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In-style Fashion for you

The alarm’s going off, your mom is yelling at you to get up. You roll out of bed to get dressed. Stop. Are you the type who picks up the least wrinkled and smelly item from your floor, puts it on and races out the door? Or do you have everything laid out the night before: shoes, pants, belt, sweater, accessories? Fashion, and how you dress, is an individual and creative way to express yourself.

What you usually wear

Summer tips

In the summer, we wear a lot less clothing. If your shirt doesn’t have sleeves , we say it is sleeveless or a tank top . We also wear shorts in the summer and if we go to the beach, we wear our swimming suit.

First, what exactly do you have on? Are you wearing pants or jeans? Maybe you are wearing a skirt or a dress. On the top you could be wearing a T−shirt, blouse, sweater or sweatshirt . At night, we wear pajamas and some people have robes to put on over their pajamas.

What about under your clothes? Most people are probably wearing underwear, and girls are probably wearing a bra . If you put something through the loops in your pants to keep them from falling off, we call that a belt. Other accessories mostly girls wear include earrings in our ears, rings on our fingers, necklaces around our necks and bracelets around our wrists . We may also wear a barrette or headband in our hair.

Winter fashion

Since it’s winter, you hopefully are wearing shoes and socks. Maybe even boots. In the summer both boys and girls wear sandals. At home, maybe you have slippers . If you’re wearing a skirt or dress, you may have tights or nylons on. If you go skiing, you may wear something under your pants called long underwear to keep you extra warm. Also important in winter are scarves , hats, ear muffs and gloves or mittens . You should also have a jacket or coat. These can be heavy or light, depending on the season.

Tuxedo or jeans?

We also wear different clothes for different occasions. To school, most of the clothes you wear are casual : jeans, skirts, shirts, etc. If you are going to a fancy restaurant or other important occasion, you may get dressed−up and wear formal clothes. This would be a suit and tie for the men and a formal, probably long, dress for the ladies. On really formal occasions, like your wedding, men would wear a tuxedo and women would wear a gown .

Fashion fads

The hot cities for fashion include Milan, Italy; Paris, France; London, UK and New York City, USA. Designers create the clothing and then put on a show with models and a runway . Most of these clothes no one would wear on a normal day, but they may be fun for a special event. The important thing about these fashion shows is they show everyone what the popular colors and styles will be for the next season. If all the models are wearing brown and stripes, you can expect to see a lot of brown and striped clothing the next time you go shopping.

Where to keep our clothes

Probably nicely folded in the drawers of a bureau or dresser. If we hang them on hangers , they go in a wardrobe or closet . We put our coats on a coat rack and our shoes on a shoe rack. Sometimes, they just lay by the front door or on the floor of the closet! When our clothes are dirty and need to be washed, we say we need to do laundry .

Materials

What are our clothes made of? Many things are made from cotton . Some sweaters may be made from wool which comes from sheep. Some jackets, belts, and shoes are made from leather which comes from cows. Polyester, a man−made fabric , is also used a lot in making clothing. Silk, which is a very soft material, is popular for pajamas, robes and underwear.

& fakes

Some of the more famous designers are Ralph Lauren or Oscar de la Renta, who work out of New York and Chanel, Chloe, and Christian Dior, out of Paris. In London, Stella McCartney shows off her stuff, while Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Giorgio Armani, take on Milan. Every year, there are new fashion “fads.” These are clothing items that are really popular for a short time, and then seem really funny. If someone besides the true designer of an item makes a copy of it, we call it a fake, or a knock-off.

If you really like clothes and fashion, and always do your best to look nice, people may call you a fashion plate. If you like to shop for clothes, or other items, you may be a shop-a-holic.

Fashion has a long history

The clothing people wear has always indicated their occupation, social standing, or what part of the world they come from. Fashion can be used as a form of free speech, giving you the opportunity to show off your personality and own sense of style. Many people think “the clothing makes the man,” which means how you dress shows what kind of person you are. That may or may not be true, but there’s another phrase that says “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That means the first time someone sees or meets you, they will have an idea about you that will be hard to change. So use your fashion sense wisely and always dress your best!

vocabulary

to go off − spustit, zvonit to yell [jEl] − køièet, jeèet to roll out of bed − vylézt z postele the least wrinkled [“rINk(@)ld] − nejmíò zmaèkaný to put (something) on − obléct si (nìco) 31 to lay out − pøipravit pants [p&n(t)s] − kalhoty accessories [@k”sEs(@)riz] − doplòky sweatshirt [“swEtS@:t] − mikina robe [r@Ub] − �upan slippers [“slIp@z] − baèkory, pantofle tights [taIts] − punèocháèe long underwear [“Vnd@wE:] − podvlíkaèky scarf [skA:f] − šála ear muffs [I@ mVf] − klapky na uši gloves [glVvz] − prstové rukavice mittens [“mIt(@)nz] − palèáky sleeve − rukáv tank top [t&Nk tQp] − tílko bra − podprsenka loop [lu:p] − poutko wrist [rIst] − zápìstí barrette [b&“rEt] − spona (do vlasù) headband [“hEdb&nd] − èelenka tuxedo [tVk”si:d@U] − smoking casual [“k&ZjU@l] − neformální fancy [“f&nsi] − honosný, nóbl to get dressed up − nastrojit se a suit and tie [su:t taI] − oblek s kravatou gown [gaUn] − dlouhé dámské šaty folded [f@UldId] − slo�ený bureau [“bjU@r@U] − prádelník hanger [“h&N@] − ramínko closet [“klQzIt] − komora (na skladování vìcí) coat rack [k@Ut r&k] − vìšák to do laundry [“lO:ndri] − vyprat cotton [“kQt(@)n] − bavlna man−made fabric [“f&brIk] − umìlé vlákno to indicate [“IndIkeIt] − naznaèovat the opportunity to show off [Qp@“tju:nIti] − pøíle�itost pøedvést designer [dI”zaIn@] − módní návrháø runway [“rVnweI] − pøedvádìcí molo

Jacy Meyer (USA)

British versus American English

trousers (BrE) − pants (AmE) pyjamas (BrE) − pajamas (AmE) dressing gown (BrE) − robe (AmE)