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short shirt collars, unfolded, with top buttons unfastened and using monotone colours.
Power dressing is a stylish and perhaps expensive way of dressing (usually for business, the
professions or politics) which is intended to give the impression that the person wearing the clothes is assertive and competent, through the use of structured shapes, shoulder pads, smart fabrics, high heels and clean cut styling in the form of work uniform. Whether wearing particular styles of clothing empowers the wearer or whether newly-empowered people simply wear clothes that reflect their achievements is an open question.
Miami Vice was a classic 1980s TV crime drama about two detectives who go undercover to fight drug traffickers. The series – and the 2006 film – was noted for its strong use of music and visual effects; it has been rebroadcast around the world. During the five years of making this TV series the producers explicitly sought the advice of designers (eg Gianni Versace, Hugo Boss) in order to display the latest European fashion trends, with the result that Miami Vice had a significant influence on 1980s men‘s fashion in the USA and elsewhere, and even on the 2000s revival (it was called ―retro‖ or ―retrospective style‖). The clothing style of the TV detectives, Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs, had pastel coloured T-shirts and suits, no socks, sunglasses, and an unshaven appearance of a small amount of beard stubble.
Heavy metal music is a kind of rock music that developed in the UK and USA in the late 1960s and early 1970s, characterized by loudness, speed, distorted amplified sounds and extended guitar solos. Converse is a company which has produced basketball shoes since 1917, especially the Chuck Taylor All Stars trainers (often abbreviated to ―Chucks‖ or ―Cons‖), named after the basketball player who contributed to the design and was the company‘s best salesman.
Nike is a leading supplier of sportswear and equipment. This American company started making Nike shoes in 1971. They are named after the Greek winged goddess of victory.
The stock market indexes show the performance of the stock market, typically reflecting the rise and fall of the shares of large companies, eg the FTSE (also ―footsie‖) is an index of the top 100
companies listed on the London stock exchange and the Nikkei 225 is an index of the stock market in Tokyo.
Language points
1 No history of fashion in the years 1960 to 2010 can overlook or underestimate two constant factors: the ubiquitous jeans and ... (para 1)
The word ubiquitous means present everywhere. Thus the ubiquitous jeans means that jeans can be found everywhere.
2 Exactly why women should want to expose more or less of their legs during periods of economic boom and bust remains a mystery.
An economic boom is a sudden increase in trade, business activity and development in a particular area or region; an economic bust is a business failure or bankruptcy because of lack of money. The expression economic boom and bust describes cycles in which a boom period of growth, high production and rising prices is followed by economic decline, contraction and unemployment before a new cycle.
3 Whenever the economic outlook is unsettled ... (para 2)
The economic outlook is unsettled means the economy is unstable, that is, the economy has problems and is likely to change suddenly, making people uncertain about what may happen in the future. 4 It was given greater respectability when the great French designer, Courrèges, developed it
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into an item of high fashion. (para 4)
For a while the miniskirt was controversial and not respectable because it showed a large extent of the wearer‘s legs, but when Courrèges developed it in Paris fashion shows, this gave approval and support, because the miniskirt could be considered an item of high fashion (having high status from a Paris fashion house).
5 ... but the predominant colours became olive green and oatmeal. (para 10)
Predominant colours refer to the most common colours or those which seem more important or powerful.
6 ... which were described by one commentator as “the prim and proper look is in …” (para 11) A fashion is in when it is a new or current style, or out when it is out-of-date.
7 During the whole period, fashion styles have ranged widely, and have usually been sparked off by a desire to identify people as belonging to a particular sub-culture. (para 14)
During the whole period, there has been a wide range of different fashion styles, which were usually started by people‘s wish to show their identity in a way that would make them distinct from the reset of society.
Vocabulary support
The following are some terms related to clothing that appear in the passage. Understanding of these terms may help with reading comprehension of the passage.
Hemline refers to the bottom edge of a dress or skirt. It shows the length of women‘s skirts and dresses – this length changes according to fashion.
Denim is a thick cotton cloth that is usually blue and is used especially to make jeans. The name comes from French De N?mes (―from Nimes‖, a city in the south France). Such cloth was made both in France and England in the 17th century.
The word jeans comes from Genoa. Sailors from the 17th-century republic of Genoa worked in France and wore trousers made of a mix of cotton, linen and / or wool which was made near Turin in Italy. Bleached
jeans were also fashionable. They had been the fashion of the 17th-century sailors, whose trousers lost their colour when they were washed in sea water and were exposed to the sun. There are various different fits to jeans which include baggy, boot-cut, flares, wide leg, twisted and skinny jeans.
Miniskirt is a very short skirt of mid-thigh length. A micro miniskirt is shorter, up to the upper thigh; a midi is a skirt with a moderate length below the knee, perhaps mid-calf length; a maxi is an ankle-length skirt.
A pairs of tights is a piece of women‘s clothing that tightly covers the feet and legs up to the waist; stockings only cover the feet and legs, and are held up with suspenders.
