Clothing terminology comprises the names of individual garments A feature of all modern human societies is the wearing of clothing, a category encompassing a wide variety of materials that cover the body. The primary purpose of clothing is functional, as a protection from the elements. Clothes also enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking, by providing a barrier between the skin and classes of garments, as well as the specialized vocabularies A person's vocabulary is the set of words they are familiar with in a language. A vocabulary usually grows and evolves with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge of the trades that have designed Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time. It is considered to have a planned obsolescence usually of one to two seasons. A season is defined as either autumn/winter or spring/summer, manufactured Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale. Such finished goods may be used for manufacturing, marketed Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in products or services. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves and sold Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals or businesses. In commerce, a "retailer" clothing over hundreds of years.

Clothing terminology ranges from the arcane (watchet Watchet is a harbour town and civil parish in the English county of Somerset, with an approximate population of 4,400. It is situated 15 miles west of Bridgwater, 15 miles (24 km) north-west of Taunton, and 9 miles (14 km) east of Minehead. The parish includes the hamlet of Beggearn Huish. The town lies at the mouth of the Washford River on, a pale blue color name from the sixteenth century) to the everyday (t-shirt A T-shirt is a shirt which is pulled on over the head to cover most of a person's torso. A T-shirt is usually buttonless and collarless, with a round neck and short sleeves), and changes over time in response to fashion Fashion, a general term for the style and custom prevalent at a given time, in its most common usage refers to costume or clothing style. The more technical term, costume, has become so linked in the public eye with the term "fashion" that the more general term "costume" has in popular use mostly been relegated to special which in turn reflects social The term Social refers to a characteristic of living organisms . It always refers to the interaction of organisms with other organisms and to their collective co-existence, irrespective of whether they are aware of it or not, and irrespective of whether the interaction is voluntary or involuntary, artistic Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects the senses, emotions, and/or intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, sculpture, and paintings. The meaning of art is explored in a, and political trends.

Categories of clothing terminology

At its broadest, clothing terminology may be said to include names for:

