Vocabulary: Talking about CLOTHES in English

Clothes are part of our everyday life. In this easy vocabulary lesson, you will learn how to talk about clothing, how to pay compliments about someone’s outfit, and what dress codes such as “smart casual“, “black tie“, and “Sunday best“ mean. Boring vocabulary is so last season, so put your glad rags on, and watch this lesson to learn some exciting new words. You will be looking smart in no time. TRANSCRIPT Hello, and welcome back to EngVid. You’ve found the right place to learn English. Today, we’re going to be learning to speak about clothes, about choosing the right clothes, giving compliments, the names of different styles of clothing. So first things first, instructions. If you’re holding a party, you might tell them to arrive in a particular type of clothing. You might say, “Dress up.“ Okay? You expect them to dress up. You’ll maybe say to the women to wear skirts and maybe even say to the guys, “Wear a tie.“ Okay? If it’s a smart, smart occasion. “Vamp it up!“ is a bit of a party term. If you’re a girl and you’re inviting other girls to come and party with you, “Vamp it up.“ You expect mascara and make up, etc. Obviously not for the guys. Don’t worry. “Put your glad rags on!“ This is another phrase about partying. Kind of put your, sort of, retro flares on and your, kind of, checked shirts. You’re going out for a night on the town. Now, I know we’ve got some viewers who live in Russia. You might want to “wrap up warm“. I’m going to Norway this weekend, and I’ll certainly be wrapping up warm. Or you could just say, “Wear a shirt and tie“ or, “Put on a colourful jacket.“ Maybe you’re having a fancy dress, okay? “Fancy dress“ is where we wear -- maybe you dress up as Mr. Men or as superheroes. “Fancy dress“ is a particular type of character party. Good. Other types of clothing, “Sunday best“. You go to church, and you have a nice Sunday lunch. You’d ask them to put on their “Sunday best“, their best clothes for a Sunday. If it’s a, kind of, smart, sort of, business networking -- perhaps at someone’s house -- maybe “smart casual“, respectable clothing. “Evening wear“ is a little bit more smart, okay? “Evening wear“, kind of, suits, shirts, ties, maybe “black tie“. That would suggest a bow tie. Or in America, you call that “tuxedos“, okay? Or “professional work attire“. That’s, kind of, the kind of clothes that you would go to the office in. Now, I’m going to be going to a party this evening, so I’ll just go and spruce up. See you in a little bit. So I’m ready for my party. I’ve put my after-shave on. And, wow. Look at her. She’s looking pretty good. I need to think of some compliments, some nice things to say about the clothes she’s wearing. A nice simple one, I could say, “Great outfit.“ Or, “You’re looking great.“ Now, if I’m talking just about the clothes, I could say, “That -- those trousers go really well with the top you’re wearing.“ Or, “It works. It really works with your hair, the hair colour and trousers.“ Or, “The top, it just so suits your particular eye type, your eye colour.“ So you can pair the colours of their hair and their eyes.“ Or you could just say, “That really suits you.“ Okay? “Suits“ is the same word as a business suit. You can use it as a verb as well. “It really suits you.“ Now, some more compliments. You can use “so“ as a, sort of, substitute for “very“. So I could say, “You’re looking so smart.“ Or, “You’re looking so elegant, so graceful, so stylish.“ Or, “You’re looking dapper.“ “Dapper“ is more often used about men than it is about girls. But it’s a great adjective for saying that you’re looking good. Now, some nasty things to say about what someone’s wearing, some criticisms. “I am sorry, but those colours just don’t work on you“ or, “Those colours, they don’t really work very well with you. They don’t suit you.“ Okay? Or if I just don’t think their clothes balance with them, I could say, “You don’t really pull that off.“ Like, if I were wearing a yellow checked suit with a pink spotted shirt, my wife would say to me, “Benjamin, you can’t really pull that one off.“ Okay. Now, if you’re very knowledgeable about fashion, you could say, “That’s a bit last season.“ Okay? “Season.“ We’ve, you know, spring, summer, autumn, winter. And fashions, you have spring fashions, summer fashions. “A bit last season. The clothes you are wearing are a bit 2012.“ Now, particular things with the clothes. If the colour is a bit faded -- can you all see my trousers? The colour, it’s a bit faded. Okay? It’s a bit torn. Can you see here? My trousers, they’re torn. I jumped over a fence to get into a festival, and now, they’re torn. Okay? “Ripped.“ It’s the same thing.