The Vocabulary Show: Clothes 👕👖👗🩳👚👒Learn 26 English words and phrases in 10 minutes! 🏪

I'm Dylan, this is BBC Learning English,

and in this video, we're taking a fun trip through the world of clothes.

We'll explore the essential items that make up a well-rounded wardrobe,

delve into the fashion industry's favourite materials, styles and patterns

and discover the variety and versatility of clothes used around the globe.

From casual wear to formal attire, we've got you covered.

Let's start off by taking a look at the normal, everyday clothes that we wear.

We'll quickly go through some of the most basic and common clothes first

and then we'll dig into things a little bit deeper later on.

We have

a shirt

trousers

a dress

a skirt

shorts

and a t-shirt.

It's called a t-shirt because it looks like the letter T.

So far, so easy, right? But there are a few different types of shirt out there,

so let's take a closer look.

There are crew neck shirts with a rounded collar.

There are V-neck shirts, which have a V-shaped neckline.

Or polo shirts, which start to blend the line between formal and casual.

These have a collar and two or three buttons at the top of the shirt.

Another item of clothing you commonly see are jeans.

These are trousers that are made of denim

and they are usually blue,

but you can also see them in white, black and other colours.

Jeans that are tight on our legs are called skinny jeans,

while jeans which taper out at the bottom are called boot-cut jeans.

But maybe you're feeling a little bit more relaxed

and you want something a bit more casual and comfortable,

so you've decided to wear a pair of leggings.

These are tight, form-fitting legwear

that are very flexible and comfortable.

They're perfect for casual wear, exercise, or just for lounging around the house.

Notice that when we talk about clothes that go on your legs,

we usually say 'a pair of'

and this is because we have two legs.

So we would say:

a pair of leggings,

a pair of jeans,

a pair of trousers,

or, a pair of shorts.

Of course, we also have two hands, so we would say:

a pair of gloves.

When talking about clothes, there are two essential phrasal verbs that we must know.

These are 'put on' and 'take off'.

'Put on' is used to describe the action of placing clothes on your body.

It's a very versatile phrasal verb

that can be used with almost any item of clothing.

For example, in the morning, you get up and you put on your shirt,

you put on your trousers,

you put on your socks, you put on your hat, you put on your scarf.

'Take off' is the opposite of 'put on'

and it means 'to remove clothes from your body'.

Again, this phrasal verb can be used with nearly any item of clothing.

When I get home, the first thing I do is take off my shoes.

Another use for a phrasal verb to talk about clothes is 'throw on'.

This is a casual phrase meaning 'to put on clothes without too much care or effort'.

We use it to talk about getting dressed without putting too much thought into it.

"I was late for work, so I just threw on the first shirt I found."

I've got one more phrasal verb for you:

'wrap up'.

This phrasal verb means 'to dress in warm and cosy clothes when it is cold outside'.

We often use it before someone is going outside into cold weather

and it's often used to give advice.

For example, "It's freezing outside. You'd better wrap up."

Speaking of wrapping up, let's talk about these thick, long-sleeved item of clothing

that we usually wear in cold weather or during the winter.

If you've studied American English, you are likely to call them 'a sweater'.

However, in Britain, Australia and New Zealand,

we tend to refer to them as 'a jumper'.

So that is the basic, common, everyday, casual items of clothing covered.

Let's elevate our style a little bit with some vocabulary for more formal occasions.

To wear formal attire is to wear sophisticated, elegant, smart clothes

to a formal event or occasion.

Formal attire itself is quite a formal phrase

and we are more likely to encounter it in writing

than we are in spoken everyday English.

Here's an example of a sentence that you might read it in:

The company's annual dinner requires all guests to wear formal attire.

Ahh, that's better. You're looking good.

You've put on your glad rags and you're ready to hit the town.

Your 'glad rags' are your best or most special clothes

that you only wear for special occasions.

It is an idiomatic phrase most commonly used in the UK

and we often use it with 'put on'.

For example,

If someone's put on their glad rags,

they are looking very smart, looking very good,

we can say they are 'dressed to the nines'.

This phrase means somebody is exceptionally well dressed

and we use it to compliment someone's appearance

when they are wearing very nice clothes.

What is your go-to item when you want to put on your glad rags,

when you want to dress up to the nines?

Let us know in the comments section below.

If you are going to a very formal occasion, you might wear a tuxedo.

A tuxedo is a formal evening suit for men,

typically in black or dark colours.

In a more formal or humorous context,

you might hear a tuxedo referred to as 'a monkey suit' or 'a penguin suit'

and this pokes a little bit of fun

at the high level of formality of wearing a tuxedo.

While the gentlemen will traditionally be dressed in a tuxedo,

the ladies might typically attend in their own formal attire,

a gown or ball gown.

A 'gown' or 'ball gown' is a full-length women's dress

that is used for the most formal occasions.

These elegant dresses ensure that everybody is dressed to the nines

and looking their best.

OK, so we've learnt about some casual, everyday wear

and we've learnt about more formal attire.

Let's now move on to other features of clothes,

such as textures, patterns and materials.

You might want to buy a striped shirt.

A striped shirt has horizontal or vertical lines going across it.

You might also hear people call them stripey shirts.

'Striped' and 'stripey' in this context are very similar.

However, 'striped' is the more common and standard way

of describing this type of design.

The word 'stripey' is a little less common, a bit more unusual and playful

and is more likely to be used to describe children's clothes rather than adults'.

However, both are totally acceptable.

For a fun look, you might want to wear a polka dot outfit.

'Polka dot' is a pattern that features many circles of an equal size

in a colour that strongly contrasts with the background.

You might also like floral or leopard print.

It's also important to know some of the most common materials

that our clothes are made out of.

First of all, we have denim.

This is a sturdy fabric, usually blue, often used for jeans and jackets

'Leather' is a material made from the skins of animals,

and is often used in the making of things like bags, shoes and jackets.

'Velvet' is a soft, luxurious material

And 'wool', which is a soft and curly fibre, from sheep or other animals.

It is often used to make warm winter clothes,

like sweaters or jumpers and scarves.

Ah, it's getting late. I'd better get ready for bed.

But what do we call the clothes that we wear to bed?

These are commonly known as 'nightwear' or 'sleepwear'.

Here's a closer look.

First of all, we have pyjamas.

In the UK, we spell it with a 'y',

but in America, they're more likely to spell it with an 'a'.

Also in American English, you might hear it shortened down to PJs.

Maybe you wear a nightdress.

This is a long, loose dress for relaxing or sleeping in the evening.

You might hear this called a nightgown

and in the UK, we often shorten it down to just 'nightie'.

A lot of people also get comfortable in the evening by wearing a dressing gown.

This is a thick, loose garment, often worn on the top of other clothes

and frequently worn after a shower or a bath in the evening.

OK, from a casual t-shirt to dazzling glad rags,

you are now equipped with the vocabulary and phrases for any fashion event.

You can find all of today's vocabulary scrolling down the side here,

so be sure to practise them, be sure to write them down,

practise them, use them in the comments section below,

so that you do not forget them.

Thanks for joining us.

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Stay stylish, see you next time. Bye.