Fashion Terminology – Your Ultimate Style Guru Dictionary

Fashion Weeks are always a hotly anticipated event – they dictate what will be hot this season, what we absolutely have to get rid of, and which article of clothing can make or break a wardrobe. While thousands of us follow the hottest trends coming out of the most exclusive ateliers, how many of us actually know and understand the exact terminology that is used by the designers? Lace, velvet, silk and embroidery are all fairly straightforward, but what about the difference between a clutch and a minaudière?..

With the majority of terms rooted in France, should you happen to find yourself discussing this season’s latest collections with the crème-de-la-crème of the industry (or maybe just dissecting the catwalk round-ups colleagues…), ensure that you don’t make a fashion faux pas by brushing up on your fashion vocab.

The language experts at leading language learning app Babbel (babbel.com) have put together a list of 8 terms that will be firmly rooted in the lexicon of every style guru – and can tell you exactly what they mean…

Bouclé – This is a type of yarn made with looped or curly ply, and also the name of the fabric woven from this yarn. The word in French literally means “curly”.

Example – “Nobody does boucle quite like Chanel.”

Chignon – A chignon is a hairstyle that is achieved by fashioning the hair into a knot at the nape of the neck, and derives from the French ‘chignon du cou’ which actually means ‘nape of the neck’.

Example – “They’re so chic, but I’ve never quite mastered the art of the chignon.”

Faux pas – To make a faux pas means to make an embarrassing social mistake and translates as ‘false step’.

Example – “Thank god I remembered her name that would have been quite the faux pas…”

Haute Couture – In English, haute couture refers to the business of making original, expensive, high quality clothes, and in French it means ‘high sewing’ or ‘high fashion’.

Example – “I don’t believe for a second that her dress is haute couture, I saw something remarkably similar when passing the window of Zara two weeks ago…”

Minaudière – This is a small decorative case used to carry small items. The difference between a minaudière and a clutch bag is that the former are often adorned with jewels and precious metals, and are generally considered as an item of jewellery.

Example – “It’s a stunning piece, but you could barely fit a pound coin in that minaudière.”

Peignoir – A peignoir is a woman’s light dressing gown or negligee. In French it can often refer to a bathrobe worn by men, women, and children.

Example – “I’m all for showing a bit of skin, but I wouldn’t wear that wrap dress in public. I prefer to keep my peignoir for the bedroom.”

Appliqué – In French this literally translates as an adjective meaning ‘hard-working’, ‘meticulous’ or ‘applied’ but in fashion, appliqué is decorative work in which one piece of cloth is sewn or fixed on top of another.

Example: “I’ve never seen appliqué quite like it, the attention to detail is exquisite.”

Jacquard – This is an apparatus with perforated cards, fitted to a loom to facilitate the weaving of figured and brocaded fabrics. Jacquard also refers in French to a colourful fabric with geographical patterns.

Example: “I’m usually quite partial to a jacquard print, but I don’t think it complemented the rest of the collection.”

Epaulettes  – These areshoulder pads, this term comes from the word “épaule” which means “shoulder” in French.

Example: “The epaulettes on that jacket lend it quite the 80s vibe.”

Avant-garde –  Avant literally means “Before” or “in front of” and garde translates to “guard”. Something that is described as such is innovative, pioneering, especially when extremely or obviously so.

Example: “The use of fabric in that show was rather avant-garde.”

Filigree – This wordcomes from the latin “filum”, meaning “thread”, and “granum” meaning “grain”. Filigree is either delicate and intricate ornamentation made from gold or silver twisted wire (or sometimes another metal), or used to describe a design resembling such intricate ornamentation.

Example: “Did you see her necklace? The use of filigree was exquisite.”

Broderie Anglaise – This translates in French as “English embroidery” and is a whitework needlework technique incorporating features of embroidery, cutwork and needle lace that became associated with England, due to its popularity there in the 19th century.

Example: “Broderie anglaise always looks so delicate and fresh.”