IELTS Speaking’s “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”

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Aarushi Jain
Updated on May 18, 2023 12:53 PM IST

The IELTS Speaking section is designed to test your skills in using the English language to conversate with others and to communicate your own thoughts and opinions. The test pattern is designed in a way that after completing your self-introduction, you need to answer a prompt question in length. One of the popular prompt questions asked for IELTS Speaking is “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”.

These questions are also commonly known as IELTS cue-card questions.

The examiner expects an organised long talk of three to four minutes, where you present your opinions on the prompt. Though what you say is totally up to you, there are certain restrictions on the manner in which you can present your views. That said, you must also know that just like other cue-card questions of the IELTS exam, “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” is also followed by follow-up questions, which are based on the opinions presented by you to the examiner.

You can refer to this page to get conceptual tips and ideas on how to answer “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” and related questions, along with some samples.

How to Answer “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”?

There are certain common guidelines to answer the IELTS Speaking’s cue-card questions like, 'Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes', and some specific guidelines for each type of question as well. 

The common answering guidelines for all cue-card questions are derived on the basis of skills tested by the IELTS Speaking section. As the section is aimed to test your ability to put your English language skills to conversate and communicate your thoughts. 

While the long talk part allows you to communicate and express your thoughts and opinions, you need to take care of the following points:

  • The flow of the conversation must be consistent and confident.

  • The section is designed to test your language skills, hence, ensuring the usage of correct grammar and proper pronunciation.

  • While sizing up your vocabulary would be nice, ensure to not make it too bulky to process easily.

  • You will get a few seconds to organise your thoughts. You must use them to your maximum benefit.

  • A good introduction and conclusion are extremely important. Hence, ensure to dedicate 45 seconds to one minute for the same.

  • You must avoid using slang and informal words in English. A good performance can get downgraded due to inappropriate language.

  • You must try to express even a negative opinion in a positive light, that is in a critical manner rather than squashing it absolutely. It speaks a lot about your communication style.

  • The overall aim of IELTS Speaking is to test your language skills and not your debating skills. Avoid getting into a competitive conversation with the examiner and focus on expressing your opinions.

Important Points to Consider

While general guidelines for the IELTS exam cue-card questions will help you to get a general idea of how to handle the speaking section’s prompt-type questions, the specific guidelines will help you to understand how the “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” question has to be answered.

To answer this question you can take the help of certain questions. You can use these to frame your long-talk answer. While you answer these mute questions, you will eventually get an IELTS Speaking “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” long-talk answer.

Here are the mute questions you must use to answer the cue-card prompt:

  • Who is this person?

  • Do you know them?

  • What kind of clothes do they wear?

  • Why do consider their dressing style unusual?

  • What is your final impression and opinion about this person and their dressing sense?

You will get one minute to prepare your thought for the long talk part. Further, you need to gather your answers and make an outline within this duration.

There are so many types of IELTS cue-card prompts. Explore how you can approach each one of them!

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IELTS “Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” Sample 1

Here is a sample of how you can answer IELTS “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”:

Prothom Vasu is my childhood friend who is popular in his circle, where he is known as an unusual dresser. He often experiments with his clothes to make them more eye-catching. I have never seen him wearing his garments as he bought them. However, I admire the skill with which he does it.

If you were to be in a room full of people and meet him for the first time, you would sense it first rather than see it. You would sense a different style. He manifests himself in his clothes. Often, I have noticed that people who experiment with their style make their clothes the point of focus. 

But, not in the case of Prothom. Whenever or wherever you meet him, you will see him first in an impressive light, and only after minutes, you will notice that his clothes are a reason for it. 

I asked him once how he does this, and he told me that he customises his clothes, even the branded ones, to fit his own personality. He also told me that rather than making big changes, he makes minor changes that are not directly visible to the eye but ensure an overall unique effect.

I am highly impressed by his fashion sense, especially as he uses it to create a niche for himself.

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IELTS “Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” Sample 2

As there is no set way to answer the cue card questions, here is another sample for you to take inspiration from:

I am not much into fashion or clothing trends, as I do dress accordingly but only as they are available in the shops. On a personal note, I am quite unaware of any unusual dressers and no one in my circle as well dresses rather unusually.

