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Textbook says はく is for stuff you wear below your waist (ジーンズをはいている) and きる
for stuff you wear above your waist (T-シャツをきています). But checking for 着る on
[www.tangorin.com](http://www.tangorin.com) I find 着る defined as **to wear (in
modern Japanese, from the shoulders down); to put on**. Does this mean I can
just discard はく and use きる for everything shoulders down?
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question
word-choice
はく and きる or just きる?
着る is for part on the upper body(but not everything, so is write from shoulder
down, like put the cap 帽子{ぼうし}を被る{かぶる} put glasses メガネをかける) and for one piece
like kimono 着物{きもの} 水着{みずぎ} ecc. ecc.

はく is from the ankle to the tip of the toe (lower body included shoes).
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2014-11-23T16:22:59.303
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answer
The difference has to do with _how the clothing is put on_.

[着]{き}る is for clothing that's _hung from your shoulders_ , such as a shirt or
jacket. It's also used for whole-body outfits, or any combination of clothes
that includes something worn this way (eg Tシャツとジーンズを着る, even though only Tシャツ
is valid with 着る).

[履]{は}く is for clothing that's _pulled up from below_ , such as pants or
shoes. (Don't mix this up with 吐く, which is a totally different verb.)

[被]{かぶ}る is for clothing that's _placed on top of your head_ , such as a hat.

つける is for small accessories like rings and earrings, that are more _attached_
than placed or hung.

Sometimes more than one is valid - masks, for example, seem to fall inbetween
被る and つける, and so you can use either one.

(thanks to Darius Jahandarie for some extra info)
CC BY-SA 3.0
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answer