How to Talk About Clothes: Shoes, Sleeves, and Collars

AKA Yes, It's Called A Pussybow. Grow Up.

Nov 14, 2022

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Here I am, once again, but I’m not torn into pieces (word to Kelly C), instead: I’m here to teach you about clothes once more.

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How To Talk About Clothes: Part One

If there was a little Lakyn doll and you could pull a little string to make it say a random assortment of catchphrases, “Figure out what you like!” would come right after “Buy better! Buy less!” and “Put a belt on it!” But it’s hard to figure out what you like when you don’t know what it’s called, and it’s even harder to shop better when you don’t know what “better” is…

3 years ago · Lakyn Carlton

In case you missed out on part one, I talked fabrics, skirt silhouettes, and miscellaneous garment details. This installment is all about sleeves, collars and necklines, and shoes.

We’re gonna race through these items so that next time, we can talk about the bigger picture: trends, dress codes, and archetypes. This article may feel a little bit like an info dump—because it is—but that’s so you can use this series as a reference moving forward. It’s educational!

As I said previously, if you want to get better at recognizing these details on actual garments, I highly recommend going to a site like Net-a-Porter or Moda Operandi and reading the product descriptions. I specifically recommend luxury sites for this as they tend to be more detailed and use proper terms that aren’t just algorithm generated for SEO like the ones on scammy cheap fashion sites.

Let’s start with sleeves.

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