However, recently Ranveer Singh has been in the news time and again for his clothing experiments. I earlier only knew him as an actor and thoroughly enjoyed his work, but after the recent buzz, I have been following his appearances, fashion, personality quirks, and other actions.

He has been known to dress up in non-conforming general standards, like in skirts, dhotis, etc. Though there is a lot of flak he is facing on the internet, I am thoroughly impressed by his experiments.

I believe the notion, lifestyle, and thinking we are trying to propagate and follow today’s such clothing experiments. We have over a dozen types of genders and we need fashion that allows all of them to speak and dress their minds. 

I wholeheartedly support the daring and unusual clothing sense displayed by Mr Singh on many occasions and hope that his ideas manifest into mainstream clothing soon.

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IELTS “Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” Sample 3

This is the third example of an IELTS response to "Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”:

People usually dress in strange attire without recognising it. They may wear it to offend, shock, and astonish the audience. They may also wear odd apparel to make a rebellious fashion statement. Or, at the very least, they believe their clothes are causing a commotion. Perhaps it was the latter that motivated my cousin's sister to show us her unique wardrobe choices one day.

It was my cousin sister's wedding, and we were all getting ready for the evening ceremony. Every member of the family was dressed to the nines; our moms and aunts wore diamonds, while the guys looked handsome in 'Sherwanis' and 'Bandhgalas.'

I wore a dark brown 'Bandhala,' with sharp 'Dhoti' trousers and beautiful loafers. Once we were almost finished, my cousin sister stepped in, to the surprise of the entire group.

We were all taken aback when we saw her dress. She wore a short skirt with a formal shirt and a big brown waistcoat, and she completed the appearance with a few metal chains and hanging earrings, as well as gum boots. We were shocked. We knew she was going through a rebellious fashion period, but this was absolutely unexpected, especially for her mother and aunt (the mother of the groom).

My aunt rescued us the day before my mother could respond by ordering us to hurry up and take the bus since it was getting late. With the crisis handled, my odd-looking sibling and I went away. Yet, we really can not take our eyes off her the entire evening. It was hilarious to observe how she affected the bride's family and other wedding guests.

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Vocabulary for “Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”

In order to answer the IELTS Speaking “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” cue card question, you will have to use certain words which are relevant to the topic and show your familiarity with the same.

Here are some of the important words which need to be a part of your vocabulary when answering the discussed promptly:

  • Personality: The general impression and characteristics of the person.

    • Example: Sasha has a quirky personality.
  • Fashion: Any latest trend or style or personalised method of doing something.

    • Example: Rather than going for the common trends, he opts to create his own fashion.
  • Manifestation: Using tangible or viewable events or things to express intangible thoughts and feelings.

    • Example: His fashion is a manifestation of his own beliefs of gender fluidity.
  • Experiment: To put one’s ideas into action for opinions on success or failure.

    • Example: She experiments with her older clothes to recycle them.

“Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” Follow-Up Questions

Once you are through with your long talk session of IELTS Speaking “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” you need to answer certain follow-up questions. These questions are based on your long talk attempted in the previous part.

Though, mostly the questions are only related to the original prompt and designed to check your ability to stand by what you have spoken and use the language to justify your opinions. It is possible that if the examiner finds your answer intriguing, they may ask some dynamic questions. However, such a situation is extremely rare.

As said the questions are used to test how you use the English language to express yourself and your opinions while maintaining your alliance with your long-talk opinions. Here are some of the common follow-up questions asked for the IELTS Speaking cue card “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” prompt:

Where do people in India normally buy clothes?

Indians normally opt to go in-person shopping at local shops and showrooms. Though in recent times online shopping has become quite popular. Still, a large number of people prefer choosing their garments in person. There are various types of outlets available for garment shopping, such as shops, vendors, showrooms, boutiques, branded outlets, etc.

What is the difference between men’s and women’s choice of clothes?

There is a general difference between men’s and women’s clothing in India, even in traditional clothing. While traditional outfits offer various vibrant colours, styles, and patterns for both genders, the options are more muted for men in modern clothing. In my observation, the styles available for women in traditional are limited in comparison to modern and indo-western clothing, while in the case of men, it is vice-versa.

Do clothes affect people’s moods?

