7. Levi's Blue Jeans

Do you enjoy wearing Levi's blue jeans? Blue jeans have become popular all over the world, but do you know how they got started?

Levi Strauss was born in Germany in the mid 1800's and emigrated to the United States as a young man. He lived in New York City and learned the dry-goods (галантерея) business for several years. In 1853 he moved to San Francisco (California, USA) and soon was recognized as a very successful businessman.

Many of Levi Strauss' customers were cowboys and miners. They needed clothing that was strong and durable (прочный). Strauss found a special fabric from France that was comfortable and lasted a long time. It was called serge de Nimes, which was later shortened to the word denim.

Another man named Jacob Davis bought large amounts of the denim fabric from Levi Strauss. He was a tailor who made pants for hard-working men. One of his customers was continually tearing the pockets off his pants. So Jacob Davis decided to put rivets (заклёпки) on certain parts of the pants to make them stronger. The customer loved the new pants so much that he told all his friends, and soon Jacob Davis was busy making lots of pants with rivets.

Jacob Davis soon realized that using rivets was a great business idea, and he didn't want anybody to steal that idea. But he didn't have enough money to pay for the patent. So he went to the businessman Levi Strauss and told him his idea. He said, "If you agree to pay for the patent, we will share the profits from the riveted pants." Levi Strauss agreed, and the new riveted pants business was called Levi Strauss and Company. Today Levi's jeans are more popular than ever, and Levi's name continues to live on.

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Different Opinions about Dress Codes and Uniforms

I must disagree with the statement that school uniforms do not help students. I am a Canadian going to a public school and I wear uniforms. All schools with uniforms show improved grades in every level. Why do you think 80% of private schools use some type of uniforms? Studies have shown that students that wear uniforms get better grades. I firmly believe that uniforms make a difference in grades, discipline, and the way we look. Also, it is financially better for our parents. Shalini Singh, Canada

Lots of people say that school uniform takes away our individuality. I completely agree, but there is more to it. The school board is the one who decides on the uniforms. I think, this is unfair. We spend most of our day at school. We are the ones who practically grow up there, and we are the ones who will have to wear uniforms, and yet we can’t decide if we want them.

Teachers say that clothes make a distraction in school, so uniforms will be better to decrease this. The real fact is uniforms make a bigger distraction. Comfort is a big issue, and uniforms just make it harder to find brands that are comfortable. Torrey Benson, U.S.

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Parents and teenagers

Some of the problems young people have at home are caused by lack of dialogue--- children don’t talk, parents don’t talk and conflicts explode when you least expect them…

Clothes seem to be one of the most typical causes of these quarrels. Either you want to buy too expensive ones, or you look like a tramp (бродяга) - parents want you to dress smartly and very rarely appreciate your style. Some other times it’s more your behaviour that upsets your parents.

In Britain today, more and more young people want to be independent and leave home between the ages of 16 and 20. Some are students; others run away to escape from their homes which are overcrowded and unhappy. They go in search of work or of a more exciting life.

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Nowadays, more and more people don't wear their national clothes, and the clothes look almost the same all over the world. Do you think it is a positive or negative development? Here is one of the opinions.

Today the daily tradition of wearing national costumes is going down. I firmly believe that this is a positive signal of development. A number of arguments support my opinion.

Firstly, the current social context where people's lives are much closer than ever before, makes it naturally understandable that people's clothes tend to be more similar. Specially western clothes, have gained popularity for being more comfortable and easier to wear than traditional costumes, and in turn, much more wearable and appropriate for broader range of events. Moreover, people who used to wear national clothes and now wear western clothes feel less isolated and much closer to their counterparts (коллеги), therefore, not out of place. Furthermore, the peculiarity of current outfits is that they are cheaper and faster to put them on . On the other hand, losing this tradition, people become less committed to their nations, and this just could be the beginning of successive (следующий один за другим) losses.

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It's Saturday night, and Laura is going to a party with some friends. Laura's mother and father are watching TV when she says goodbye to them. 'I'm going to Sam's party. I won't be late” she says. 'You can't go out dressed like that!' yells Laura's dad. 'You look ridiculous.' Laurа looks down at her carefully chosen outfit. She's wearing a tight red top, a silver miniskirt and black boots with 15-centimetre heels. She has coloured her hair bright red and she's wearing tinted glasses. Laurа thinks she looks great!

Fashion has always been a matter of dispute (предмет споров). Young people express themselves through fashion, and extreme fashion is a way to rebel.

In the 1960s young people started wearing/to wear miniskirts, bell-bottomed pants and flower patterns. Many young people became hippies, and parents paniced when their teenage sons grew their hair long. Then came the decade of glamorous fashion. Gold and silver pants and tiny tight tops became very popular in the 70s. Disco-goers wore high-heeled shoes and boots that were almost impossible to walk in. Punk rock also raised its ugly head during the 70s. Punks had crazy Mohawk haircuts and wore dirty clothes with holes in them. During the 90s, styles from the 60s and 70s came back. Bell-bottomed pants and crazy high-heeled shoes returned. Midriffs (животы) were bare and body piercing came into fashion. Now that we've entered the 21st century (or the 'naughties'), you can wear whatever you like!

Overall, I think new fashions are replacing traditional ones, but I also think we should also try to preserve typical traditional clothing. It's part of our culture and heritage.

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