Spanish Phrases: Clothes and accessories

On this page, we look at Spanish vocabulary for describing clothes and accessories, plus a few useful clothes-related phrases such as how to describe clothes. Other tools that might help you with this topic:

 Spanish clothes vocab crossword
 Create your own Spanish vocab podcast on this topic

Types of clothes

The following are quite generic terms for types of clothes:

ropa	-	clothes
un abrigo	-	a coat, overcoat
un pantalón	-	a pair of trousers/pants
unos pantalones	-	(some, a pair of) trousers/pants
un suéter	-	a jumper, sweater
un traje	-	a suit
un traje de etiqueta	-	a (formal) dinner suit, "black tie" dinner dress
un vestido	-	a dress
unos zapatos	-	shoes

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Coats and jackets

The following are Spanish words for specific types of jackets and coats:

un abrigo	-	an overcoat, (thick) coat/jacket
un chaleco	-	a waistcoat, short jacket
una chaqueta	-	a jacket
una chaqueta de punto	-	a knitted jacket, cardigan
un saco	-	a (formal) jacket, suit jacket (Latin America)

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Tops, shirts and T-shirts

una blusa	-	a blouse; overalls
una camisa	-	a shirt
una camiseta	-	a T-shirt
un jersey	-	a jersey, pullover
una playera	-	a T-shirt
una sudadera	-	a sweatshirt

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Types of trousers/bottoms

un bluejean	-	(a pair of) jeans
una falda	-	a skirt
unos jeans	-	(a pair of) jeans
un short	-	(a pair of) shorts
un calzón	-	(a pair of) shorts (Spain)
unos leotardos	-	leggings, ballet tights
una minifalda	-	a miniskirt
unos pantalones de montar	-	jodhpurs, riding trousers
unos vaqueros (Spain)	-	jeans, denims

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Underwear

ropa interior	-	underwear
unos calcetines	-	socks
un calzón	-	(a pair of) underpants, pants (Latin America)
una camiseta	-	a vest, undershirt
unas medias	-	(a pair of) stockings

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Accessories

unos aretes	-	earrings (Latin America)
una corbata	-	a tie
unos gemelos	-	cufflinks
unas mancuernas	-	cufflinks (Mexico)
un paraguas	-	an umbrella
unos pendientes	-	earrings (Spain)
un sombrero	-	a hat

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Parts of clothes

los botones	-	the buttons
el cierre	-	the zip(per)
el dobladillo	-	the hem
unos dobladillos	-	(on trousers) hems, turn-ups
las mangas	-	the sleeves
la parte de abajo	-	the bottom
la parte de arriba	-	the top
la parte de atrás	-	the back
los puños	-	the cuffs
las suelas	-	the soles (of shoes)
los tacones	-	the heels

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Describing clothes and people wearing them

The following are particularly related to clothes. You may also want to check out the general section on simple Spanish adjectives, plus the tutorial on ser and estar.

se ve...	-	it looks...
está...	-	it is, it looks...
es...	-	it is, it is intended to be...
ajustado	-	tight, tight-fitting
amplio	-	loose-fitting
muy amplio	-	too loose, too big
apretado	-	tight
muy apretado	-	too tight
delgado	-	thin
elegante	-	smart
grueso	-	thick
formal	-	formal
holgado	-	loose, loose-fitting
informal	-	casual
pesado	-	thick, heavy
es/son...	-	it's/they're...
...de algodón	-	cotton
...de lana	-	woollen
...de poliéster	-	polyester
...de tacón alto	-	high-heeled
...de cuello de pico	-	V-necked (Spain)
...de cuello en V	-	V-necked (Latin America)
...de cuello redondo	-	round-necked
...de caballero	-	men's, gentleman's
...de mujer	-	women's, ladies'
(es) de manga larga	-	(it is) long-sleeved
lleva (puesto) un traje	-	he/she's wearing a suit
llevaba (puestos) zapatos formales	-	he/she was wearing formal shoes
está vestido de (un) pantalón negro	-	he's wearing black trousers
está vestida de minifalda	-	she's wearing a miniskirt
anda de minifalda	-	she goes around in a miniskirt
prefiero la ropa de algodón/lana	-	I prefer cottons/woollens
el hombre del sombrero café	-	the man in/wearing the brown hat

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