Clothes Vocabulary | Clothes Vocabulary in English

Clothes Vocabulary Advanced Clothes Vocabulary in English

We are going to talk about clothes vocabulary, but not just the basic clothes vocabulary, we're going to go into detail. When you start learning English, one of the first things that you learn is "socks," "t-shirt," "shoes," "hat..." But there is so much more than that. There's so much more advanced vocabulary. What's the difference between a t-shirt bra and a pushup bra? or boxers and briefs?

Let's get started. I think we should start with "underwear" because, hopefully, that's what you put on first. Now, I am going to be talking about menswear and womenswear, but I completely understand that you can wear whatever you want, regardless of gender. We're just going from a vocabulary standpoint here. Let's start with men's underwear.

Learning English Clothes Vocabulary Lesson

Also, You Can watch the video down below

Underwear

Menswear underpants styles:

• Boxer shorts - elastic waist, baggy legs - baggy means loose, not tight

• Briefs (also known as y-fronts) are short and snug (tight or close-fitting)

Boxer briefs - a combination of boxer shorts and briefs long and tight-fitting

Womenswear underpants styles

US - panties

UK - knickers/pants

• Briefs: Also rudely referred to as ‘granny pants' because

they aren’t considered to be very appealing, These cover you

well, are triangular come up high and finish low.

• Control pants/Spanx: If you want underwear that holds you in and smooths your silhouette, this is called ‘control pants’, or ‘Spanx’ which is a brand name.

• Boyshorts - these are like little boxer shorts that are much more rectangular.

• Bikini/hipster - low rising briefs that rest on the hips
• Thongs/G-strings/Brazilians - The back of these knickers are designed to sit between the buttocks, rather than rest on top. Many women find these far more comfortable that other styles, especially because with these you tend to avoid a VPL, which is a visible panty line, where the edge of your underwear digs into your bottom, leaving a visible dent or line.

Seamless - smooth, without obvious joins. A seam in clothing is a line where two pieces of fabric have been joined or sewn together.

Bra styles

Bra - A bra is short for brassiere, but no one seems to say that

anymore.

Different styles are as follows:

• A triangle bra - triangular in shape, like a bikini
• A t-shirt bra - simple style, gives a smooth look under a tshirt
• A sports bra - maximum control and hold for exercise
• A strapless bra - no straps (material over your shoulders)
• A push-up bra - extra padding to boost cleavage volume
• A bandeau - this is a strip of elasticated material with no

straps or adjusters.

There are 2 adjectives that you need to know with bras padded and underwired.

If a bra is padded, it means that there is extra sponge or gel

material that will give your cleavage a boost.

If a bra is underwired it means that there is metal wiring below

the cup to the bra to give extra shape.

Socks, Tights & Thermals

• Trainer socks - finish below the ankle so they can’t be seen

if you wear trainers

• Pop-socks - these cover just the outside of the foot, so they

are invisible when you wear shoes like pumps or boat shoes

(we will cover these later)

Ankle socks - these come up to the ankles

• Mid-calf
• Over-the calf
• Knee-high
• Over-the-knee
• Thigh-high

We also have what we call tights in BE or pantyhose in AE.

The thickness of these is determined by the denier which refers

to the thickness of the yarn used to knit a pair of tights. 20

denier would be very fine and transparent, 200 deniers would

be very thick and opaque.

Stockings are a cross between tights and socks that finish at your thigh.

Lastly, we have thermal underwear, used to keep us warm

underneath our clothes.

• Long johns are like thermal trousers or leggings
• An undershirt is usually a long-sleeved t-shirt
• Vests are sleeveless with straps

We often just call all types of thermal underwear ‘thermals’.

Tops/Shirts

In BE we refer to clothing for your torso as tops, but in AE they

call them shirts. In BE, a shirt usually has a collar and buttons a top is anything you wear on your torso.

One word you will hear a lot when talking about tops is

‘sleeves’ or ‘-sleeved’. The sleeves are the parts of the garment

that cover your arms.

We also mention collars, the material that covers your neck, or

a neckline which is essentially the hole for your neck.

There are so many different necklines, but to name a few:

Unisex

• V-neck - v-shaped
• Polo neck - a rolled high neck
• Cowl neck - loose material around the neck
• Crew neck - a normal round neck

Womenswear in particular

• Boat neck - an elegant, long, and thin neckline that runs shoulder to shoulder, across the collarbone

• Sweetheart - a heart-shaped neckline that accentuates the cleavage

• Square neck - a square-shaped neckline
• Scoop neck - a rounded, deep neckline
• Halter neck - straps that go around the neck

A top can:

• Be sleeveless/strapless - have no sleeves
• Be strappy, have straps - a strappy top.
• have spaghetti straps - really thin straps, like spaghetti.
• Have short sleeves
• Have ½ length sleeves or ¾ length sleeves
• Be long-sleeved/short-sleeved

In BE, a strappy top is called a vest top. In AE it's usually called

a tank.

A t-shirt generally refers to a short-sleeved top

If we want to refer to a long-sleeved top we would specify a

long-sleeved t-shirt.

Also popular are crop tops, which show your stomach.

