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Mon 9 Aug, 2004 01:23 pm
the attire of spring
The singer wears rich attire.
I heard the word attire is less used in the UK and the US.
Is it true?
If true, how to express the two sentences above with a popular word?
the "clothes" of spring
The singer wears rich "clothing."
(Though attire is far more poetic sounding.)
Hi D'artagnan,
Doesn't the word "clothing" mean "Clothes considered as a group; wearing apparel"? So how could we say " The singer wears rich 'clothing'"?
I think the problem with the word "attire" is that it can have rather snobbish implications implied by its use. Its not that it is not still used as a word, it just that it may carry implications for the user and therefore people tend to avoid it. .
Clothing can mean all the items in a person's wardrobe. I meant the word in that sense, i.e., the singer always wears nice clothes...
Or you could speak of a singer's elaborate costumes.
attire is like clothing, not clothes
it is an older word but still commonly used in English especially in writing
there are a number of other words for clothing such as raiment or garb
It's fairly often used as "casual attire" or "formal attire." In invitations, for example, or fashion/ gossip writing. ("Casually attired in Juicy Couture, Ms. Starlet...")
"Attire" in this day and age is a bit high falultin'. The word is used when the speaker wants to impress his audience with the elegance of an occasion. Of course truly elegant occasions don't need puffery.
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