English Vocabulary For Clothes and Shoes
English Vocabulary For Clothes and Shoes
English Vocabulary For Clothes and Shoes
Clothes
coat / overcoat (also raincoat) = what you wear in winter over your other clothes, to keep
warm. You either have buttons or a (metal) zip to do up (= close) the coat.
jacket = short coat. You also have a jacket (and trousers / skirt) as part of a suit.
Men's suits are a formal pair of trousers and a jacket of the same material. With it, men
often wear a formal long-sleeved shirt, with a tie or bowtie around the collar of the shirt.
Waistcoat (piece of clothing without sleeves that men wear over shirts and under the suit.
A tracksuit is a pair of trousers and a jacket that you wear for playing sports.
With trousers, jackets and coats, you normally have pockets (where you can put things in
like tickets, tissues, your hands...) The pockets on a jacket are inside pockets or side
pockets. With trousers you have side pockets and back pockets.
A jumper / sweater / pullover is often made of wool and you wear it over a shirt / under a
jacket to keep warm in winter.
A cardigan is similar to a jumper, but it is open at the front, with a zip or buttons to do it up.
Note: you can say a pair of trousers (pants in US English) or a pair of jeans, or
just trousers and jeans.
A shirt is long-sleeved (with sleeves going down to your hands) or short-sleeved (with
sleeves ending above your elbow) and it normally closes with buttons. Women can also
wear shirts, or a blouse - a more feminine version. Tank tops have no sleeves and are
usually loose.
A t-shirt is a short-sleeved (or sleeveless) cotton shirt for summer, or for under your shirt.
Polo shirt is a T-shirt with a collar similar to that one of the shirt.
A sweatshirt is a heavy shirt, sometimes with a hood (to cover your head) that you can
wear for sports, or instead of a jumper.
A top is anything that you wear above your waist, either casual or smart.
A dress is one piece and often with sleeves. It can be long or short, for winter or for
summer.
A skirt goes from your waist to around your knees, but there are also mini-skirts - very
short skirts.
In summer, you can wear shorts - a type of trousers that are short, going to your knees or
above.
Shoes
You can also add "a pair of" to all the following types of shoes.
shoes = there are lots of types of shoes, such as high-heeled shoes or flat shoes (for
women), dress shoes (formal shoes for men).
boots = mostly for winter, these are shoes that go up to your knees (knee high boots), or
ankle boots which go up to your ankles (just above your feet)
Wedge boots = they are women’s shoes which sole looks like a triangular platform
Wellington boots (or "Wellingtons" / "Wellies") are rubber boots that you can wear when
you walk in the rain.
flip flops = these are made of rubber or plastic, and there is a strap that goes between your
first two toes. They make a "flip flop" sound when you walk in them.
slippers = you wear these in your house to keep your feet warm.
Accessories
hat = you wear this on your head. There are three types: knitted hat(s) - woolen hat(s) -
bobble hat(s)
Headscarf = piece of cloth that generally women wear around their heads
Hairband= object generally worn by little girls on their heads that resembles a half ring and
usually has drawings or accessories on.
mittons = type of gloves where there are not special and individual separations for the
fingers.
scarf = you wear this around your neck. (The plural is scarves or scarfs.)
belt = you wear this around the waist of your trousers or jeans
bag = you carry this because it contains money, phone, keys, etc. You can also use
a briefcase to carry documents and papers.
Jewellery: necklace (around your neck), bracelet(around your wrist), ring (on your finger)
earring (a ring in your ear) watch (to tell the time) brooch (for women’s hair)
Sunglasses
Underwear
Types of material / fabric
The different types of material (also called fabric) are uncountable nouns in English.
"Cotton comes from plants." (Not "A cotton comes from plants.")
linen - summer material, more rigid than cotton. Often in long-sleeve or sleeveless shirts
and in suits
wool - comes from animals like sheep and lambs, used in jumpers.
(Adjective form = woollen in British English, woolen in American English)
with spots with little dots/points or with stripes that are lines drawn on the fabric
with a design
Sleves:
Types of trousers:
worn out = looking old and damaged for having been overused.
Straight
Skinny
S-pocket jeans
Bush Pants/trousers = they have more than one pocket on each side
. Useful verbs
wear = the clothes you use: "I wear a suit to work."
get dressed = the process of putting on clothes: "I get dressed after I have my shower."
do up = to "close" a piece of clothing: "Do up your coat before you go outside."
undo = to "open" clothing: "My hands are so cold I can't undo the buttons."
zip up = to use the zip to close some clothing: "Zip up your jacket."
unzip = to use the zip to open some clothing: "Help me! I can't unzip this jacket."