• Classes of basic garments: shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body. Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for almost any upper-body garment other than outerwear such as sweaters, coats, jackets, or undergarments such as bras, vests or base layers. In British English, a shirt is more specifically a, coat A coat is a long garment worn by both men and women, for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and open down the front, closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a belt, or a combination of these. Other possible ornaments include collars and shoulder straps, skirt A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs, dress A dress is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice or with a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment, suit A suit is a set of garments made from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of Western suit, originating in England as country wear. Other types of suit still worn today are firstly the dinner suit, part of black tie, which arose as a lounging alternative to dress coats in much the, underwear Undergarments or underwear are clothes worn under other clothes, often next to the skin. They keep outer garments from being soiled by perspiration, urine, semen, feces, and other discharges; shape the body; and provide support for parts of it. In cold weather, long underwear sometimes is worn to provide additional warmth. Some undergarments are
• Length, for skirts and dresses: micro-mini, mini A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than 10 cm below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning. A micro-miniskirt or microskirt is a further abbreviation of the miniskirt and short shorts are the shortened versions of the shorts, moxi, tea length, ballerina length A ballet tutu is a skirt worn as a costume in a ballet performance, often with attached bodice. It might be single layer, hanging down, or multiple layers starched and strutting out. It tends to add a floating motion when ballerinas dance in them, full length, midi MIDI , pronounced /ˈmɪdi/, is an industry-standard protocol defined in 1982 that enables electronic musical instruments, such as keyboard controllers, computers and other electronic equipment, to communicate and also to control and synchronize with each other. MIDI allows computers, synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers and drum, maxi A skirt is a tube- or cone-shaped garment that hangs from the waist and covers all or part of the legs
• Contemporary and historical styles Fashion, a general term for the style and custom prevalent at a given time, in its most common usage refers to costume or clothing style. The more technical term, costume, has become so linked in the public eye with the term "fashion" that the more general term "costume" has in popular use mostly been relegated to special of garments: corset A corset is a garment worn to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes . Both men and women are known to wear corsets, though women are more common wearers, frock coat A frock coat is a man's coat characterised by knee-length skirts all around the base, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods. The double-breasted style is sometimes called a Prince Albert . The frock coat is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at the back, and some features unusual in post-Victorian dress. These include the, t-shirt A T-shirt is a shirt which is pulled on over the head to cover most of a person's torso. A T-shirt is usually buttonless and collarless, with a round neck and short sleeves, doublet A doublet is a man's snug-fitting buttoned jacket that was worn in Western Europe from the Middle Ages through to the mid-17th century. The term also refers to a formal jacket worn with highland dress, a variation of which is called an Argyll jacket or Prince Charlie jacket
• Parts of garments: sleeve Sleeve is that part of a garment which covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period. Various survivals of the early forms of sleeve are still found in the different types of academic or other robes. Where the long hanging, collar In clothing, a collar is the part of a shirt, dress, coat or blouse that fastens around or frames the neck. A collar may also be a separate or detachable accessory worn around the neck, lapel Jacket lapels are the folded flaps of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat, and are most commonly found on formal clothing and suit jackets. Usually they are formed by folding over the front edges of the jacket or coat and sewing them to the collar, an extra piece of fabric around the back of the neck, as shown in the image
• Styles of these: juliette sleeve Sleeve is that part of a garment which covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period. Various survivals of the early forms of sleeve are still found in the different types of academic or other robes. Where the long hanging, Peter Pan collar In clothing, a collar is the part of a shirt, dress, coat or blouse that fastens around or frames the neck. A collar may also be a separate or detachable accessory worn around the neck
• Clothing details: pocket A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets may also be attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag or pouch, french cuff A cuff is an extra layer of fabric at the lower edge of the sleeve of a garment covering the arms. In US usage the word may also refer to the end of the leg of a pair of trousers. The functional purpose of turned cuffs is to protect the material from fraying and, when frayed, to allow the cuffs to be repaired or replaced without major changes to, zipper A zip (American English: zipper or zip fastener) is a popular device for temporarily joining two edges of fabric. It is used in clothing (e.g., jackets and jeans), luggage and other bags, sporting goods, camping gear (e.g., tents and sleeping bags), and other daily use items
• Functional uses: base layer, insulation layer, outer shell Layered clothing is a manner of dressing using multiple garments that are worn on top of each other. Some of the layers have different, largely non-overlapping, functions. Using more or fewer layers, or replacing one layer but not others, allows for flexible clothing to match the needs of each situation. Two thin layers can be warmer yet lighter
• Traditional National costume expresses an identity through costume which usually relates to a geographic area or a period of time in history, but can also indicate social, marital and/or religious status. Such costumes often come in two forms: one for everyday occasions, the other for festivals and formal wear garments: cheongsam The cheongsam is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women; the male version is the changshan. It is known in Mandarin Chinese as the qípáo (旗袍) Wade-Giles ch'i-p'ao, and is also known in English as a mandarin gown. The stylish and often tight-fitting cheongsam or qipao (chipao) that is most often associated with today was created in, kilt The kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the rear, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century. Since the 19th century it has become associated with the wider culture of Scotland in general, or with Celtic heritage even more broadly. It is most often made of woollen cloth in a tartan, dirndl A dirndl is a type of traditional dress worn in southern Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria and Italian South Tirol, based on the historical costume of Alpine peasants. Dresses that are loosely based on the dirndl are known as Landhausmode
• Fashions and "anti-fashions": preppy Preppy, preppie, or prep refers to a modern, widespread United States clique, sometimes considered a youth subculture. Preppy is a chiefly North American adjective or noun traditionally used in relation to northeastern private university-preparatory schools and denotes a person seen as characteristic of an attendee of these schools, New Look, hip-hop Hip hop is a musical genre which developed as part of hip hop culture, and is defined by key stylistic elements such as rapping, DJing, sampling, scratching and beatboxing. Hip hop began in the South Bronx of New York City in the 1970s. The term rap is often used synonymously with hip hop, but hip hop denotes the practices of an entire subculture, rational dress During the middle and late Victorian period, various reformers proposed, designed, and wore clothing supposedly more rational and comfortable than the fashions of the time. This was known as the dress reform or rational dress movement. The movement had its greatest success in the reform of women's undergarments, which could be modified without
• Fabrics A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands. Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or pressing fibres together: denim Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late eighteenth century. The word comes from the name of a sturdy fabric, wool The term wool is usually restricted to describing the fibrous protein derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles in sheep, chiffon Chiffon, from the French word for a cloth or rag, is a lightweight, balanced plain-woven sheer fabric woven of alternate S- and Z-twist crepe yarns. The twist in the crepe yarns puckers the fabric slightly in both directions after weaving, giving it some stretch and a slightly rough feel, velvet Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are very evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it a distinct feel, satin Satin is a weave that typically has a glossy surface and a dull back. It is a warp-dominated weaving technique that forms a minimum number of interlacings in a fabric. Some definitions insist that the fabric is made from silk. If a fabric is formed with a satin weave using filament fibres such as silk, nylon, or polyester, the corresponding fabric, silk Silk is a natural protein fibre, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity . The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract, cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant . The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas,Africa , India and Pakistan. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most
• Fabric treatments: fabric painting, transfers, ikat, tie-dye, batik
• Fabric manipulation: pleat, tuck, gather, smocking
• Colors and dyes: madder red, indigo, isabella
• Sewing terms: cut, hem, armscye, lining
• Patternmaking terms: sloper, toile
• Methods of manufacture: haute couture, bespoke tailoring, ready-to-wear
• Retailers' terms:
  • Size ranges: missy, plus size, big-and-tall
  • Retail seasons: back-to-school, holiday, resort, seasonal
  • Departments: special occasion, sportswear, bridge fashion
  • Degrees of formality: formal wear, bridal, business casual
  • Market: high end, high street, ethical consumer, cut price

