The English language loves a loanword — that is, a word borrowed, just as it is, from another language. And the language that English has borrowed most words from is, sans doute, French. In fact, when it comes to talking about one topic in particular — fashion — it would be pretty hard to say anything at all without using loanwords from French. Here’s a quick guide.
CHIC
Pronounced 'sheek', the word ‘chic’ is one of the most commonly used French loanwords. ‘Chic’, on its own, means ‘elegant and stylish’, but it can also be combined into compound adjectives to describe more precise looks. So, ‘casual chic’ is a look that’s relaxed but stylish: jeans combined with a jacket or jewellery, for example.
‘Grunge chic’, which seems like a contradiction in terms, involves scruffy clothes put together into an elegant ensemble. ‘Heroin chic‘ was the highly controversial look featuring emaciated models, which appeared on the fashion-show runways in the 1990s. Critics claimed that ‘heroin chic‘ glamourised drug addiction.
Prêt-à-porter
Somehow, using the French term prêt-à-porter (often written in English without the accents) sounds a lot classier than the English equivalent ‘ready-to-wear’. Both terms mean exactly the same thing: clothes that are not made to measure. Prêt-à-porter is the opposite of haute couture, also from French, which describes high-end, or deluxe fashion, where garments are created and fitted for a specific client.
faux
Describing a material as ‘fake’, meaning not genuine, e.g. ‘fake leather’ or ‘fake fur’, has a negative connotation in English. ‘Fake’ suggests that something is substandard; the buyer is being tricked. Although the French word ‘faux‘ means the same thing, faux sounds more positive. So, you’re more likely to see an advertisement in English for jackets made with ‘faux fur’ than with ‘fake fur’.
Sans fard
The term sans fard(s) means ‘without artificiality’ and, in the fashion world, is used when models appear looking natural, without makeup or complicated hairstyles. German photographer Peter Lindbergh, who died in 2019, was well known for his black and white sans fard fashion shots in which he tried to capture models’ natural beauty. At the less artistic end of the photography spectrum, the paparazzi know there will always be a market for photos of stars snapped, sans fard, as they pop out to buy milk in their pyjamas.
Oh la la!
While the English word ‘underwear’ is a general term to describe anything from a lacy thong to a comfy pair of cotton underpants, the French word lingerie definitely suggests something sexy. I had always assumed that lingerie only referred to sexy underwear for women, but a recent Google search has proved me quite wrong on that point! Interestingly, the word lingerie comes from the French word linge, meaning ‘linen’ — not the sexiest of materials, although when the term lingerie was originally used in English in the mid-1800s, it described the underwear worn secretly under modest linen dresses.
Lost in translation
There are a few words for clothes in English that were borrowed from French but have changed in meaning during the transition between languages. One example is brassiere, a word which passed from French into English in the early 1900s and is now almost always used in abbreviated form as ‘bra’. Brassière in French meant, and still means, a simple sleeveless dress for a young child, so although brassière sounds like it should be the French for bra, it really isn’t. Another example of meaning change is the French word culotte. In the early 1900s, a culotte in French was a pair of knee-length trousers, while in English culottes meant a divided skirt. Since then, to add to the confusion, a culotte in French can now refer to a pair of women’s knickers.
Trading terms
Numerous fashion words have passed from French into English, and a few have been loaned back the other way, too. The English word ‘look’ is the most common of these, as in the French Elle magazine headline “Inspirations pour un look chic”. But there is a notable difference in attitude to loanwords between the two cultures. Chic, prêt-à-porter, haute couture, lingerie and many more French loanwords appear in the Oxford English Dictionary and have been accepted as part of the English language.
However, although the masculine noun ‘look‘ does appear in the French dictionary Larousse, l’Academie Francaise, the institution that regulates the French language, is sceptical of loanwords and does not consider ‘look’ to be part of the French language.