Bite Sized English - The Parts of a Shirt and Types of Shirts (2024)

When your English is good enough to name the most commonpieces ofclothing—shirt, pants, underwear—the next step is naming the parts ofeach piece of clothing. When the time comes to talk about differencesin clothing, you'll want this vocabulary. How else can you tell me howyour shirt is different from mine?

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Let'sstart with shirts. There are some important things to talk about withshirts.

First: in some languages, the word "shirt" only refers to a"T-shirt."In English, a "shirt" is almost anything for the top half ofyour body. (Sweaters aren't "shirts," but "sweatshirts" obviouslyare!)

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The place where your arms go in your shirt arethe shirt sleeves. We talk about short-sleevedshirts and long-sleevedshirts.

A long-sleeved shirt has sleeves that comealmost all the wayto your hands.

And a short-sleeved shirt has sleeves that comejustover your shoulders.

Some shirts have nosleeves. We call them "tanktops," though sometimes they're called"sleeveless,"though that mostly happens in womens clothing.

Ifyou wear a tie, around your neck it's under the collarof your shirt. The collar is the part of the shirt that your head goesthrough. Normally, though, we only call it a collar when it rises uparound your neck.

At-shirt, for example, doesn't have a collar. Normally, shirts that havea "collar" like a t-shirt has, we say are "crew neck." For example, it's possible tobuy crew neck sweater.

Oryou can buy a turtlenecksweater. When a shirt—or sweater—has what looks like a third sleeve foryour head, it's a "turtleneck." I like to wear turtleneck shirts in thewinter, because they keep my neck warm. My family says they make melook like a college professor, though!

Inthe summer, I wear short-sleeved shirts with a collar to work. I thinkthey look professional, and they aren't too warm. (Air conditioningisn't common in Germany.)

Therest of the year, I wear collared shirts with long sleeves... though,even when I wear a sweater, I slide my sleeves up. That means, evenwith long sleeves, I push them up my arms so that my arm is naked fromthe elbow down. I just feel like you should slide your sleeves up towork!

Whatkind of shirts do you wear? How do you feel about wearing turtlenecks?Do you think they make you look like a professor? Do you have "workshirts" and "relaxing shirts?" What kind of shirt is your favoriteshirt?

This lesson was written and recorded by Toby, an American English teacher that lives in Germany. Toby is the creator of Bite Sized English.