How AI Body Measurement is Revolutionizing Online Tailoring

Online tailoring lets you order clothes made to your measurements without visiting a shop. You choose a style, send your measurements through an app or website, and the garment is cut for you. That's usually made-to-measure (an existing pattern adjusted to your numbers) rather than fully bespoke. It's convenient and gives you access to makers far beyond your city. The hard part has always been the measurements: taking an accurate shoulder width or sleeve length on yourself, with a tape, is genuinely difficult. That's the problem AI body measurement is built to solve.

Ordering something tailored? Get the 60+ measurements a tailor needs from two phone photos. Get your measurements →

When a made-to-measure order doesn't fit, it's usually because of the numbers that went in, not the sewing. Measuring alone means holding a tape level behind your back, guessing where your natural waist is, and reading the tape in a mirror. Small errors add up across a jacket or a pair of trousers, and a custom piece is harder to return than one off the rack. AI body measurement takes the tape out of it. You take photos, and the measurements come from your actual shape, consistently, every time you measure.

Here's what happens, step by step.

1. Take two photos. With Shaku, that's one photo from the front and one from the side, with on-screen guides showing where to stand.
2. The AI finds key points. The system locates landmarks on your body, such as shoulders, waist, hips and knees, in each photo.
3. Landmarks become measurements. It combines the two views to estimate body measurements. Shaku gives you 60+ measurements, including chest, waist, hips, shoulder, neck, wrist and knee, in centimetres or inches.
4. Use them. Copy the numbers into a tailor's or brand's order form, or let Shaku recommend your best size match against a brand's size chart.

The whole thing takes a few minutes. For a walkthrough with screenshots, see How to Use Shaku. Ordering something custom? Our step-by-step guide to made-to-measure clothes from phone photos covers which numbers a made-to-measure form asks for.

• Convenient: measure at home, whenever suits you, with the phone you already have.
• Consistent: the same method every time, so if a number changes you know it's you, not the tape.
• Covers the hard measurements: shoulder width, back length and sleeve length usually need a second person with a tape.
• Fewer returns: starting from your real numbers means fewer guesses about size, and fewer pieces sent back.
• More confidence ordering custom: you know what you're sending before the fabric is cut.

• Fewer fit-related returns and remakes, because orders start from more reliable measurements.
• Customers anywhere: measure clients in another city or country without a fitting appointment.
• Smoother workflow: measurements arrive in a consistent format that's easier to pass straight into pattern adjustment.
• Better stock decisions: anonymised, aggregated measurements can show which sizes your customers actually need.

Shaku also offers this as an API for businesses. See shaku.tech for details.

No measuring method is perfect, and photo-based measurement is no exception. A few things make a real difference:

• Clothing: wear close-fitting clothes. Baggy layers hide where your waist and hips are.
• Light and

Expect photo measurement to feed more directly into pattern-making, so made-to-measure orders get faster to produce. Brands will use anonymised measurement data to build size ranges that fit more real bodies. And as measuring gets easier, getting clothes cut to your numbers could become an everyday choice rather than a special occasion. For a look at how AI is changing custom clothing more broadly, read AI for custom-made clothing.

AI body measurement removes the hardest part of online tailoring: getting accurate numbers from home. Take two photos, review your measurements, and order with confidence. Find My Size, free for 7 days: sign up and get your measurements from two photos.