Yes, I believe clothes do affect people’s moods. While it is often noted that happy moods make people choose colours like yellow and pink, downtrodden people look for blues and hues which are more intense. Apart from moods the kind of impression one wants to make is also a huge factor. A mysterious person shall choose darker shades and unassuming styles and fits.

What do people consider when buying clothes?

The considerations of people when buying clothes are many, though I believe they could be generalised into occasion or purpose, colour, size, person for whom the clothes are meant, age, personality type of person, fabric, style, and price. Though all these might not be considered all the time, most of them help make people a buying mindset for their clothes shopping.

Precautions to Take While Answering “Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”

Though the precautionary steps to consider while answering the IELTS speaking test questions are not too extensive, still there are some things which you will benefit by remembering.

Some of the precautions you need to take while answering the said cue-card question are:

  • You must be cautious of the time limit, and try not to exceed the same. While at the same time, you must make full use of the given slot. 

  • Your answers must contain the vocabulary relevant to the question. In order to do this, it is better to use certain relevant and indisposable terms.

  • Ensure a confident stature but avoid coming off as arrogant. You can use your dress to support you in this.

  • While you are free to express your opinions, positive ones are known to leave a better impression.

  • Avoid trying to justify your opinions and thoughts. You need only state the related information and not present your justification for having them.

  • Give direct and to-the-point answers. They must be clear and crisp.

  • Your pronunciations and voice modulation should be clear and audible. Ensure that you do not end up being loud or overbearing while trying to answer the cue-card questions.

  • Avoid using accents, especially if you do not have one. Proper pronunciation is enough to get your English speaking skills through the examiner.

  • Ensure to speak clearly and at a pace that is suitable for the examiner to understand what you are trying to say. A moderate pace is the best for this. You must not opt for a slow pace as you might come off as either non-fluent or arrogant.

  • Ensure your attire is appropriate. It does not have to be formal, you can opt for relaxed formal attire. The important thing is that it should be presentable and easy on the eyes.

As previously established, the section and the question are all aimed to test your English speaking skills, hence, you must maintain a flow to the whole conversation, especially during the long talk. Avoid taking too long breaks or speaking too fast, as both will affect your attempt adversely.

The last piece of advice is that you should not dedicate too much of your time to preparing for this specific cue-card prompt. In fact, this page and a short preparation are enough. It is only one of the possible prompts among many while the IELTS exam is long. Hence, you must focus on practising how to gather your thoughts in general and how to approach the in-person IELTS Speaking test.

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FAQs on IELTS Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes

How much time do I need to prepare for IELTS Speaking’s “Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”?

You will get approximately four to five minutes to speak out your opinions or story for IELTS Speaking's "Describe a person who wears unusual clothes". You are expected to ensure a proper beginning and ending to their answer, which can either be a story or any other type of relay, as the person wants. You cannot exceed the available time limit.

Is it wrong to present negative views when answering “Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”?

No, it is not wrong to present negative views when answering "Describe a person who wears unusual clothes". You only need to express your opinions and analysis within the given time in an appropriate manner and language. However, it is strictly advised to observe a critical if not positive outlook. The overly negative views may attract complicated follow-up questions.

How can I prepare for the IELTS cue card question “Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”?

You can prepare for the IELTS cue card question, "Describe a person who wears unusual clothes" by referring to people who you believe to have an unusual style. Here, the style may mean both inspiring and weird and both answers will be accepted by the examiner. However, you must ensure to present your own thoughts about their style rather than simply explaining the facts.

Is it compulsory for the incident to be a real one?

No, it is not compulsory for the incident to be a real one. You can use your imagination to create a personality with a style that in your opinion is unusual. However, you must ensure that your thoughts and words do not contradict each other. It is also important to not get carried away with the imagination as you only have a limited time and it is an English language test rather than creative thinking.

What is the most important thing to remember while answering “Describe A Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes”?

The most important thing to remember while answering “Describe a Person Who Wears Unusual Clothes” is that it is a language test. The cue-card questions are designed to make you put your thoughts and opinions into words, but the nature of these questions also distracts you from the real purpose. While it showcases your real skills and is of huge help to IELTS if you fail to keep track of the real purpose, you might end up performing badly on the test.

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