cloth and clothes

Cloth (pronounced /klɒθ/) is material made from wool, cotton, etc, used for making clothes, curtains, soft furnishings and so on. (In informal English, it is more common to say material or fabric.)

• His suits were made of the most expensive cloth.

A cloth is a piece of material used for cleaning, covering things, etc.

• Could you pass me a cloth? I’ve spilt some milk on the floor.

Clothes (pronounced /kləʊðz/) are things you wear: skirt, trousers, etc. Clothes has no singular; instead of a clothe, we say something to wear or an article / a piece of clothing.

• I must buy some new clothes; I haven’t got anything to wear.