Persistence of clothing terminology

Despite the constant introduction of new terms by fashion designers, clothing manufacturers and marketers, the names for several basic garment classes in English are very stable over time. Gown, shirt/skirt, frock, and coat are all attested back to the early medieval period.

Gown (from medieval Latin gunna) was a basic clothing term for hundreds of years, referring to a garment that hangs from the shoulders. In medieval and renaissance England gown referred to a loose outer garment worn by both men and women, sometimes short, more often ankle length, with sleeves. By the eighteenth century gown had become a standard category term for a woman's dress, a meaning it retained until the mid-twentieth century. Only in the last few decades has gown lost this general meaning in favor of dress. Today the term gown is rare except in specialized cases: academic dress or cap and gown, evening gown, nightgown, hospital gown, and so on (see Gown).

Shirt and skirt are originally the same word, the former being the southern and the latter the northern pronunciation in early Middle English. Like gown, shirt is becoming a specialized term in Britain, though it retains its general meaning in the United States (see Shirt).

Coat remains a term for an overgarment, its essential meaning for the last thousand years (see Coat).

Sources of new terminology

Names for new styles or fashions in clothing are frequently the deliberate inventions of fashion designers or clothing manufacturers; these include Chanel's Little Black Dress (a term which has survived) and Lanvin's robe de style (which has not). Other terms are of more obscure origin.

Personal names

Clothing styles are frequently named after people — often with a military connection:

• The Garibaldi jacket and Garibaldi shirt were bright red woolen garments for women with black embroidery or braid and military details popular in the 1860s; they are named after the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi who visited England in 1863.

• The Eisenhower jacket or "Ike" jacket is a waist-length, military jacket of World War II origins. Called the "Jacket, Field, Wool, M-1944", it was commissioned by then General Dwight Eisenhower as a new field jacket for the US Forces in Northern Europe. The jacket was based on the British Army 'Battle Dress' jacket of the same era.

• The cardigan is a knitted jacket or button-front sweater created to keep British soldiers warm in Russian winters. It is named for James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, who led the Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War (1854).

• The Mao jacket is a very plain (often grey), high-collared, shirtlike jacket customarily worn by Mao Zedong and the people of China during his regime. Its drab design and uniformity was a reaction to pre-Revolution class distinctions of clothes, with elites dressing in elaborate silks, while poor laborers wore very rough clothes.

• The Nehru jacket is a uniform jacket without lapels or collars, popularized by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India.

• The Bloomer Costume was a type of woman's clothing introduced in the Antebellum period, that changed the style from dresses to a more male-type style, which was devised by Amelia Bloomer.

Place names

Another fertile source for clothing terms is place names, which usually reflect the origin (or supposed origin) of a fashion. Modern terms such as Bermuda shorts, Hawaiian shirts, and Fair Isle sweaters are the latest in a long line that stretches back to holland (linen), damask ("from Damascus"), polonaise ("in the fashion of Polish women"), jersey (originally Jersey frock), Balaclava, mantua, and denim ("serge de Nîmes" after the city).

Costume historian's terms

Costume historians, with a "rearward-looking" view, require names for clothing styles that were not used (or needed) when the styles were actually worn. For example, the Van Dyke collar is so-called from its appearances in seventeenth century portraits by Anthony Van Dyck, and the Watteau pleats of the robe á la française are called after their appearance in the portraits of Antoine Watteau.

Similarly, terms may be applied ahistorically to entire categories of garments, so that corset is applied to garments that were called stays or a pair of bodies until the introduction of the word corset in the late eighteenth century. And dress is now applied to any woman's garment consisting of a bodice and skirt, although for most of its history dress simply meant clothing, or a complete outfit of clothing with its appropriate accessories.

Short forms

A notable trend at the turn of the twenty-first century is "cute" short forms: camisole becomes cami, hooded sweaters or sweatshirts become hoodies, and as of 2005, short or "shrunken" cardigans are cardies.

The much-older term shimmy for "slip" is most likely a false singular from chemise.

References

• Oxford English Dictionary
• Picken, Mary Brooks: The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition ISBN 0-308-10052-2)

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