cut long on purpose – a trench sleeve should finish at the thumb bone with the arm relaxed, and buckled cuffs let you adjust the break without a tailor.

Fit by style, honestly

• The Wren – regular through the body with genuine layering room; the easiest first trench. Mid-calf, belted, storm flap. Wear it over everything from a tee to a chunky knit.
• The Marlow – close to size with a shaped waist; the double-breasted front is the constraint. Take the larger size for heavy knitwear underneath, your usual size over shirts and fine knits.
• The Lark – relaxed and unlined; it skims rather than shapes. Size down only for a closer line. This is the one that packs flat and forgives everything.
• The Halden – straight and true to size, but length is the decision. Check the length table before you order; the coat is designed to read as one unbroken line to the ankle.
• The Swift – boxy at the hip with a short belt. The crop is the design, not a sizing quirk. Size up only if you want to wear a blazer underneath.

The belt: where it sits and how it ties

A trench belt is meant to sit at your natural waist, not wherever the belt loops happen to land – ours are placed to sit right on the waistline of the coat’s cut. Tied, not buckled: the covered buckle on the Wren is a keeper that stops the belt end flapping, while the actual fastening is a knot. The flat knot (fold the loose end under as you pull it through) is the one we recommend – it stays flat under car seatbelts and bag straps. Worn open, tie the belt in a flat knot behind your back; the front stays clean and the waist keeps its shape.

Between sizes: the decision, made specific

1. If you are between sizes on the body chart, read the product’s fit note first – it tells you which way that specific cut runs.
2. If you plan to layer heavy knitwear, size up on the Wren and Marlow; the Lark and Swift already have their ease built in.
3. If two lengths are tempting, order both – exchanges are free within the UK, and the mirror is a better judge than a chart.
4. If your bust and hip land on different sizes, size to the bust for lined coats – the waist and hip have the most easing room and a belt closes the difference.

Petite and tall: the two honest cases

Under 5 ft 4 in, the mid-calf styles (Wren, Marlow) start reading as longline – which some customers love, and some find overwhelms. The Swift is the cut we recommend most for petite frames because the hem lands above the leg line rather than competing with it; the Lark at mid-thigh is the second choice. If you have your heart set on a Wren, budget for a hem – ten centimetres off is a twenty-minute tailor’s job on our coats and transforms the proportion. Above 5 ft 9 in, the opposite logic: the Wren reads brisker and sharper, the Halden reads as intended rather than as drama, and the whole range sits well on you.

One more proportion note that the charts cannot capture: where you wear your waist. If you usually wear high-waisted trousers and skirts, the belted styles sit right at home; if you live in low-slung denim, the Swift’s short belt sits better than the Wren’s full-length belt, which will want to ride to your natural waist regardless of what your trousers are doing.

One measurement people forget

Shoulder width over a coat matters more than people expect – a trench that pulls across the back when you reach forward is one size too small, whatever the tape says. Try the hug test: wrap your arms around yourself as if holding a ladder. If the coat pulls at the upper back or the raglan seam rides up off the shoulder, size up. Our raglan sleeves forgive a lot, but they do not forgive a full size of shortage.

Human backup, included free

Charts answer most questions; people answer the rest. Email info@jemvicclothings.uk or call +44 151 496 8273 with your four numbers and what you plan to wear the coat over, and you will get a specific answer from someone who fits these coats daily – in the shop and on the phone, the fitting advice is part of the purchase, not an upsell. And the safety net: thirty days to change your mind, unworn with tags, with size and colour exchanges shipping free within the UK.