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  • Hello, and welcome back to EngVid. You've found the right place to learn English. Today,

  • we're going to be learning to speak about clothes, about choosing the right clothes,

  • giving compliments, the names of different styles of clothing.

  • So first things first, instructions. If you're holding a party, you might tell them to arrive

  • in a particular type of clothing. You might say, "Dress up." Okay? You expect them to

  • dress up. You'll maybe say to the women to wear skirts and maybe even say to the guys,

  • "Wear a tie." Okay? If it's a smart, smart occasion.

  • "Vamp it up!" is a bit of a party term. If you're a girl and you're inviting other girls

  • to come and party with you, "Vamp it up." You expect mascara and make up, etc. Obviously

  • not for the guys. Don't worry.

  • "Put your glad rags on!" This is another phrase about partying. Kind of put your, sort of,

  • retro flares on and your, kind of, checked shirts.

  • You're going out for a night on the town.

  • Now, I know we've got some viewers who live in Russia. You might want to "wrap up warm".

  • I'm going to Norway this weekend, and I'll certainly be wrapping up warm. Or you could

  • just say, "Wear a shirt and tie" or, "Put on a colourful jacket." Maybe you're having

  • a fancy dress, okay? "Fancy dress" is where we wear -- maybe you dress up as Mr. Men or

  • as superheroes. "Fancy dress" is a particular type of character party. Good.

  • Other types of clothing, "Sunday best". You go to church, and you have a nice Sunday lunch.

  • You'd ask them to put on their "Sunday best", their best clothes for a Sunday.

  • If it's a, kind of, smart, sort of, business networking -- perhaps at someone's house -- maybe

  • "smart casual", respectable clothing.

  • "Evening wear" is a little bit more smart, okay? "Evening wear", kind of, suits, shirts,

  • ties, maybe "black tie". That would suggest a bow tie. Or in America, you call that "tuxedos",

  • okay? Or "professional work attire". That's, kind of, the kind of clothes that you would

  • go to the office in.

  • Now, I'm going to be going to a party this evening, so I'll just go and spruce up.

  • See you in a little bit.

  • So I'm ready for my party. I've put my after-shave on. And, wow. Look at her. She's looking pretty

  • good. I need to think of some compliments, some nice things to say about the clothes

  • she's wearing.

  • A nice simple one, I could say, "Great outfit." Or, "You're looking great." Now, if I'm talking

  • just about the clothes, I could say, "That -- those trousers go really well with the

  • top you're wearing." Or, "It works. It really works with your hair, the hair colour and

  • trousers." Or, "The top, it just so suits your particular eye type, your eye colour."

  • So you can pair the colours of their hair and their eyes." Or you could just say,

  • "That really suits you." Okay? "Suits" is the same word as a business suit.

  • You can use it as a verb as well. "It really suits you."

  • Now, some more compliments. You can use "so" as a, sort of, substitute for "very". So I

  • could say, "You're looking so smart." Or, "You're looking so elegant, so graceful, so

  • stylish." Or, "You're looking dapper." "Dapper" is more often used about men than it is about

  • girls. But it's a great adjective for saying that you're looking good.

  • Now, some nasty things to say about what someone's wearing, some criticisms. "I am sorry, but

  • those colours just don't work on you" or, "Those colours, they don't really work very

  • well with you. They don't suit you." Okay? Or if I just don't think their clothes balance

  • with them, I could say, "You don't really pull that off." Like, if I were wearing a

  • yellow checked suit with a pink spotted shirt, my wife would say to me,

  • "Benjamin, you can't really pull that one off." Okay.

  • Now, if you're very knowledgeable about fashion, you could say, "That's a bit last season."

  • Okay? "Season." We've, you know, spring, summer, autumn, winter. And fashions, you have spring

  • fashions, summer fashions. "A bit last season. The clothes you are wearing are a bit 2012."

  • Now, particular things with the clothes. If the colour is a bit faded -- can you all see

  • my trousers? The colour, it's a bit faded. Okay? It's a bit torn. Can you see here? My

  • trousers, they're torn. I jumped over a fence to get into a festival, and now, they're torn.

  • Okay? "Ripped." It's the same thing.

  • That's the end of my lesson on clothes. I hope you've learned how to compliment, how

  • to ask people to turn up in certain types of clothes. Now, if you want to test what

  • you have learned, go onto the EngVid website, and take a little test on this lesson here.

  • Also, if you've liked what I've been doing and want to see more of my videos, do become

  • a subscriber of mine on the EngVid YouTube site. That would be fantastic.

  • See you again soon. Bye.

Hello, and welcome back to EngVid. You've found the right place to learn English. Today,

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