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W. Hogarth

The Graham Children

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Relive Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee celebrations of 1897

Changes in styles show the changing role of women in the postwar world

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Street Styles

Usually fashions reflect people’s values, feelings and beliefs.

How could people in Great Britain recognize hippies, punks or New Age Travellers in the streets of their towns? Choose the statements below to write a description to match each picture.

Street Styles

They wore their hair long.

They loved extravagant dresses and hairstyles. They usually wore scruffy (untidy) clothes.

They used to wear lots of rings, bracelets and bells. They prefer to be free and not to work.

They loved wearing long robes or dresses and flares (wide trousers).

They like to wear their hair long with lots of colour threads

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in it.

They pierced their noses and ears with pins.

They wore sandals or walked barefoot (without shoes). They wear old black denim jeans.

They had brightly dyed hair. They carried flowers.

They love wearing wooden clogs (boots on wooden sole) or boots.

They show off their independence in wearing silver ear-rings and sometimes noserings.

They are antifashion: they prefer wearing old clothes or making their clothes.

Hippie

Traditional Clothing

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Deerstalker

There are many traditional items of clothing the British wear for different occasions. Fashions come and go, but there are things that remain even though they are worn by a small number of people.

Task 1

Match the pictures and the descriptions of some traditional items of clothing. (reading for detail)

◊It was in fashion at cricket matches, boating parties and picnics in the 1920s.Today it still forms part of the uniform of some public schools and college sports clubs.

◊It is a type of walking shoes, often with ornamental decorations in the form of small holes.

◊Such a hat was traditionally worn by Sherlock Holmes, so called from their use by hunters when stalking deer on foot.

◊It is a Scottish woolen cap, usually with ribbons, named after Glen Garry – a valley in the Highlands.

◊It is a man’s or boy’s hat worn on some formal occasions or, in the case of boys, as part uniform at some schools (Eton or Harrow)

◊It is a Scottish woollen cap with a bobble on top named after the hero of Burns’ poem (‘Burns night’)

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hat

Task 2

Which item of clothing would you or your family buy as a souvenir or as a thing to wear if you were on a visit to the UK?

If I were in Scotland I would buy tam-o’-shanter cap named after the hero of Burns’ poem for my father, because he likes Burn’s poetry a lot.

Read some ads which British people use every time they want to choose something to buy and answer the questions below.

1)What clothes are advertised?

2)What are the arguments?

Lots of wonderful flares to try! They will suit you!

Jumpers from Burtons! Very attractive!

Nice blouses with lace and frills! They are very smart

Buy a pair of high-heeled shoes. They are really the height of fashion.

Home-knitted cardigans!

They are coming back!

DO YOU CARE WHAT YOU WEAR?

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WHAT HAVE THEY GOT IN THEIR WARDROBES?

1. Young people in Britain have different attitudes towards fashion.

*

1)Read the following opinions on clothing and fashion. Do Phil and Tracey think that fashion is important? (reading for the main idea)

Phil:

All my classmates say that I'm trendy. I enjoy wearing stylish clothes. I like to look smart and attractive. We can't go through life with the same hairstyle or make-up. It's very important to follow fashion. I hate when people dress alike, because they buy clothes in "chain" stores. I prefer hand-made or design clothes. My classmates say that I'm materialistic, but it's not a sin, is it? Sometimes I turn up in something really extravagant. When you are up with fashion you feel you're an individual,

Tracey:

I don't care what other people wear. More than that I don't care what I wear. My mum buys clothes for me in a "chain" store or at a car boot sale." She says that only the rich can afford following fashion and wearing trendy clothes. I prefer casual things — jeans, T-shirts, home-made sweaters. And it's a problem for me to get out of jeans into something more stylish but I don't care. My elder brother's friends have cut their hair into strange shapes, pierced their ears and wear a lot of cheap jewellery. They say they show off their independence, feelings and values. I don't know if they are right. If I were older I would probably do the same.

2)Answer the questions below.

◊what clothes does Phil like to wear?

◊what does Phil like about clothing?

◊why is fashion important for Phil?

◊what clothes does Tracey prefer?

◊what is Tracey’s mum’s attitude towards fashion?

◊what group does Tracey’s brother most probably belong to?

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Special shoes

Without cruelt

A young shoe designer from Brighton has invented truly vegetarian shoes Robin Webb learnt to make shoes from reading library books on the topic. While hitchhiking in Scotland on holiday, Webb discovered a completely waterproof material. The material Webb used in his new shoes is of the same quality as leather and people can look fashionable without using animal products. Webb’s new shoes are based on the popular heavy-soled English shoes, Doc Martens.

“Current”

Made of paper

Rosa Fior’s studio is full of delicate shoes, all singles, no pairs. They seem ordinary but they are made from… paper! Why does she make paper shoes? The shoes function a bit like a diary, full of ideas picked up on her travels. There is a boot made of lottery tickets!

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1) How can you describe these shoes?

2)What shoes would you like to design? For what purposes and for whom?

3)What sort of material would you use to design a diary-type boot?

The following opinions are taken from “Star Letters” written to different magazines by teenage readers.

“Clothes are immediate. They tell us about people right away. ” “Famous people usually set the trends.”

“My friends decide what they’ll wear by looking at popular singers.” “Clothes can be like drugs. Many teenagers easily become addicted.” “It’s not important to be in style.”

“Many people want to be like somebody.” “Adults don’t judge by appearance.”

“It takes time, effort and money to keep up with what is in.”

Which of these opinions do you agree/disagree with? Which of them do you find ridiculous?

Read the text and say if you have illusions towards this profession.

Is it easy to be a photographer’s model?

She is a photographer’s model, high fashion. Her face is familiar one in magazine ads and on television commercials. She has been engaged in this work for eight years. She earns the city’s top rate: $ 50 an hour.

At first you work very hard to try to discover different looks and hairdos. After a while you know them all. Someone once asked me, “Why do high-fashion models pose with their mouths open? They look like they’re catching flies.” This look has been accepted for a long time. They want everything to be subtle or overt. It’s automatic.

They want you natural but posed. How can you feel natural with three pounds of make-up, in some ridiculous costume, standing there and looking pretty?

Someone will call you at seven in the morning and say be ready at eight thirty. Can you be there in 40 minutes? You’re trying to get your wardrobe together and be there in time. It’s terrible. Somehow you manage to make it on time. I’m very seldom late, I’m amazed at myself.

You go out of your house with your closetful on your arm. Different colors and shoes to match and purses and wigs. So I’ve developed these strong muscles with one shoulder lower than the other from carrying all the wardrobe about.

In the middle of the winter you’re fighting all the people to get a taxi. You’re supposed to look fresh and your hair is supposed to be sparkling. By the time you get there, you’re perspiring like crazy, and it’s difficult to feel fresh under all those hot lights when you’ve had such a struggle to get there.

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