Clothing in German: 90+ Vocabulary Terms

Rebecca Henderson Date Published: 7 Jun 2023 Date Modified: 14 Oct 2024

Clothing is a huge part of our everyday routine, and therefore it’s an essential topic for any German learner.

Die Kleidung is one of the most common ways to say “clothing” in German, but under that umbrella there are a huge number of different terms you can use to describe aspects of people’s outfits.

If you know the German clothing vocabulary terms in this post—including essential clothing items, descriptors and clothing-related verbs—you’ll be prepared for conversations with even the most fashion-forward German speakers.

The Basics
Accessories
Regional Clothing Terms
Describing Clothing
Clothing Verbs
Putting It All Together: Example Sentences
Questions About Clothing in German
And One More Thing...

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The Basics

German	English
die Unterwäsche	underwear
der BH/Büstenhalter	bra
die Socke	sock
die Strumpfhose	pantyhose
die kurze Hose/die Shorts	shorts
das Trägerhemd/das Tanktop	tank top
das Hemd	shirt
das T-Shirt	t-shirt
die Bluse	blouse
die Ärmel	sleeves
die Hose	pants
die Jeans	jeans
der Rock	skirt
die Leggings	leggings
das Kleid	dress
der Anzug	suit
die Krawatte	tie
die Jacke	jacket
der Kapuzenpulli/der Hoodie	hoodie
der Pulli/der Pullover	sweater
der Blazer/der Sakko	blazer
der Mantel	coat
der Schal/das Halstuch	scarf
der Hut	hat
der Handschuh	glove
der Schuh	shoe
der Tenisschuh	tennis shoe
der Stiefel	boot
die Absätze	heels
die Sandalen	sandals

Accessories

Here are some of your basic, most necessary accessories in German. What’s your favorite accessory? Look it up in the dictionary and add it to your list!

German	English
die Uhr	watch
die Halskette	necklace
das Armband/das Armkettchen/die Armkette	bracelet
der Ring	ring
die Ohrringe	earrings

Regional Clothing Terms

Cultures differ across the globe, and so does clothing! Below are a few types of regional clothing items.

German	English
der Kilt/der Schottenrock	kilt
der Hidschab/Hijab	hijab
die Lederhose	leather trousers (Bavarian)
das Dirndl	dress (Bavarian)
der Sari	sari
der Kimono	kimono

Describing Clothing

It’s crucial to know what you’re wearing, but it’s just as important to know how to describe it. Here are some adjectives to help you describe the clothing around you.

German	English
rot	red
grün	green
blau	blue
gelb	yellow
orange	orange
rosa	pink
weiβ	white
schwarz	black
lila	purple
grau	gray
braun	brown
weich	soft
rau	rough
nass	wet
trocken	dry
sauber	clean
schmutzig	dirty
stinkend	smelly
bunt	colorful
langweilig	dull
lang	long
kurz	short
kariert	checkered
gestreift	striped
die Baumwolle	cotton
der Polyester	polyester
der Jeansstoff	denim
das Elastan	spandex
die Wolle	wool

Clothing Verbs

Now it’s time to learn how to describe what you’re doing with your clothes.

German	English
anziehen	to put on
tragen	to wear
ausziehen	to take off
waschen	to wash
trocknen	to dry
kaufen	to purchase
einkaufen	to shop
zurückgeben	to return
zerreißen	to rip
reparieren	to mend
falten	to fold
einpacken	to pack
tragen	to carry
geben	to give
hängen	to hang
mögen	to like
gefallen	to appeal
nicht mögen	to dislike
wollen	to want
sich umziehen	to change
wegstellen	to put away
aufräumen	to tidy up

Putting It All Together: Example Sentences

Let’s look at a few examples to put it all together.

German: Ich will mein grünes Hemd tragen

English: I want to wear my green shirt

Ich will — I want

das Hemd — the shirt

grün — green

mein grünes Hemd — my green shirt

tragen — to wear

To talk about different items or descriptive terms, you simply have to choose your noun, and then use the corresponding adjective (rot or weich) and add the proper adjective ending:

Ich will mein rotes Hemd tragen (I want to wear my red shirt)

Ich will mein weiches Hemd tragen (I want to wear my soft shirt)

Ich will meinen schwarzen Pulli tragen (I want to wear my black sweater.)

Ich will meine kurze Jeans tragen (I want to wear my short jeans.)

Let’s look at another example of this:

German: Sie kauft ihrer Mutter ein neues blaues Kleid

English: She buys her mother a new blue dress

kaufen — to buy

sie kauft — she buys

ihrer Mutter — her mother

ein neues blaues Kleid — a new blue dress

Again, if we wanted to change anything about the sentence, we could change the verb, to say:

Sie gibt ihrer Mutter ein neues blaues Kleid (She gives her mother a new blue dress)

Or, we could say it’s a soft white dress:

Sie kauft ihrer Mutter ein weiches weiβes Kleid (She buys her mother a soft white dress)

If you want to see how these different words relating to clothing operate in practice, you could try using a language learning program such as FluentU.

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Questions About Clothing in German

Clothing is a topic you’ll find yourself talking about often in German at all levels. Here are some common questions about clothing in German to use in your conversations.

Wo kaufst du normalerweise deine Kleidung? — Where do you usually buy your clothes?
Was trägst du gerne im Winter? — What do you like to wear in winter?
Wie oft wäschst du deine Kleidung? — How often do you wash your clothes?
Was trägst du beim Sport? — What do you wear for exercise/working out?
Was für Accessoires trägst du gerne? — What kind of accessories do you like to wear?
Was hältst du von Second-Hand-Kleidung? — What do you think about second-hand clothing?
Was ziehst du heute an? — What are you putting on today?
Hast du ein Lieblingspaar Schuhe? — Do you have a favorite pair of shoes?
Welches Kleidungsstück hast du zuletzt gekauft? — What piece of clothing have you recently bought?
Wie sehr achtest du auf nachhaltige Mode? — How much do you care about sustainable fashion?

As you can see, there are practically unlimited possibilities for describing different types of clothing in German. Start here to begin building your German clothing vocabulary and soon enough, you’ll be able to speak about what you’re wearing like the pros do!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

And One More Thing...

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