garish
/ˈɡɛrɪʃ/Unpleasantly bright and showy in colour or pattern.
Example: That shirt's a bit garish for a job interview, isn't it?
C210 words · Proficient
Shopping vocabulary — C2
Shopping vocabulary for clothing style and bad purchases, including sartorial, haute couture, shoddy and recourse — words for describing an outfit and for deciding what to do when a purchase goes wrong.
10 questions
Words in this set
10sartorial
/sɑrˈtɔriəl/Relating to clothes and to a person's style of dressing.
Example:
His sartorial choices always turn heads at the office.
voluminous
/vəˈlumənəs/Very large and full, with lots of loose fabric.
Example:
She wore a voluminous skirt that swished as she walked.
diaphanous
/daɪˈæfənɪs/Light, thin and almost see-through (formal/literary).
Example:
She wore a diaphanous silk scarf over her shoulders.
dapper
/ˈdæpər/Neat, smart and stylish in appearance, especially for a man.
Example:
He looked dapper in his new tailored suit.
haute couture
The most expensive and exclusive category of fashion, made by hand for individual clients.
Example:
Only a few houses still produce true haute couture.
foppish
Excessively concerned with fashion and appearance, in a slightly ridiculous way (literary).
Example:
The foppish young man fussed endlessly over his cravat.
splurge
/splɜrdʒ/To spend a lot at once on something you badly want but don't need.
Example:
I splurged on noise-cancelling headphones in the sale last night.
shoddy
/ˈʃɑdi/Made or done cheaply and carelessly.
Example:
I sent the boots back — the stitching was shoddy.
recourse
/ˈrikɔrs/The option of using a person or process to help you get something you are owed (formal).
Example:
If the shop refuses, you have legal recourse.
