<p>The former refers to clothes in general, while the latter refers to clothing ornaments/decorations (such as embroidery, patterns, etc).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-22T06:57:24.533Z
Do you have a source for this? The context in which I encountered the word strongly implied the meaning of "clothes" and the online dictionaries I checked also don't support your answer.
Bjorn
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-22T13:16:17.223Z
Pinning down a source would be tricky. You'll have to look at the context that it is used online and in publications. 衣饰 is probably closer to "fashion" than clothing in general. The word is made up of 2 characters, 衣 ("clothes/to clothe") and 饰, generally "decoration/to adorn/to dress up/to impersonate (as in to play a role"). On a side note 服饰 means "clothing/apparel." Take a look at this article: http://women.sohu.com/20080501/n255968988.shtml
Krazer
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-22T04:11:11.650Z
2011-12-22T04:11:11.650Z
Krazer
<p>Krazer has provided a good answer.</p>

<p>You could think of 饰 in the way it comes in 饰品, which means "jewelry" or "accessories". 
In that sense, 衣饰 is ornaments of textile, and 衣服 just clothes.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-22T22:26:14.017Z
2011-12-22T22:26:14.017Z
Lars Andren
<p>衣服 and 衣饰 both mean "clothing"; but are they truly synonymous or is the use of each term confined to its own specific context? </p>

<p>Or is it simply a difference between colloquial and formal speech or between the spoken the written language?  </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-21T21:52:20.803Z
Is this about Mandarin or Taiwanese or Cantonese? Can you re-tag accordingly? Thank you!
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-21T21:55:35.617Z
@Alenanno - It's about Mandarin (tag added).
Bjorn
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-21T21:56:01.373Z
My nick is Alenanno, just one "na" by the way. :D And thank you again!
Alenanno
<mandarin><word-choice><synonyms>
Do 衣服 and 衣饰 carry different connotations or are they synonyms?
# Do 衣服 and 衣饰 carry different connotations or are they synonyms?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-12-21)

衣服 and 衣饰 both mean "clothing"; but are they truly synonymous or is the use of each term confined to its own specific context?

Or is it simply a difference between colloquial and formal speech or between the spoken the written language?

**Tags:** mandarin, word-choice, synonyms

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Is this about Mandarin or Taiwanese or Cantonese? Can you re-tag accordingly? Thank you!  
> **username_0**: @username_1 - It's about Mandarin (tag added).  
> **username_1**: My nick is username_1, just one "na" by the way. :D And thank you again!  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2011-12-22. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The former refers to clothes in general, while the latter refers to clothing ornaments/decorations (such as embroidery, patterns, etc).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Do you have a source for this? The context in which I encountered the word strongly implied the meaning of "clothes" and the online dictionaries I checked also don't support your answer.  
> **username_2**: Pinning down a source would be tricky. You'll have to look at the context that it is used online and in publications. 衣饰 is probably closer to "fashion" than clothing in general. The word is made up of 2 characters, 衣 ("clothes/to clothe") and 饰, generally "decoration/to adorn/to dress up/to impersonate (as in to play a role"). On a side note 服饰 means "clothing/apparel." Take a look at this article: http://women.sohu.com/20080501/n255968988.shtml  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2011-12-22. Score: 1

username_2 has provided a good answer.

You could think of 饰 in the way it comes in 饰品, which means "jewelry" or "accessories".
In that sense, 衣饰 is ornaments of textile, and 衣服 just clothes.


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