When we think about clothes, shoes, shopping and catwalks, it might conjure up a certain image of Parisian high fashion. But you’re not going to get very far in the French fashion world without the right words!
When it comes to talking about wearing things, there are some important French verbs, phrases and nouns that you’ll certainly want to keep in your back pocket.
In this edition of our monthly conversation blog, we’re covering all of these topics and more. For this sartorial subject, we’ll guide you through all the language you’ll need to converse. We’ll also make sure you can get the right sizes in-store whenever you’re in France. Ready to hit the shops with us?
To begin, we’ll go through the verbs you might need, then build upon these to create sentences, phrases and questions:
porter to wear
se porter to wear (literally to carry on oneself); to dress yourself
se porter quelque chose to wear something
habiller to dress; to put clothes on
s’habiller to dress yourself; to put clothes on yourself; to get dressed
se déshabiller to undress yourself; to take your clothes off; to get undressed
essayer to try on
aller bien à quelqu’un to look good on someone; to suit someone
If you’re a keen follower of fashion, you might have already seen the verb ‘porter’ in the phrase prêt- à-porter – an English term borrowed from French. It means a piece of clothing you can buy in a ready-made size off the rack. Word for word, it translates as ‘ready-to-wear’ in comparison to couture, which is custom-made or altered especially for your size and style.
But let’s not get bogged down in high fashion vocabulary! This blog is meant to help you navigate clothes, shoes and accessories in casual situations too. In a lot of cases, this might involve shopping while in France.
Let’s take a look at some of the words which might come up:
pantalon (m) trousers
chemise (f) shirt
jean (m) jeans
veste (f) jacket
t-shirt (m) t-shirt
top (m) haut
pull (m) jumper
chaussure (f) shoe
chaussette (f) sock
gant (m) glove
bijoux (mpl) jewellery
écharpe (f) scarf
ceinture (f) belt
sac (m) bag
magasin (m) shop
faire les magasins to go shopping
When we combine these with adjectives and some of the verbs from the previous section, we can describe what someone’s wearing. Note that any colours go after the noun:
Il porte un jean et un t-shirt vert. He’s wearing jeans and a green T-shirt.
Elle essaye cette robe blanche. She’s trying on this white dress.
Je me portais un pull en laine et un pantalon bleu. I was wearing a woolly jumper and blue trousers.
Ces chaussures en cuir te vont bien. Those leather shoes look good on you.
On top of these descriptions, you might need to use or might hear some of following phrases, especially while out shopping:
Quelle taille faites-vous ? What size are you?
Je fais du 36. I’m a size 10.
Quelle est votre pointure ? What shoe size are you?
Je fais / Je chausse du 39 .I’m a shoe size 6.
Ça me va ? Does this suit me / look good on me?
Où est la cabine d’essayage ? Where is the changing room?
Avez-vous ma taille ? Do you have my size?
Avez-vous d’autres couleurs ? Do you have other colours?
Je peux vous aider ? Can I help you?
Non merci, je regarde. No thanks, I’m just looking.
In some of the phrases above, you might have noticed the difference in clothing and shoe sizes between English and French. France follows EU sizes, which are very different to the UK. Here are the basics for women’s and men’s sizes in France:
Shoe sizes in France – add 33 to your usual size
37 4
38 5
39 6
and so on…
Women’s clothes sizes in France – add 26 to your usual size
34 8
36 10
38 12
and so on…
Men’s clothes sizes in France – add 10 to your usual size if it’s in inches
46 36
48 38
50 40
and so on…
If there aren’t any numbers, the brand might be using a word or its first letter instead, similar to the UK:
P (petit) S (small)
M (moyenne) M (medium)
G (grand) L (large)
TG (très grand) XL (extra-large)
To complement your shopping activities, you might also find it useful to read our conversation blog on making a purchase in French.
Language In Use
Here is a summary of the most useful words, phrases and structures covered in this blog.
(se) porter quelque chose [+ couleur]
> Je me porte une chemise noire.
quelque chose aller bien à quelqu’un
> Ces chausseurs vous vont bien.
Quelle taille faites-vous / fais-tu ?
taille (f)
pointure (f)
Je fais du [x]
faire les magasins
Written by Holly Tarbet, freelance copywriter and editor.
All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.
