Real English: Talking about what people wear

Yeah, I don't know about this one.

I don't think it suits you.

You weren't even born when this thing was around.

What about this one?

Star Wars, okay, yeah, that's better.

Yeah, it suits you.

Okay.

Well, you go pay and I'll catch up.

All right.

Yeah.

See ya, Steve.

Hey, everyone.

I'm Alex.

Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on commenting about clothes.

So, today we are going to imagine that we are going clothes shopping, we're going into

the change room, we're trying on some clothes, and I will give you some vocabulary you can

use to talk about how the clothes fit.

And then we are going to look at some common comments you can make about other people's

clothes or about your own clothes.

So, first imagine you're in the change room and your friend is with you, and maybe your

friend is trying some clothes on.

Okay?

And your friend comes out, and they're wearing something that is very, you know, maybe very

sporty, or loose, or baggy.

Don't know what these words mean?

Let me explain them to you.

So, if someone comes out of the change room and you want to comment on it, you could say:

"It's..."

And if you want to modify, you can say: "It's a bit", like a little, or: "It's not _______

enough."

And you see all these words here, all these adjectives, and you can basically put: "It's

not _______ enough", plus any of these adjectives if you think it's not something enough.

Okay?

So first let's just start with all these words and explain them.

So: "It's very" or "It's a bit sporty."

Okay?

Now, "sporty" means athletic.

So, imagine, you know, something you wear for cycling, something tight, something for

the gym, yoga pants, anything like this.

"Oo, you look very sporty." or "It's very sporty."

Or maybe: "It's not sporty enough.

It needs to be more sporty or sportier", if you will.

Next we have "loose", so think of loose.

All right?

Lots of space.

So, if something is: "It's too loose."

Okay?

You can say: "It's loose.

It's a bit loose.

It's too loose", or: "It's not loose enough.

I want it to be more loose, to be looser, to have more space."

And a similar word to "loose" is "baggy".

So, those of you who were children or you grew up in the 90s and you remember MC Hammer

and his MC Hammer pants that were super baggy, they were called parachute pants, but they

were super baggy.

Right?

So, like, you're wearing bags on your pants.

Usually many, like, cargo pants, cargo shorts are very baggy.

Okay?

So also similar to "loose".

Next, the opposite of "loose" is "tight".

"Whoa, it's too tight."

Or: "It's a bit tight, a little tight."

Or: "It's not tight enough.

I want it to be tighter."

Okay?

Next: "stretchy".

So think of the word "stretch".

Stretch, stretch your arms.

Material that is stretchy is usually, you know, used for sports, but you can also have,

like, you know, formal dresses that are stretchy.

Clothes for pregnant women are often stretchy.

You have, like, those mom pants with the extra stuff for the pregnant lady.

Anyway, some of you know what I'm talking about if you have ever seen a pregnant woman

with, like, pregnant pants.

They're very stretchy, you can stretch them, so you can say: "It's a bit stretchy.", "It's

too stretchy.", "It's not stretchy enough."

Some of us like our pants to, you know, have a little more space to be able to stretch

them a little more on either side.

Next: "Wow, it's very flashy."

Think of, like, the flash on your camera.

So, if an outfit, if someone's clothes are flashy this means they get your attention.

They're like an advertisement, a billboard, like a flashy commercial.

Think of, like, their outfit has almost lights on it.

Not literally lights, but it gets your attention, like: "Wow, that's very flashy."

If it has very bright colours, for example, it can be very flashy.

"Plain".

"It's too plain."

Or you can say: "It's a bit plain".

"Plain" means normal, boring.

"Bland" is another word you can use.

Check it in the subtitles, which are in this video.

And this just means, you know, it's normal, it's regular, like a white t-shirt, it's plain;

there's nothing special about it, it's just a normal shirt.

Okay?

And finally, get used to using this word, it's a very good word especially if you can't

say the word: "comfortable", you can say: "comfy".

So, "comfy" is like a diminutive form of "comfortable".

It's more of an informal way to say "comfortable".

You can say: "Ah, it's very comfy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

This feels good."

Right?

Like that shirt.

Personally I think both shirts were too big on Steve, but Steve is going to the gym lately

and he thinks he's getting bigger and bigger.

He's very delusional sometimes.

It's okay.

All right, so you could say if you're trying on pants, if you're trying on a shirt, if

you're trying on a dress, you could say: "It's too tight", or "It's too loose at the back."

I can say: "It's too loose at the back" or: "It's too tight at the back.", "It's too loose

or too tight at the front", like: "This is too loose or too tight at the front."

Or on the sides.

You can also say: "around the sides", so: "It's too tight on the sides."

Okay?

Like my sides.

Or: "It's too loose on the sides."

Okay?

All right, so that's the changing room.

Let's move on to this side of the board where we have some common comments.

So your friend just steps out of the changing room or maybe you're not in the changing room

anymore, maybe, you know, your friend comes to work or comes to school, and they're wearing

a new outfit, some new clothes, a new ensemble, if you will, and you can say: "Wow.

It suits you."

If something suits you, it means it is good for, like, your body type or it's good for

your style.

Like: "Yeah, that matches your personality.

It matches your character."

If something isn't good for that person, like: "It doesn't suit you."

Okay?

So it's not good for, like, your personality, your character.

I don't think of you when I see this outfit.

So maybe your friend is, like, really, I don't know, maybe they're normally, like, very sporty,

and then one day they wear something that's very baggy and loose, and you think: "Well,

no, no, no, it doesn't suit you.