Flare is a shape that becomes wider at one end. A flared ―bell-bottom‖ style refers to trousers with flared legs – they get wider towards the foot and the end is even wider, like a bell.
A preppy style means wearing classic designer clothes with good fabrics to present a neat, smart, well-balanced appearance with bright colours and a clean look. A preppy lifestyle is happy, friendly and sociable,
with good manners. The word preppy is an abbreviation of preparatory, which refers to private or boarding schools which are preparation for college, which reflects the style of a preppy look.
Chinos are trousers which are a type of light-weight cotton cloth made of chino cloth or twill, a typical form of smart but casual dress.
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A hood is part of a coat or jacket that covers your head; a hoodie (or hoody) is a jacket or sweat shirt with a hood.
Prim clothes are neat, sensible and proper, showing very little of your body. Prim and proper fashions are careful, modest, formal and demure, a respectable style which wouldn‘t offend anyone. Lycra is a light cloth made from artificial fibers that stretches and keeps its shape. Loafers are low leather shoes that you slip on and off and do not need to tie.
Reading and understanding
2 Choose the best answer to the questions.
1 What happened on the fashion scene in the 1950s? (a) Blue jeans arrived in Europe and Asia.
(This happened and they were worn in Europe and Asia ―with huge enthusiasm‖.) (b) American youth started wearing jeans. (c) The French started to manufacture jeans. (d) American women started to wear trousers.
2 What do women want to do during an economic boom? (a) Show less of their legs. (b) Show more of their legs.
(Yes, it seems there is a direct correlation: as the economy booms, hemlines rise.) (c) Buy short skirts. (d) Sell their shares.
3 What did the tights help to promote in the 1960s? (a) The French fashion industry. (b) Stockings. (c) The miniskirt.
(Yes, because without tights the tops of stockings would show since miniskirts had much higher hemlines.)
(d) The Beatles.
4 What was popular in the mid-1980s? (a) Clean shaven faces. (b) Long hair.
(c) Denim jeans and jackets.
(Yes, the passage says ―denim remained popular ... heavy metal music fans wore ... jeans and denim jackets.)
(d) Short skirts.
5 What was fashionable in the 1990s? (a) Designer jeans.
(b) Dyed hair and trainers.
(Yes, both of these are specifically mentioned for the 1990s.) (c) Tight jeans and short hair. (d) Clothes with bright colours.
6 What happened in the fall of 2007? (a) Hemlines anticipated a global crisis.
(Yes, this is what happened, which was unusual according to the previous correlation that hemlines
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followed the economic situation rather than proceeding or anticipating it.) (b) Women‘s skirts got shorter.
(c) There was a crisis on the stock market. (d) Designers began to lose touch with reality.
3 Match the photos with the sentences from the passage. Photo 1 (a) Photo 2 (d) Photo 3 (g)
Photo 4 (b) Photo 5 (e) Photo 6 (f) Photo 7 (c) Photo 1: 1960s
Photo 4: mid-1960s and early 1970s Photo 3: 1970s, the period of punk Photo 2: mid-1980s Photo 5: late 1980s Photo 7: 1990s Photo 6: 2001
Dealing with unfamiliar words
4 Match the words in the box with their definitions. 1 able to be seen (visible)
2 to think or guess that something is smaller, less important etc than it really is (underestimate) 3 very brave and determined (courageous)
4 an urgent, difficult or dangerous situation (crisis)
5 the most common or greatest in number or amount (predominant)
6 new and different in a way that might offend or upset some people (daring) 5 Complete the paragraph with the correct form of the words in Activity 4. At a time of global (1) crisis, when stock markets are falling across the world, we should never (2) underestimate the ability of fashion designers to surprise us by bringing sunshine into people‘s lives, and avoiding the (3) predominant trend of gloom and pessimism. This is certainly true of the fashion industry in Brazil. In 2009, when the effects of the financial situation were (4) visible almost everywhere, top designers launched a (5) daring new collection combining high hemlines, low
necklines, and lots of colour. As one commentator wrote, ―You can call it a (6) courageous decision if you like, but it‘s also a question of Brazilians doing what comes naturally to them.‖ 6 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of the words in the box. 1 If we don‘t act soon, the situation will get worse. (deteriorate)
2 I‘m afraid my trousers got torn when I tried to climb over that fence. (ripped)
3 You need thick pieces of material on your knees and elbows if you go rollerblading. (pads) 4 Access to the show is limited to journalists with press passes. (restricted)
5 The Dow Jones list of stocks and shares fell another 40 points yesterday. (index) 6 That was the most worrying piece of news I‘d heard in a long time. (unsettling) 7 Answer the questions about the words and expressions. 1 Is a ubiquitous item of clothing something you can find (a) everywhere, or (b) only in restricted circles?
2 Does bust refers to (a) economic growth, or (b) financial failure?
3 If a fashion item is sold exclusively in boutiques, can you find it (a) in department stores too, or (b) in no other shops apart from boutiques?
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