NerdGlam: Fashion and Beauty Words You’ve Probably Been Mispronouncing or Misspelling

No one wants to pull a Nomi Malone and claim that her dress is from “Ver-sayce.” But while Showgirls undoubtedly schooled many of today’s twentysomething women in how to say “Versace” without being mocked by strip club owners, do you feel confident about crêpe de Chine, puce, dirndl, waistcoat, and moue?

I receive seven different word-a-day lists, and the impetus for this column was Merriam-Webster’s informing me that I have been mispronouncing “tousle” (to dishevel, especially relating to hair) for basically my entire life. The first syllable rhymes with “Ow!” The second syllable has a “z” sound, not an “s” sound. Listen to it here.

Enjoy this list of fashion and beauty words you never need to feel uncertain about again! (All of the links contain audio pronunciations).

Britishisms

cagoule (also kagoul or kagoule, sometimes shortened to cag) A cagoule is a lightweight parka or anorak, usually knee-length. This page has three pronunciations on it; you want the British one, since Americans never say this word at all.

trilby
“A soft felt hat with a deeply creased crown.” Named after the heroine of the 1893 novel Trilby, by George du Maurier.
(Trilby might not sound familiar, but that’s the novel whence Svengali came).

waistcoat
This is what we Americans call a “vest.” To the Brits, a “vest” is an undershirt.

Words from Italian

L’Uomo
L’Uomo Vogue is the Italian men’s version of Vogue. L’Uomo just means “man” (or “the man,” since, as in most Romance languages, nouns pretty much always get articles). This link has some Italians saying “uomo” by itself. To say L’Uomo, just add an “l” sound (without a pause).

Miuccia Prada (and a bunch of other Italian people’s names) The website Forvo.com allows you to hear native speakers pronouncing words in their own languages. Here is a page of Italian fashion words and names.

The Germans Only Get One Fashion Word

dirndl
A full skirt with a gathered waistband, or a particular type of dress with such a skirt.

In Case You Accidentally Didn’t Pick French in High School

bouclé
A type of yarn made of three threads of which one is looser, making for charmingly lumpy sweaters.

chichi
Stylish in an ostentatious, deliberate way. Not to be confused with the suburban chain restaurant.

crêpe de Chine A silk crepe fabric.

décolletage
Cleavage, or the upper border of a dress or top that exposes cleavage. Décolletage is a noun (“Dust bronzing powder in your décolletage”), and décolleté is an adjective (“That dress was a bit décolleté for an eighth-grade graduation”).

démodé
Out of fashion.

dishabille
The state of being only partially dressed; very casually dressed; in a careless manner. (“When the pizza man came a-knocking, he found the naughty housewife in dishabille.”)

eau de toilette
Weak perfume. Also called “toilet water.” The idea originally being, of course, that one’s “toilette” was all the things one did as part of washing and dressing. When I was a child, my mom had some eau de toilette, and I giggled over it from about the ages of six through ten.

gamine
A female urchin; an often homeless girl who wanders the streets; a girl or woman with “impish appeal.” Nice that we want our adult women to look like street orphans. Great.

louche
Decadent, disreputable, of questionable taste or morality. Often used in articles about Chloë Sevigny.

moue
A small grimace or pout. You just say “moo,” like a cow. This word appears when beauty magazines are writing about lipstick and have already used “lips,” “mouth,” and “pout” too many times, and are trying to avoid “kisser.”

ombré
(pronunciation here)
Fabric shading going from light to dark, an effect created by arranging different tones in the weaving of the fabric.

peau de soie A soft silk (or rayon) fabric having a dull finish.

prêt-à-porter
Ready-to-wear. Also a 1994 film starring Sophia Loren.

soigné
Polished, fashionable, showing a sophisticated elegance. Antonym of louche.

tulle
A fine net material often used for tutus, veils, and inadvisable prom dresses, and appearing prominently in the opening credits of Sex and the City.

Names of Colors

azure
The hue halfway between blue and cyan.

celadon
Celadon, the color, comes from the celadon pottery of East Asia, which was colored with a pale, sea-green pigment.

cerise
Comes from the French word meaning “cherry.”

cerulean
A range of sky blue to deep blue colors, probably from the Latin word for heaven or sky.

chartreuse
The link above has two pronunciations; apparently, if you’re British, you say chartreuse like you’re French. But whether you’re British or American, use a “z” sound, not an “s” sound.

ecru
The color of unbleached linen. A light grayish-yellowish-brown.

fuchsia
The color fuchsia comes from the flower fuchsia, which was named after Leonhart Fuchs, one of the founding fathers of botany. Remembering
Leonhart Fuchs is a nice way to remember how to spell fuchsia.
Or you can remember that it sort of starts with “fuck” in German.

puce
According to Wikipedia, the word “puce” comes from the French word for “flea” –
specifically, puce is the color of a flea’s belly. Fleas’ bellies are really very small, and something it’s never occurred to me to look at. But there you go. Flea-belly. The Wikipedia page for puce also informs us that, “In the episode ‘Comet Kermilian’ of the Disney Channel original series ‘Phineas and Ferb,’ Linda references having a puce awareness ribbon for Antidisestablishmentarianism.” Nerd out!