Что на людях: учим одежду по-русски

What does “в чём одет” mean in Russian?

Russian describes what you’re wearing by putting you in your clothes: the preposition в (“in”) plus the prepositional case. So он в свитере is “he’s in a jumper,” она в платье is “she’s in a dress,” он в очках is “he’s in glasses.” To ask about it, в чём? (“in what?”) turns что into the prepositional чём. English reaches for the verb “to wear” and finds nothing like it; Russian just locates the person inside the outfit.

The construction scales to any garment: он в свитере и штанах (in a jumper and trousers), она в куртке (in a jacket). The clip drills it with a question built the same way — в чём одета эта женщина? (“what is this woman wearing?”) — over street photo after street photo, until the в + garment pattern locks in. Once you have it, you can describe anyone’s outfit with a single preposition.