Describe an item of clothing that is special to you.
A wedding sari, a father's watch strap, the jacket from a first job, a football shirt. The garment is a container for a story — tell the story.
The task card
Describe an item of clothing that is special to you.
You should say:
- what it is and what it looks like
- where it came from
- when you wear it
and explain why it is special.
Now say it yourself
Record your own two minutes on this card and have it transcribed and marked against the Speaking criteria. Practising is free; the band estimate is part of Pro.
Record my answerHow long you have
- 1 minute
Preparation
The examiner hands you the card, paper and a pencil. Make notes — a few words per cue point, never sentences.
- 1–2 minutes
Your long turn
Speak until the examiner stops you at two minutes. Finishing early is the most common self-inflicted problem in Part 2.
- 1–2 questions
Rounding off
The examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions, then moves straight into the Part 3 discussion on the same theme.
Part 2 takes three to four minutes in total. The whole Speaking test runs 11 to 14 minutes across three parts, and Part 3 that follows lasts four to five minutes.
How to approach this card
Open with two lines of pure visual description — colour, fabric, the worn cuff, the repair. It proves the object is real and warms up your descriptive range.
The 'where it came from' point is the story: who gave it, what occasion, what it cost them. Spend most of the minute here.
For when you wear it, a rule is more interesting than a list: only on first days, never in rain, every New Year. Rules reveal meaning.
Ideas you can actually use
Three angles on this card. Pick the one closest to something real in your own life — invented material is what makes candidates hesitate at ninety seconds.
Describe it as an object first
- Colour, fabric, weight, cut, and one flaw: a repair, a fade, a missing button
- How it fits now compared to when you got it
- Something specific about the label, the stitching, or a mark on it
Origin is the story
- Who gave it, what occasion, and what it cost them rather than what it cost
- Bought for a specific event — an interview, a wedding, a first day
- Inherited, which lets you use passives and past perfect naturally
A rule beats a list
- 'Only on first days' or 'never in the rain' reveals meaning instantly
- Whether you have stopped wearing it, and why that is not the same as not caring
- What you would do if it were ruined tomorrow, answered honestly
What your one minute of notes should look like
Not sentences — a few words per cue point. This is the level of detail sixty seconds actually buys you, and it is enough to speak from for two minutes.
- WHAT — dark green wool jacket, too big, one repaired cuff, brass buttons
- FROM — my father, bought for his first job interview 1987
- WEAR — only on first days + interviews. Never casually.
- WHY — he was terrified that day too; it makes the fear ordinary
Model answer
Speak your own answer first. Examiners are trained to spot memorised speeches and mark them down — use this to study structure, pacing and naturalness, never to recite.
Show the model answer
The item I'd describe is a dark green wool jacket that hangs at the end of my wardrobe and is worn perhaps twice a year. Physically it isn't much to look at. It's heavy — much heavier than anything made now — a slightly odd bottle green, with four brass buttons, two of which don't match because one was replaced at some point. The left cuff has been repaired, quite visibly, with thread that isn't quite the right colour. The lining is beginning to go at the shoulder. And it doesn't fit me properly: it's about an inch too wide across the back, and the sleeves are marginally long. It was my father's. He bought it in 1987, in a sale, for his first proper job interview, when he had been out of work for most of a year. He wore it to that interview, got the job, and then wore it to every significant thing for the next twenty-odd years. It was handed down to me when he retired, in a fairly unceremonious way — he simply took it off a hanger and gave it to me without a speech, which is very much him. I have a rule about it. I wear it on first days and to interviews, and nothing else. Never casually, never to a party. That's perhaps six or seven times in eleven years. Why is it special? Not really because it was his, although that's the obvious answer. It's that he told me once, years later, that he had been so nervous on the morning of that interview that he was physically sick before he left the house. And he got the job. So when I put it on I'm not wearing my father's success — I'm wearing the fact that he was terrified and went anyway, and that the two things are entirely compatible. It's the most useful piece of clothing I own, and I couldn't tell you whether it suits me at all.
Why this works: The physical description is precise and includes flaws — mismatched buttons, a visible repair, a bad fit — which is what makes an object card credible. The origin section carries passives and past perfect naturally and includes a small characterising detail about how it was given. The rule about when it is worn is far more revealing than a frequency, and the final paragraph reframes the significance from success to fear, which is an unexpected and genuinely strong ending.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- it has seen better days
Affectionate wear-and-tear idiom.
- it was handed down to me
Precise verb for family objects.
- I save it for
Introduces the wearing rule.
- more sentimental than stylish
Self-aware and charming.
The same phrases in a full sentence
A phrase list is only useful if you know how the words sit around it. Say each of these aloud once before you attempt the card.
- it was handed down to me
- “It was handed down to me when he retired, and it is older than I am.”
- it has seen better days
- “It has seen better days — one cuff has been repaired and the lining is going.”
- I save it for
- “I save it for first days and interviews, and I never wear it casually.”
- more sentimental than stylish
- “It is more sentimental than stylish, and it does not really fit me.”
Part 3 discussion
After your long turn the examiner moves into a four to five minute discussion on the same theme, working from two related discussion topics with about three questions each. The first stays close to your own experience; the second widens out. Answer with reasons and examples, not one-line replies.
Clothes
Example questions
- 1How important are clothes to people in your country?
- 2Do people dress differently for work than they used to?
- 3How much does what someone wears affect how they are treated?
Fashion and waste
Example questions
- 1Can you suggest why people buy more clothes than they need?
- 2What could be done to reduce waste in the clothing industry?
- 3Should schools require students to wear a uniform?
More on how this family of cards is discussed: Objects and possessions. Model answers for Part 3: Part 3 questions and answers.