Fashion is a Mirror Reffecting the World

 

One may ask what relation can political passions or sympathies have with fashion? However, in history there are a lot of examples showing how a political idea or a political leader gave rise to a new fashion, a new style in clothing or a new way of wearing clothes. Fashion remembers both Bolivar's hat and the Jacobins' suit. To this, naturally, we can add the facts from the unique history of our country: commissars' leather jackets, red scarfs or Stalin-styled field jackets, fashion in totalitarian state mirrors, as a rule, the dominance of one idea, ruling out all others even if they have a bearing on the colour of clothing, the cut of suits or the length of skirts.

Only recently our fashion began to mirror a person's world-view: his attitude towards himself, his attitude towards the generally accepted norms, his taste, his self-confidence and claims.

Whatever a person puts on can be revealing and tell the public a lot about its owner. Without much difficulty and just by a type of clothing, we recognize prospering business people who wear elegant cashmere coats and tweed suits, young women "working on computers with a knowledge of English" dressed in black with golden buttons, young mafiosi in leather jackets or down-filled jackets depending on the season, and old pensioners dressed in the fashion of the time they worked.

Fashion also mirrors the level of developments in science, new technologies and discoveries.

There is a good deal of examples to illustrate this point: from capron and nylon to artificial leather and fur substitutes.

Today world fashion gives a plenty of ideas – for the poor and the rich, for those who like the latest fashion and those who prefer a conservative style. Fashion re­discovers bell-bottomed trousers (flares), riding breeches, narrow trousers and broad trousers looking like long skirts. It offers mini skirts and midi skirts, elegant tailored suits and sheep skin coats trimmed with coloured natural fur and what not! In this fashion people can find anything they want.

There is also one more problem. Fashion suggests that we ourselves should bring the objects in one ensemble or set and select them according to colour, style and our own taste.

4.1 2^nd reading for more detailed comprehension. Say if these statements correspond to the text.

1) Music, videos, books, movies and television give us new fashion ideas.

2) Nowadays fashion reflects a person’s world-view, his taste and claims.

3) Fashion dictates what to wear and doesn’t leave us any choice.

4) Scientific and technological developments are inseparable.

5) The new trend in fashion is always connected with political events or popular political leaders.

6) Clothes tell the public nothing about its owner.

4.1.1 Answer the questions to the text.

1) Can a political idea or a political leader give rise to a new fashion or new styles. Give your examples.

2) Does fashion exist in a totalitarian state. What does it mirror?

3) What does fashion mirror today?

4) Today world fashion gives a plenty of ideas for those who like the latest fashion, doesn’t it?

5) How can you recognize prosperous business people?

4.1.2 Respond to the statements orally.

1. Name clothes which reflected political ideas in our country after 1917.

2. Name clothes mafiosi wore in the 1990s.

3. Name clothes fashion re-discovers and offers.

4. Name the problem connected with fashion.

4.1.3 Say what information in the text is quite new to you. Fill in the following table.

I knew that… I didn’t know that … I have learnt that …

 

Text B 1^st reading for general comprehension.

Find the sentences in which the author writes that a) clothes separate people into groups and b) the fashion is an important thing for people.

 

What is Fashion?

 

Fashion is something we deal with every day. Fashion is revealing. Clothes reveal what groups people are in. In high schools, groups have names: “goths, skaters, preps, herbs”. Styles show who you are, but they also create stereotypes and distance between groups. For instance, a businessman might look at a boy with green hair and multiple piercing as an outsider. But to another person the boy is a strict conformist. He dresses a certain way to deliver the message of rebellion and separation, but within that group the look is uniform. Acceptance or rejection of a style is a reaction to the society we live in.

Fashion is a language which tells people a story about the person who wears it. Clothes create a wordless means of communication that we all understand.

Fashion is a state of mind. A spirit, an extension of one’s self.

Why is it important? Fashion is a means of self-expression that allows people to try on many roles in life. It’s a way of celebrating diversity and variety of the world in which we live. Fashion is needed to keep us safe, tell us apart, expresss our bodie, and for our own enjoyment. One very important thing in fashion is change which is necessary to keep our life interesting. Fashion is a way measuring a mood that can be usefull in many aspects, culturally, socially, even phychologically. At the same time, fashion shouldn’t be taken too seriously or you lose the fun of it.

“Glossy syndrome” is a serious problem. It is one of the major illnesses of the modern society. Some people aspire to change their appearance and style and forget about truly important qualities such as individuality, mind, intelligence.

Fashion is not a sense of life – it is just a medium for self-expression.

4.2 2^nd reading for more detailed comprehension. Answer the questions.

1. What do clothes reveal?

2. Do clothes separate people into groups or do they unite them?

3. What message do some young people deliver by their garments and accessories?

4. What does fashion give people?

5. How should fashion be taken? Can it be a sense of life?

 

5 Oral Practice