This list was written by BandLadder's authors, Fizza Butool Zaidi and Ali Zaidi. The meanings and example sentences are our own, not taken from model answers or dictionaries.

12 words

Writing Task 2 vocabulary

Formal and neutral items that suit an essay. They work in Speaking too.

the fashion industry
The businesses that design, make and sell clothes.
The fashion industry is one of the largest industrial users of water.
fast fashion
Cheap clothing produced quickly to follow the latest trends.
Fast fashion encourages consumers to treat clothes as disposable.
textile waste
Discarded clothing and fabric.
Millions of tonnes of textile waste end up in landfill every year.
garment workers
People who make clothes in factories.
Many garment workers in developing countries earn very low wages.
a dress code
Rules about what people must wear in a place.
Many offices have relaxed their dress code in recent years.
school uniforms
Set clothes that pupils must wear at school.
Supporters of school uniforms argue that they reduce peer pressure about clothing.
self-expression
Showing your personality or feelings through what you do or wear.
For many teenagers, clothing is an important form of self-expression.
conform to
To follow accepted rules or the behaviour of a group.
Young people often feel they must conform to the trends set by celebrities.
second-hand clothing
Clothes that have already been owned by someone else.
The market for second-hand clothing has grown rapidly through online platforms.
sustainable fashion
Clothing made with less harm to people and the environment.
Sustainable fashion remains more expensive, which limits its appeal.
status symbol
A possession that shows wealth or high social position.
Designer labels act as a status symbol in many societies.
peer pressure
Pressure to behave like the people in your group.
Peer pressure can lead teenagers to spend more than they can afford on clothes.

Use fashion and clothing vocabulary in a Task 2 essay

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10 phrases

Speaking vocabulary

Natural spoken English for Parts 1 to 3. Items noted as informal or as an idiom belong in Speaking only, never in Task 2.

dress up
To wear smarter clothes than usual.
I only dress up for weddings and job interviews.
casual clothes
Comfortable, informal clothes.
At weekends I live in casual clothes, mostly jeans and a hoodie.
go out of fashion
To stop being popular.
Wide-leg trousers seem to go out of fashion and come back every few years.
suit
To look good on someone.
Bright colours don't really suit me.
a fashion victim
Someone who follows every trend, even when it doesn't look good.
My cousin is a bit of a fashion victim; she buys whatever is trending.
Informal and slightly critical.
hand-me-downs
Clothes passed on from an older brother, sister or relative.
As the youngest child, I wore a lot of hand-me-downs.
smart
Neat and fairly formal in appearance.
I wore something smart for my graduation.
British meaning; in American English 'smart' mostly means clever.
comfy
Comfortable.
I care more about comfy clothes than stylish ones.
Informal: Speaking only.
try on
To put on clothes to see if they fit or look good.
I always try on shoes before I buy them.
into
Interested in or keen on something.
I'm not really into fashion, to be honest.

Speaking Part 2

Use it in an answer

Describe a piece of clothing you wear often.

I'm going to talk about a dark green jacket I bought about three years ago. I'm not really into fashion, so I don't dress up much; I need clothes that are comfy and go with everything, and this jacket does. I actually found it in a second-hand shop, which I was quite pleased about, because it was a real bargain and it hasn't gone out of fashion. Friends tell me the colour suits me, so I end up wearing it almost every day from October to March.

Written by our authors to show the vocabulary in use; not an official IELTS sample.

Lexical Resource

How examiners judge this vocabulary

Vocabulary is scored as Lexical Resource, one quarter of your Writing and Speaking marks. At the higher bands the public IELTS band descriptors for Speaking mention “less common and idiomatic vocabulary”, together with awareness of style and collocation. In practice that means the right item in the right register: ‘the fashion industry’ in an essay, ‘dress up’ when you speak. Accuracy comes first; a misused advanced word costs more than a plain one used well.

Practise in context

Fashion and clothing questions to practise

Frequently asked questions

Clothes, clothing or cloth: which is right?+

'Clothes' is plural with no singular ('my clothes are'). 'Clothing' is uncountable and a little more formal, good for Writing ('second-hand clothing'). 'Cloth' is fabric, the material clothes are made from.

Should I mention brand names in Speaking?+

You can, but do not let a brand name replace description. Say what it looks like, why you chose it and how it makes you feel; that is where your vocabulary score comes from.

Can I use the Speaking phrases in Writing Task 2?+

Not the informal ones. Phrasal verbs and idioms such as 'a fashion victim' sound natural in Speaking but are too casual for an essay, and Task 2 should have no contractions. Everything in the Writing list works in both papers.

Will learning these words raise my IELTS band?+

Not on their own, and no word list guarantees a band. Lexical Resource rewards vocabulary used precisely and naturally, so five items you can use correctly are worth more than twenty forced into an answer. Learn each one with its example, then write or say a sentence of your own.

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IELTS vocabulary for fashion and clothing