Nowadays, modern shopping malls can be seen in every Chinese city. Young people in China pay great attention to their appearance and many of them go 买衣服 (mǎi yīfu) on a monthly or even a weekly basis. Well, if you would also like to buy some new clothes, here is your chance to learn how to refer to different types of clothes in Chinese — men’s edition.

1. Shirt

衬衫
chènshān

2. T-shirt

T恤
t xù

T恤 (T xù) is a loan word borrowed from the English word “t-shirt”.

3. Sweater

毛衣
máoyī

It’s a self-explanatory word: 毛 (máo) means “fur” or “wool”, and 衣 means “clothes”.

4. Overcoat

外套
wàitào

Any type of coat or jacket that can be worn outside can be called 外套 (wàitào).

Warmer, fall or winter coats are usually referred to as 大衣 (dàyī). Since 大 (dà) means “big”, the hidden meaning behind this word is that a coat looks big compared to other types of clothes.

件
jiàn
m.w. for clothes

The measure word for all the words mentioned above is 件 (jiàn). For example:

一件毛衣
yī jiàn máoyī
a sweater

5. Suit

西装
xīzhuāng
Western-style suit

Suits were introduced to China from western countries, and it is also reflected in the meaning of “西 xī”, which means “west”.

6. Jeans

牛仔裤
niúzǎikù

This word is usually associated with American Western movies, in which cowboys can often be seen. 牛仔 (niúzǎi) means “cowboy”, so the literal meaning of “jeans” in Chinese is “cowboy pants”.

7. Sports pants

运动 (yùndòng) means “sports”, and this word can be interpreted as “trousers that people wear when they do sports”.

8. Shorts

短裤
duǎnkù

短 (duǎn) means “short”, so shorts are literally “short pants” in Chinese.

9. Western-style trousers

西裤
xīkù
trousers; suit pants

10. Shoes

双
shuāng
pair; m.w. a pair for shoes

The measure word for all kinds of shoes is 双 (shuāng). For example:

三双皮鞋
sān shuāng píxié
three pairs of leather shoes

11. Sneakers

运动鞋
yùndòng xíe

12. Flip flops

拖 (tuō) means “to drag”. It can be observed that people sometimes drag their feet when walking in slippers, and that’s where this word came from.