For the last week on our Conversational Italian! Facebook group, we have been discussing how to talk about what we are wearing. With so many shops that carry beautiful clothing in Italy, you will probably want to talk about what you are wearing in Italian! It seems tricky at first, but just follow our method, and you will have it down in no time!
Here is a summary of this topic, adapted from the “Important Phrases” section in Chapter 10 of our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, available on Learn Travel Italian.com.
Here are some important verbs to know and how to use them when talking about Italian clothing. Look for the shop signs that say “saldi“ for “sale” and get started buying some fabulous clothes in Italy!
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How to Wear Italian Clothes
Vestirsi = to get dressed. Notice that getting dressed is reflexive in Italian. Remember that with reflexive verbs, we drop the subject pronoun (io, tu, lei, lui, noi, voi, loro) and understand who is getting dressed from the reflexive pronoun and verb ending.
| Mi vesto. | (I) get dressed. |
| Ti vesti. | (You) get dressed. |
| Si veste. | (She/He) gets dressed. |
Don’t confuse the verb vestirsi with the noun vestito, which means dress!
Mettersi = to put on. Notice the many English phrases that are simply spoken with short Italian phrases using mettersi.
| Mi metto il vestito. | (I) put on the dress. (I) put the dress on. (I) put on my dress. |
| Ti metti l’anello. | (You) put on the ring. |
| Si mette le scarpe. | (She/He) puts on the shoes. |
If you want to say “I am wearing…” or “I take the size…” use the regularly conjugated verb portare, which in other situations means “to bring” or “to carry.”
Porto il mio vestito preferito. (I) am wearing my favorite dress.
Porto la taglia quarantotto. (I) take size 48.
If you really want to be a part of Italian culture, use this idiomatic expression, which refers to shoes and means something fits perfectly. It is the equivalent of the English saying, “It fits me like a glove,” or, “It fits me to a T”!
Mi calza a pennello! It fits me perfectly!… Like a glove! …To a “T”!
