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I recently read that:

着る（きる）is used for the wearing clothes for either the upper half of the body (eg 上着）or the whole body in general.

履く（はく）is used for bottom half (eg shoes, socks, trousers).

する　is used for accessories (watch, scarf etc)

Is there are a specific/common use for 着ける (つける） or the type of clothes/accessories that take this verb?

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On top of user1205935's 巻く, 被{かぶ}る is usually used for hats and はめる for gloves. I might be missing others too. –  dainichi Sep 4 '12 at 8:33
@dainichi: Tx. I　did not know はめる but　I see it goes for rings aswell as gloves. The only other one I remember is 眼鏡を掛ける。 –  Tim Sep 4 '12 at 10:21
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up vote 5 down vote accepted

着ける can be used for those items that fall under the する category above, e.g.


Probably the reading comes from 付ける »to attach« and the kanji from the fact that you are "attaching" something to your body in the sense of wearing it.

BTW, マフラーを巻く would be preferred to マフラーを着ける or マフラーをする.

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Thank for the quick reply –  Tim Sep 4 '12 at 8:32
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