La prenda: one item of clothing
La ropa is clothes in general; a single piece is una prenda. La cazadora is a short, casual jacket that ends at the waist, often in leather; la chaqueta is the general word.
| I wash this garment in cold water. | Lavo esta prenda con agua fría. |
| I've bought myself a leather jacket. | Me he comprado una cazadora de piel. |
Underwear: usually plural
Las bragas (women's) and los calzoncillos (men's) are normally plural, even for a single pair. The card says el calzoncillo, but you will usually hear los calzoncillos.
| My father always buys white underpants. | Mi padre siempre compra calzoncillos blancos. |
Sizes
Labels say S, M and L; in words, la talla pequeña, mediana and grande. Ancho is wide; of clothes, loose or baggy.
| Do you have this model in a medium size? | ¿Tienen este modelo en talla mediana? |
Quedar or sentar bien?
You know quedar as to meet up. With clothes it is about fit and size; sentar bien is about whether something suits you — the color, the style.
| verb | it's about | example |
|---|---|---|
| quedar | fit, size | me queda pequeño (it's too small for me) |
| sentar bien | how it suits you | te sienta muy bien (it really suits you) |
The two overlap: te queda bien and te sienta bien can both praise how something looks on you. Sentar bien is also used for food: el café no me sienta bien (coffee doesn't agree with me).
| This skirt is too small for me. | Esta falda me queda pequeña. |
| That jacket really suits you. | Esa cazadora te sienta muy bien. |
Exchanging with por
Cambiar A por B is to exchange A for B — the same por you use with prices.
| This jacket is too big for me; can you exchange it for another one? | Esta cazadora me queda grande; ¿me la cambia por otra? |
El modelo
El modelo is the design of a product. A fashion model is el modelo or la modelo; the word does not change.
| My cousin is a model. | Mi primo es modelo. |
