mettre vice porter

Question

I am guessing that the verb "mettre" was chosen over "porter" because the latter had already been used twice; otherwise "porter" would have been an acceptable choice in "...toutes mes tenues de soirée en même temps. "  Am I right?

Accepted Answer

Frank, "porter des vêtements" is to wear clothes, not 'to put them on'; "mettre des vêtements" is to put on clothes, not 'to wear them'. The use of porter on the first 2 occasions, and mettre on the 3rd follow from the English script. It would not be completely accurate to translate 'putting on clothes' with 'porter', nor to translate 'wearing clothes' with mettre. How different are they ? As different as wearing clothes, and putting on clothes, are in English !