A Small Glossary of Getting Dressed

Thirteen words we use when we talk about clothes, and what we mean by them.

Words on a clothing page get worn smooth very quickly. 'Breathable', 'sustainable', 'one size', 'effortless' — they appear so often that they stop describing anything. When a word stops describing, it becomes decoration, and decoration is the easiest thing to sell with.

So this page is not styling advice, and it is not a list of new arrivals. It is a working glossary: thirteen terms that turn up in our own product descriptions, written down as plainly as we can manage, so that there is something to check them against. They are arranged alphabetically, which is a neutral way of saying that none of them is more important than the others.

Some entries end with one of our own garments. Think of those as example sentences, not recommendations.

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Alterationnoun. — Changing a finished garment so it fits the body you have, rather than the body a size label imagines: a hem raised, a waist taken in, a strap shortened. It is usually the least expensive way to make something wearable, and the least talked about. A cut can also be drafted to need less of it — an elastic waist settles across a range of measurements without a visit to a tailor.

See it in: the plaid elastic-waist skirt.

Breathableadjective. — Fabric does not breathe; water vapour moves through it. An open weave lets air pass between the yarns, while a natural fibre such as cotton or linen absorbs moisture into the yarn itself, so dampness leaves the skin less stickily but not necessarily faster. The word describes a mechanism. It is not a compliment, and it is not a promise of temperature.

See it in: the striped cotton-linen shirt.

Care labelnoun. — The small sewn-in instruction, and the only part of a garment written by someone who has tested it. Read it before the product description. It gives the temperature, whether the piece can be machine washed, and whether it should dry flat — the three things that decide what a garment looks like in its third year rather than its first week.

See it in: the cotton-linen lantern pants.

Drapenoun. — How cloth hangs under its own weight. It has little to do with thickness: a light fabric can fall in still, heavy folds, and a thick one can stand away from the body. Drape is set by the yarn, the weave and the finish. It is the reason an uneven hem reads as deliberate in one fabric and merely untidy in another.

See it in: the linen-Tencel top with an irregular hem.

Easenoun. — In pattern making, the difference between a body measurement and the finished garment measurement. Wearing ease lets you move; design ease is the shape somebody chose on purpose. A loose silhouette is therefore not a size up — it is room placed deliberately, with the shoulder and neckline still sitting where they should. Most arguments about 'oversized' are really arguments about ease, conducted without the word.

Fibre contentnoun. — The composition line, given in percentages. It is the only reliable description of what a textile is made from. A product name is not a composition line: words for fibres are sometimes used there to describe a look, a colour or a print. Read the percentages, and read the whole label — cords, linings, straps and trims are listed separately. When a page and a label disagree, the label wins.

Handnoun. — How a fabric feels when it is touched, folded, rubbed or squeezed: soft, crisp, dense, resilient, dry. It is a real property and a difficult one to sell online, because a photograph carries none of it. No amount of zoom replaces picking something up. This is a plain limitation of a product page, and worth naming rather than hiding.

Linennoun. — A fibre from the flax plant, woven into a cloth that absorbs moisture readily and creases at the slightest excuse. Those two facts are the same fact: a yarn stiff enough to hold air is stiff enough to hold a fold. Linen softens with washing and wear, which is why the oldest piece in a drawer is often the best one. Wrinkles are not damage.

One sizenoun. — A single set of finished measurements offered in place of a size range. It is a range of bodies approximated by one pattern, not a promise that everyone is included. On a loose garment the compromise is less visible, which is why the term is so common there. We list sizes instead: a letter on a label is easier to check than a claim.

Patinanoun. — The change a material earns through use: wood darkening where hands meet it, brass losing its shine, denim finding the creases it always returns to. It is not the same as wear, which is a material giving up. Patina is a surface recording time rather than resisting it, and it is the one kind of ageing that a product photograph cannot show in advance.

See it in: the wooden bird pendant.

Printnoun. — A pattern applied to the surface of a cloth rather than built into its structure — unlike a check or a stripe, which is woven. Because it sits on top, a print can be the most reversible decision in an outfit: it can be added, removed, or carried somewhere else without changing anything underneath. A low-commitment way to change how a plain garment reads.

See it in: the botanical-print shawl.

Strapnoun. — The part that carries weight, which makes it a structural decision rather than a decorative one. Width spreads a load; adjustability decides where it sits on the body; the attachment points take more strain than the length between them. On a bag, a strap that can be shortened is often the difference between something worn and something carried.

See it in: the plain canvas backpack.

Weightnoun. — Fabric weight, usually given in grams per square metre (GSM). It tells you how much material is there, not how warm it will be. Warmth comes mostly from still air held between layers and against the skin, so a heavy cloth worn alone can be colder than two light ones worn together. Weight is a useful number and a poor substitute for a plan.

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A garment is easier to choose when the words around it are precise. That is the whole purpose of this page. We will add to it when a term starts getting used loosely.

— The BUYKUD studio