Text b. To sew, or buy ready-to-wear?

Many people consider they can save money by making their own clothes. Others prefer to buy ready-to-wear clothes. Ready-to-wear are clothes that are made acording to standard sizes and sold to buyers. There are advantages of each method. You can combine the two ways of items, such as pants and skirts, and buy other items that are harder to make, such as blouses and sweaters.

Remember, you have to take into account the cost of the equipment you use in sewing. If you buy very expensive fabric you may spend as much as you would if you bought a ready-to-wear items. Clothes that are difficult to make may be cheaper when bought ready-made. Shirts, underwear, pyjamas are cheaper to buy.

You must also consider your skill before deciding to sew your own clothes. If you sew something but never wear it because you do not like the way it is made, then you have not saved any money by sewing. Perhaps the most important reason to sew is the pleasure you will obtain from doing it. Clothes made especially for you can fill some of your need for individuality. You will also find a sense of pride in mastering the skills required to make your own clothes. The satisfaction of sewing is much like those of painting a picture or taking an outstanding photograph.

Finally, do not forget that sewing offers a chance to recycle. Before deciding to buy something new, look over your clothes to see if something can be saved by remaking it. Also, look around for nontraditional materials, such as an old quilt or lace table-cloth, that might be turned into a new garment.

Exercise 6. Topics for discussion.

1. Why clothes that are difficult to make are sometimes cheaper to buy, such as shirts and jackets?

2. What are advantages and disadvantages of buying ready-to-wear clothes?

3. List the pros and cons of sewing the items yourself.

Exercise 7. Read and translate the dialogue. Formulate the main idea of it.

Alternative ways of dressing well

A. There are alternative ways to get hold of the right clothes for your life, aren’t there?

B. Oh, yes. I think the best one is to make your own clothes.

A. You can sew, can’t you?

B. Yes, I can. I’ve already sewn five or so garments for myself.

A. Well, I can also speak from experience in this matter.

B. Then you agree with me that it’s worth doing it, don’t you?

A. On the contrary, my advice is that, in general, it doesn’t make sense to sew for yourself unless you really enjoy it or when your garments need alterations, or unless you a non-standard shape.

B. Oh, are you sure you’re right?

A. I’ll tell you what... Years ago I did actually start out studing fashion design and sewing and I made all my clothes.

B. Then why being against sewing for yourself now, I wonder?

A. The thing is that I really enjoyed sewing sewing and was quite satisfied with all my clothes then. I got to the stage, however, where I used to make an embarrassing number of mistakes.

B. Oh, what a nuisance! You stopped enjoying it, didn’t you?

A. In fact, I didn’t, but as my life became increasingly busy, I used to make clothes in too much of a hurry.

B. Mmm... And how did you manage to cope with that embarrassing number of mistakes?

A. Fortunately, my clever sisters used to be able to alter many of them into something that was actually wearable.

B. Oh, how clever of them!

A. So, before attempting to make an outfit ask yourself:

(1) Are you a good enough dressmaker? If you are not your results will sometimes look decidedly amateur.

(2) Would you wear the garment when it is finished?

B. Well, perhaps, you are right.

Exercise 8. The English words ‘clothes’, ‘clothing’, ‘garment’, ‘dress’, ‘wear’, ‘attire’, ‘apparel’, ‘costume’, ‘outfit’, ect. can be used as equivalents of the Russian “одяг”, but all of them have some differences in usage that must be taken into account. One has to learn using them correctly.

Clothes are things to wear on the body, such as trousers, shirts, etc.

Clothing is the same as clothes but in a more general meaning coorresponding to the Russian “одяг”.

A clothier is a person, who makes clothes.

Garment is an article of clothing.

Dress is an outer garment worn by a woman or girl. Dress is synonymous here to frock which is also a woman’s or girl’s dress.

Gown is a long woman’s dress or a loose role worn by judges, university members.

Wear is used in compounds or terms for things to wear: rainwear (clothing to keep off the rain); underwear (undercloth); men’s wear (clothes for men), etc.

Attire is a formal dress, clothing, e.g. he was wearing a formal evening attire.

Apparel is a literary or old use of clothes, especially of a fine or special sort. In American English apparel is synonymous to clothing.

Costume is a woman’s suit or style of dress typical to certain periods, country, rank or profession.

Outfit is a clothing needed for a particular purpose.

Exercise 9. Fill in the blanks with the English equivalents of the Russian ‘сукня’, ‘одяг’:

1. Policemen and postmen wear dark blue ... in Britain. 2. You have to buy some new ... . 3. “You should be careful with your ..., because this material easily creases”, said the maker. 4. The other day we listened to a very interesting lecture on Roman ... 5. They wore evening ... . 6. She had on a full lehgth evening ... . 7. She was dressed in a Middle Eastern ... . 8. The judge wore a black ... .

Text C

Key Words and Phrases : outfit-комплект одягу, essentials- предмети першоi необхiдностi, heavy-weight coat-зимове пальто, light-weight coat- демисезонне пальто, sleeves- рукава,well-cut- хорошого покрою, to date- виходити з моди, perennial “must”-постiйна необхiднiсть.

Very often a person has a wardrobe full of clothes and “nothing to wear”. It means you should change something in your wardrobe and think of the right outfits for every occasion.

Never buy any new clothes before going through your existing wardrobe to see whether you need them or not. First of all, your wardrobe ought to contain certain essentials or basic items. They include coats: heavy-weight, light-weight, rain-coat; dresses: casual dresses, evening dresses; suit: pants suit, skirt suit; shirts or blouses: long- sleeved, short-sleeved; a pullover and a cardigan. Your wardrobe should also include some skirts in different colours and some kinds of pants: classic and jeans.

When you buy your clothes, go in for simple, well-cut suits and dresses that will look “right” for almost any occasion. Concentrate on styles that are not expensive but elegant. A winter coat is a basic need and it may be an expensive item, because it should be wearable for several seasons. Choose a cosy-looking coat in any material that suits you.

A well-cut suit is another essential. If its lines are plain, it won’t go out of fashion for several years. You can prolong its life by having an extra skirt because jackets always outlast skirts.

An extra dress is perennial “must” with women. The short evening dress is much better than the long one. The lines that don’t date are the simple ones.

With colour you can experiment as you like nowadays. Remember that the warm colours- red, yellow, orange- make a figure appear larger. Cool blue and

green make it look smaller. The light colours increase size. Dark shades decrease

size.

It is up to you to decide how you want to look and what to wear. Remember that the clothes in which you feel happy are always the most successful clothes.

Exercise 10. Read and entitle the text. Render the text.

Exercise 11. Make a dialogue”buying clothes”. Use following word combinations:

to put on – вдягати

to take off – знiмати

to try on – примiряти

to fit – пiдходити (за розмiром)

to suit – пiдходити, пасувати (колiр, форма)

too long – довгий

too short – короткий

changing room – примiрочна

shop assistant – продавець

size – розмiр

Exercise 12. Fill the gaps with suitable words.

1. She decided to wear a …………. and a ………. instead of a dress.

2. I tried on a ……….. ; the jacket was fine but the …………. were too short.

3. It was hot in the office, so I took off my jacket and ……….., and rolled up the

sleeves of my…………….

4. I wanted to buy the jacket, but unfortunately the one I tried on wasn’t big ……..

and they didn’t have it in a bigger …………..

5. I also tried on a new ………, but unfortunately a medium size was too………….