September 4, 2024

Necklace Length Guide: How To Measure & Choose The Right Necklace Chain Length

When buying a necklace online, a decision you might find yourself agonize over is choosing the right necklace length, be it for a woman or a man. This guide will help you select the right necklace length that will best showcase your necklace, accentuate your facial and body features and suit your wardrobe.

This comprehensive necklace length guide will tell you:

How to find your necklace length
How to choose the right necklace length for another woman or man

DIFFERENT STYLES OF NECKLACE LENGTH

First, you need to understand the exact look you are going for with your necklace using the chart of standard necklace lengths.

Standard necklace lengths for women

There are roughly 6 standard looks are that are based on variants of necklace lengths, the most common are choker and princess lengths. The other types are less common, but are good to know when considering necklace lengths.

The different women’s necklace looks are explained in this standard necklace lengths chart for an average woman:

Length	Style	Position on body	Worn best with
13 – 15”	Collar	Tightly around the neck	Any clothes with open neck such as V-neck, scoop or boat necks and off-the-shoulder.
15 – 17”	Choker	Sit at the base of the neck	Almost everything
17 – 19”	Princess	On the collarbone (the most common necklace length for the average women)	Almost everything
20 – 24”	Matinee	Between the collarbone and the bust	Great for both business and casual wear
28 – 37”	Opera	From top of the bust to a couple of inches below	High necklines and evening wear
37 – 60”	Rope	From the center of the bust to the stomach	Elegant business and evening wear

Standard Necklace Lengths for Men

Our Engraved Necklace For Him

The different men’s necklace looks are explained in this standard necklace lengths chart for an average male:

Necklace Length	Position on body	Worn best with
17-19″	Sits at the base of the neck	A crew neck t-shirt. Popular for beaded necklace which sits right above the tee collar.
19-21″	On the collarbone (the most common necklace length for the average men)	Almost everything if worn over. Low v-neck or unbuttoned dress shirt if you want it to sit on the skin.
21-23″	A few inches below the collarbone	Almost everything worn over or under.
23-25″	On the chest	This style is best for either religious or meaningful pendant to be worn under the shirt close to the heart, or to make a fashion statement worn over the shirt such as a dog tag necklace.

HOW TO MEASURE NECKLACE LENGTH FOR YOURSELF

Our Name Necklace worn at princess length.

Choose a similar necklace/cord to the one you are buying
When choosing the length for yourself, you can measure a similar necklace chain that falls the way you want. Take note that the chain thickness needs to be similar to the one you are purchasing. If you don’t have a necklace with similar look or fall, you could use a string or cord of the same thickness.
Wrap the chain around your neck
Ask someone to help you wrap the string around your neck, with one end pressed against the nape of your neck. Adjust the other end so that the string falls the way you want your necklace to, and mark where it meets the first end on the back of your neck.
Measure the chain by laying it flat
Lay the string/chain flat on a surface and measure the length up to the mark. This measurement should be your necklace chain length.

>> Find Your Bracelet Size And Wrist Size

SELECT THE RIGHT NECKLACE LENGTH FOR ANOTHER MAN OR WOMAN

The best way is of course being able to measure one of their existing necklaces which falls how they like it. As this is not always possible, your best shot is usually an educated guess at both the style they want and their neck size.

If so, consider a couple of things:

Most common average necklace length

If you are unsure, I recommend you to stick with the “princess length” for women and the “on the collarbone” for men as these are the most common. Furthermore, if your guess falls a little short or long, you will not end up with something completely unwearable.

Our Handwriting Necklace worn at choker and princess length.

Typically, in my experience, the princess necklace length is 16” for petite ladies, 18” for the average women, 20” for those curvier and 22 – 24” if she is tall with wider body frame.

For men, 18-20” is good for skinnier man with smaller frame, 20-22” for the average men, 22-24” for the larger built, and 24” and above for the really tall, well-built men.

>> Find Someone Else’ Bracelet Size Without Wrist Size

Consider an extender

Our Necklace Extender

Since all of the above are still educated guesses at best, when selecting a gift, you should go for some room for adjustment with an extender.

For example, all of Centime’s necklaces can be extended with a 3” extender, with multiple loops that allow wearer to choose the most suitable length.

Note that when you add the extender length to the estimated necklace length, make sure it can be adjusted longer and shorter.

For instance, if her estimated necklace length is 18 inches, choose a 17” with 2” extender or a 16” bracelet with 3” extender. Don’t order 18” plus extender.

Consider your facial shape and body build

Wearing drop bar necklace with a long chain to elongate a short face like how this coordinates necklace is worn

You should select necklace length that compliments your facial shape (see table belows). Generally, rounder face should choose a necklace length that elongates, while longer face will want to balance out their shape with a shorter necklace. When in doubt, just remember that you can almost never go wrong with the classic princess length.

Facial shape	Suits	Avoids
Round	Princess, matinee, opera, rope	Collar, choker
Long	Collar, choker, princess	Matinee, opera, rope
Heart	Collar, choker, princess	Matinee, opera, rope
Oval	Almost all	Almost none

Those who are more petite might want to avoid longer-style necklaces as they might swallow a small frame.

Pair the right necklace length with your wardrobe

Our Sterling Silver Monogram Necklaces worn at princess length with a button down shirt.

>> What is a monogram

You should consider your wardrobe when buying a necklace. For example, if you have a lot of turtlenecks, you should not buy a choker as it will be rarely worn.

The table below shows you which necklace length to get to suit your wardrobe.

Turtlenecks	Opera	Collar, choke, princess
Scoop Necks	Princess, matinee	Opera, rope
Round Necks	Opera, rope or a collar statement necklace	Princess or matinee as they might fall too close to the neckline
V Necks	Princess, matinee	Collar, choker
Boat necks	Collar, opera	Almost none
Button up Shirts	Princess, matinee	Opera, rope as they clash with vertical buttons column
Strapless	Almost any style	Almost none