To Wear

To Wear
 

I was selling a pair of denim shorts and a shirt today and the person who wanted to buy them spoke almost no English. Everything went fine until I wanted to say:

The denim shorts have never been worn
and
The shirt has only been worn once

For the life of me, I couldn’t form a way in my mind of how to say it, so I just said, "Son casi nuevos," but that’s not what I wanted to say.

How should I have said the above? Even now when away from the pressure of speaking in person and needing to form a sentence on the spot, I’m still totally unsure?

If I would have said the following, how close would I have been?

Los pantalones cortos de mezclilla nunca se han sido llevados puestos

La camisa ha sido llevado puesta solo una vez

Any input is appreciated.

El pantalón de tela vaquera nunca estaba llevado. La camisa es casi nueva llevada una vez.

"Llevar" alone is not the best verb here, because the other person would ask "taken where?" ("¿no han sido llevados a dónde?") ;)

You use "llevar" to talk about clothes, when you are describing a person's clothes at the moment they're wearing them. Let's say we say "llevar" when we think from the point of view of the person wearing the clothes.
- Juan llevaba una chamarra negra. -> He was wearing a black jacket.
- La modelo lleva una gabardina y botas para la lluvia. -> The model is wearing a raincoat and waterproof boots.
- Si voy a la fiesta, llevaré un vestido largo. -> If I go to the party, I'll wear a long dress.


Although "llevar puesto" is not a wrong choice, in this context, when talking about the clothes themselves, I think "usar" is better. (Some speakers use "usar" and "utilizar" as synonyms in contexts like this. I don't, but you may find it.)

Some proposals:
-Los shorts* de mezclilla están (prácticamente/casi)** nuevos. Nunca se han usado.
-...Nunca los he usado.
-...Nunca me los he puesto.
-...No tienen ni una puesta. (More colloquial)
*"El short" in Mexico.
**If they haven't been worn, they're new. Precisely this morning I found an old handbag and exclaimed: "Ésta está nuevecita. Nunca la he podido usar." For me it's "brand new", despite the fact that it wasn't bought recently. ;)

-La camisa* sólo se ha usado una vez.
-La camisa se ha usado una sola vez.
-La camisa tiene una sola puesta.
-La camisa sólo tiene una puesta. (Colloquial)
-La camisa me la he puesto una sola vez. (Colloquial)
*"Camisa" if it has a collar and buttons. "Playera"/"Camiseta" if it's more like a T-Shirt.


Although we don't really use passive voice this often, you may use it anyway and you'll be clearly understood:

Los pantalones cortos de mezclilla* nunca se** han sido llevados puestos.
*Long, but they would have understood. You may omit "de mezclilla", if they cannot be confused with others of another material. :)
**You're mixing the "voz pasiva" and "voz pasiva refleja".
You may say either: "nunca han sido llevados puestos" or "nunca se han llevado puestos".

La camisa ha sido llevada* puesta solo una vez.
*The agreement with the feminine noun must be present in both participles. :)

Thank you for your input, poli. I appreciate it.

Thank you so much for your detailed explanations, suggestions, and alternatives, AngelicadeAlquezar. For me, your detailed responses are like mini lessons and/or reviews. I learn so much from them. They are invaluable, and I appreciate your taking the time to write them.

Glad to help. :)