Blouses are feminine shirts - a loose-fitting upper garment

formerly worn by women.

On shirts and sometimes blouses, we have cuffs, which are the material at the end of the sleeve, and the accessories we use to join the cuffs are called cufflinks.

Jumpers/Sweaters:

We also have jumpers in BrE and sweaters in AmE. BrE has sweatshirts and hoodies, which are made of fine-knit cotton. A hoodie has a hood and usually a pocket at the front.

For jumpers, we have a variety of patterns and designs

• Cable-knit or chunky-knit - a thick textured knitted pattern
• Fair-isle - 'Christmas' style jumpers with a wintery design around the shoulders

• Striped or stripey - with stripes
• Cardigans - jumpers that are separated down the front with buttons

Casual jackets:

• Biker/leather - jackets are typically worn by motorcyclists
• Denim - jean material, often called a 'jean jacket' in AmE
• Bomber/military - an army-style jacket
• Baseball/varsity - American high school style jacket

Formal jackets (usually menswear):

• A blazer - a more casual jacket
• Tailored jacket - close-fitting
• Dinner jacket - satin on the lapels
• Single-breasted - one row of buttons
• Double-breasted - two rows of buttons
• Morning coat jacket - long 'tails at the back

Coats:

• Trench coat - long, often beige, with a belt
• Duffle coat - with wooden fasteners
• Parka/Raincoat - waterproof & knee-length
• Ski jacket - insulated for cold weather
• Shooting coat - dark green or tweed for country sports
• Overcoat - a big smart coat to go over indoor clothing

Women (generally) may choose to wear the following on colder evenings:

• Poncho - a garment of a type originally worn in South America, made of a thick piece of woollen cloth with a slit in the middle for the head

• Shawl - a piece of fabric worn by women over the shoulders
• Wrap - a large scarf that is wrapped around your body for warmth

Jeans:

Jeans come in a variety of waist heights:

• High-rise
• Regular-rise
• Low-rise

They also come in many different fits:

• Skinny - tight jeans
• Straight - looser than skinny jeans, but still fairly snug
• Boot-cut - slightly flared under the knee to allow boots gto go underneath
• Flared - jeans that go out (flare out) at the knee or sometimes in the whole leg
• Mom-jeans - old fashioned jeans that are now back in fashion - high waisted and baggy, often cropped at the ankle
• Jeggings - jean-leggings hybrid

Trouser Styles:

• Leggings - high-waisted/regular
• BrE - Joggers AmE - Sweat pants - athletic trousers
• Harem pants - baggy, loose-fitting cotton trousers

• Wide-leg trousers

• Corduroys - made of velvety corduroy material
• Cargo Pants - army-style pants
• Chinos - cotton formal trousers, often beige
• Shorts - short trousers
• AmE - Hotpants, BrE - Short shorts - very short shorts

Skirts:

• Mini/midi/maxi - short/mid-length/full-length
• Pleated - with folded fabric
• Skater - flaring from the waist
• Tulip - coming in at the knee/thigh like a tulip flower
• Trumpet - flaring out like a trumpet
• Tiered/rara - with many layers
• Pencil - tight-fitting, usually to the knee

Dresses:

• Jumpsuit - not a dress per say, more like a dress with trouser legs
• BrE - Playsuit /AmE - Romper- like a jumpsuit but with shorts instead of full-length legs

• Tea dress/sundress - feminine, usually sort and floral
• Fit and flare dress - tight top, flared skirt
• Wrap dress - a wrapped dress that is tied with a bow
• Maxi dress - full-length dress
• Ballgown - formal, full-length occasion dress
• Peplum dress - tight dress with a flared waist
• Bodycon dress - tight party dress
• Pencil dress - tight smart dress

Women's shoes:

We usually talk about heels (with a high heel) or flats (no heel)

• Ballet flats - ballet-style pumps
• Kitten heels - with a tiny, thin heel
• Platform heels - high, with a thick platform under the whole shoe
• Wedges - high shoes with no defined heel
• Stilettos - with a tall, thin heel
• Court shoes/pumps - smart, high shoes

General Shoes:

• BrE - trainers /AmE - sneakers - sports training shoes
• Boots - usually leather, covering the entire foot
• Sandals - strapped summer shoes
• Flipflops - simple rubber sandals for the beach
• Loafers - smart leather shoes shaped like moccasins
• Boat shoes - nautical style leather shoes with light soles
• Brogues - smart leather shoes with ornamental perforated patterns in the leather, and laces.

Accessories:

• Sunglasses/sunnies/shades - sun protection eyewear
• Tie - A thin strip of material to tie around your shirt collar
• cravat - a silk scarf worn in place of a tie
• Watch - a personal wrist clock
• Scarf - material for around the neck
• Gloves - protective clothing for the hands - like shoes for the hands
• Umbrella - for protection from rain

Hats:

• Bobble hat - a wool hat with a pompom
• Woolly hat/beanie - a wool hat worn for warmth
• Fedora - a low, soft felt hat with a curled brim and the crown creased lengthways.
• Fascinator - a decorative headpiece worn by women at weddings or the races
• Top hat - a tall, formal hat

Clothes Vocabulary With Pictures in This Video

Source From: English With Lucy