5 Types Of Clothes In German: Everything You Need To Know (With Examples)

Society demands we wear clothes. So does the weather.

Ich bin Spring German Lehrerin Brunhild. Heute sprechen wir über Kleidung! (Today, we speak about clothes in German!)

1. Unterwäsche (Underwear)

Let’s start our Klamotten (clothes) journey by listing the clothes touching our skin. When we get dressed, we first put on Unterwäsche (underwear). Which means:

When I was little, I also used to wear a so called Unterhemd (chemise). But I haven’t worn that in years. Is that still a thing? Does anyone still wear those? Let me know, I am really curious.

LENA
Das sind aber schöne Socken!
(Those are nice socks!)

SAGA
Danke, die sind neu.
(Thanks, they’re new!)

LENA
Die stehen dir super!
(They look good on you!)

CHUNK ALERT!

“Die stehen dir super” or “Das steht dir super” (This looks great on you, lit.: This dresses you super) is something we say to compliment someone on their choice of outfit.

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2. Sommerkleidung (Clothes for the summer)

Im Sommer (In summer), we obviously are dressed a bit lighter. We could wear the following clothes on the torso:

And in more formal contexts, we might even add

DAISY
Schätzchen, welche Blazer willst du heute Abend anziehen? Den hier oder den hier?
(Honey, which blazer would you like to wear tonight? This one or this one?)

HUSBAND
Welchen findest du besser?
(Which do you think is better?)

DAISY
Ich kann mich nicht entscheiden. Die sind beide gut.
(I can’t make up my mind. They’re both good.)

HUSBAND
Einer muss dir doch mehr zusagen.
(One must appeal to you more.)

DAISY
Schätzchen, du siehst doch sowieso toll aus. Wir nehmen den hier.
(Honey, you look great either way. We’ll take this one.)

Since walking around with bare butt or bare legs could get us unwelcomed attention, let’s have a look at what we can wear bellybutton down. In Summer, that could be:

SAGA
Wow! Ich mag dein Outfit heute! Das Kleid ist schön!
(Wo! I like your outfit today! That dress is beautiful!)

LENA
Danke! Hab ich bei Zalando gekauft.
(Thank you! I bought it from Zalando.)

SAGA
Zalando hat immer so schöne Sachen. Und wo hast du die Sonnenbrille gekauft?
(Zalando always has such nice things. And where did you buy the sunglasses?)

LENA
Die war ein Geschenk von meinem Freund.
(They were a gift from my boyfriend.)

SAGA
Behalte ihn.
(Keep him.)

The nice thing about Sommer (summer) is, that we can also just wear a single rag, like ein Sommerkleid (a summer dress) or ein Dirndl (a dirndl)!

SAGA
Hübsches Dirndl!
(Nice Dirndl!)

MARIE
Danke! Ich gehe auf das Oktoberfest! Möchtest du mitkommen?
(Thank you! I am going to the Oktoberfest! Are you joining?)

SAGA
Geht nicht. Ich hab kein Dirndl.
(I can’t. I have no Dirndl.)

Das Oktoberfest is a world-famous Volksfest (folk-festival), to which women wear a “Dirndl” (dirndl) and guys wear Lederhosen (Leather pants). What do you think, is it a pretty outfit? I think it’s very fesch (good-looking)!

3. Winterkleidung (winter clothes)

In Winter (winter) however, we might wanna wear something on top of all those Blusen (blouses) and Hemden (shirts) to be even warmer. It could be:

SALES GIRL
Guten Tag! Kann ich Ihnen helfen?
(Hello! May I help you?)

LENA
Guten Tag! Ich suche einen flauschigen Pullover für den Winter.
(Hello! I am looking for a fluffy sweater for the winter.)

SALES GIRL
Welche Größe haben Sie?
(What is your size?)

LENA
Sechsundreißig.
(36.)

SALES GIRL
Folgen Sie mir bitte.
(Follow me, please.)

Now, let’s not forget that keeping warm isn’t just about the Oberkörper (torso)! We also have a Kopf, Hals and Ohren (head, neck and ears)! Here we could wear:

And what do we wear bellybutton down? In winter, we could wear eine lange Hose (long pants) like Jeans (jeans) or eine Wollhose (wool pants).

4. Schuhe (shoes)

In summer, we can go barfuß (barefoot) or wear

5. Accessoires (accessoires)

LENA
Diese Brille ist sehr hübsch. Ich glaube, die nehme ich.
(These glasses are very pretty. I think I’ll take them.)

There are accessoires which fill a practical purpose, such as:

HUSBAND
Warum weinst du?
(Why are you crying?)

DAISY
Mir sind zwei Perlen aus meiner Armbanduhr rausgefallen. Schau!
(Two pearls fell out of my wristwatch. Look!)

HUSBAND
Das macht doch nichts. Dann kaufen wir eben eine neue!
(No worries. We’ll just buy a new one then!)

DAISY?
Die kannst du nicht einfach so neu kaufen. Die ist aus Kasachstan.
(You can’t just buy a new one. It’s from Kasachstan.)

What are you gonna do? Women love their Perlen (pearls)! Popular Schmuck (jewellery) is also:

DAISY
Bist du fertig?
(Are you ready)

HUSBAND
Fertig für was?
(Ready for what?)

DAISY
Hast du es vergessen? Wir müssen zum Juwelier. Ich brauche neue Ohrringe.
(Did you forget? We have to go to the jeweller. I need new earrings.)

HUSBAND
Ach so, ja, ganz vergessen. Ich hole meine Jacke.
(Oh, right, I completely forgot. I’ll get my jacket.)

DAISY
Ja, dann hopp.
(Well, then chop chop!)

6. Quiz about clothes in German

• Was trägt die Frau? (What is the woman wearing?) //
  • Die Frau trägt Socken. (The woman is wearing socks.)
• Was trägt der Mann? (What is the man wearing?) //
  • Der Mann trägt einen Gürtel. (The man is wearing a belt.)
• Was trägt die Frau? (What is the woman wearing?) //
  • Die Frau trägt einen Pullover. (The woman is wearing a sweater.)
• Was trägt der Mann? (What is the man wearing?) //
  • Der Mann trägt eine Krawatte. (The man is wearing a tie.)
• Was trägt die Frau? (What is the woman wearing?) //
  • Die Frau trägt eine Brille. (The woman is wearing glasses.)
• Was trägt die Frau? (What is the woman wearing?) //
  • Die Frau trägt ein Kleid. (The woman is wearing a dress.)
• Was trägt der Mann? (What is the man wearing? //
  • Der Mann trägt eine Armbanduhr. (The man is wearing a wristwatch.)

Great job! Now you know how to dress yourself according to every weather.