Like, you should be wearing clothes that are, you know, better fit for you."

Okay.

Next: "It brings out your eyes."

or "It really brings out your eyes."

So, this is a common compliment that you can give to a person where if they're wearing

some type of clothing, or maybe a piece of jewellery, like a necklace or some earrings,

something that is a complementary colour to their eyes and you notice their eyes more

because of this, you know, piece of clothing or piece of jewellery, you can say: "Wow,

it really brings out your eyes."

It makes your eyes like the star of the show.

Okay?

So you can say: "It really brings out your eyes."

or "It brings out your eyes", like, I notice your eyes when you're wearing this necklace,

or these earrings, or that shirt.

So, like a blue shirt and if you have blue eyes, maybe, you know, like, the light-blue

shirt will bring out the darker blue or green eyes that you have, or brown eyes, depending

on the colour.

I'm not very good at fashion, so I don't know what colours match.

I just know that black works with everything.

Okay?

Next, similar to: "It suits you", the easiest thing you can say: "Wow.

It looks good on you."

Okay?

So if something suits a person, it looks good on them.

Don't forget the preposition.

Right?

"It looks good on you."

So repeat this one after me: "It looks good on you."

Good.

And the opposite: "It doesn't look good on you."

You can, you know, comment on other people as well: "It doesn't look good on him.", or:

"It looks better on you.", or: "It looks good on her", for example.

Okay.

Next, a change room.

So: "It doesn't fit."

Like, it's not a good size, so if something fits it fits well; the opposite is: "It doesn't fit."

Now, you see I put the word "anymore", so maybe you have some clothes that you used

to wear in high school that now you're, like, 28 or maybe you're 40, and you think: "Yeah,

I'm going to try this t-shirt from high school."

And uh-oh, it doesn't fit anymore.

So, "anymore" means it fit me in the past, but it doesn't fit me now.

The size is not good now.

It used to be a good size, but it's not a good size now.

Okay?

So, we all have clothes like that, I think.

All right, so: "Your clothes"-usually we say, like, your socks, this is the most common

situation-"don't match".

So, again, I'm not good with fashion, so sometimes, you know, I will wear, like, a red shirt with

blue pants and some people think that that doesn't match; it's not a good mix of colours.

Or maybe you're wearing one sock that's black, one sock that's white, I think black and white

matches very well, but normally your socks should be the same colour, but you say: "Your

socks don't match."

Okay?

So they don't mix well, or they're just the wrong socks.

Okay?

So: "Your clothes don't match.", "Your socks don't match.", "Your shoes, you know, don't match."

And very, very nice and easy thing to say: "Nice outfit!"

So you've heard me use the word "outfit" in this video a few times, and you might be screaming

at your phone or screaming at your laptop: "Alex, what is 'outfit'?

The subtitles say: 'outfit', what is 'outfit'?"

Your outfit is...

I also use the word "ensemble", which if you're a French speaker, you'll know what that means.

If you're not a French speaker, don't worry because your outfit is just all the clothes

you're wearing.

So it's the mix of your shirt, your pants, your shoes, maybe your hat.

So your whole, complete, you know, look.

So if someone has a nice jacket, nice pants, everything matches well, you can say: "Wow.

Nice outfit."

Okay?

"You look great today.

You look nice.

That suits you.

That is a good look for you.

It's a nice outfit."

Okay.

And finally: "It really complements your _______."

So, I put a "hmm", a blank because this can be almost anything.

So, imagine...

You know, this "It", this can also be anything.

If I wear a necklace and the necklace is, you know, green, there's a green emerald in

the necklace and my eyes are green, you can say: "It really complements".

If something complements, it means it goes well with something else.

Now, this is "c-o-m-p-l-e-m-e-n-t-s", and don't think of the word "compliment", which

is: "c-o-m-p-l-i", like, to say something nice about a person.

This is "complement", which means it matches, it goes well with something else.

So, my green emerald necklace, it really complements your eyes or it complements your jacket.

Or if I have a tie, say: "Wow, that tie complements your outfit."

It goes well, it matches your outfit.

Okay.

Are you tired of talking about clothes?

No?

Okay, well, let's practice.

Just to finish the video, let's do some quick pronunciation.

So we will do this one fast.

I will just say each adjective one time and each of these phrases one time, and you will

listen, you will repeat.

Hey, if you're on the bus, it's okay; the person next to you won't think you're, you

know, doing something weird.

Just do it.

This is for your benefit.

Okay?

So, repeat after me.

"Sporty", "loose", "baggy", "tight", "stretchy", "flashy", "plain", "comfy".

Okay.

And continuing to here: "It suits you.", "It really brings out your eyes.", "It looks good

on you.", "It doesn't fit.", "Your clothes don't match."

And let's add one more to here just in the moment: "The colours don't match.", "Nice

outfit!", "It really complements your jacket."

Okay, very good.

How do you feel?

Not bad? Yeah? Okay.

Now, if you want to test your understanding of all of these words, and phrases, and comments,

as always, you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

And you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel on YouTube; and you can add me to Facebook,

I have a fan page; you can also add me to Twitter if you want to see what I'm up to

and, you know, get some more English tips there.

I give those, and I post some random pictures of Steve and stuff.

And I posted a picture of Steve, you know, a while ago, and I'm going to keep posting

pictures of Steve because he likes the attention. Okay?

All right.

So, hmm, hmm.

What are you wearing?

Ah, yeah, that suits you.

It really does, it really does. Okay? Nice outfit.

Til next time, thanks for clicking.