6. Link adjectives with suitable nouns:

Adjectives: comfortable, ethnic, exotic, sophisticated, vast, historical, textile, fashion, attractive, Chinese, western, distinctive, innovative, Turkish, Arabian;

Nouns: garment, carpets, trends, features, tradition, jacket, shawl, label, pattern, knitting, collection, technologies, decorations, style, clothes;

7. Answer the following questions:

1. What were the main trends in British fashion throughout the 1950s?

2. What was the British society at that period of time?

3. What countries did British designers visit? For what purpose?

4. What did Zandra Rhodes graduate from?

5. When did she launch her own fashion label?

6. What did she reflect in the textile patterns and silhouettes?

7. How is the printed design called?

8. What did Thea Porter design in 1960s?

9. Did Bill Gibb regularly exploit ethic cut and construction techniques in his collections?

10. What was his source of inspiration?

Vocabulary to be memorized

angular – зд. чопорный

affluent- изобильный, богатый

antique – древний, старинный, старомодный

bazaar – базар

Bohemian –богемский, богемный

body – тело

bold – смелый, дерзкий

braid – шнурок, тесьма

caftan – кафтан, длинный восточный халат

chiffon – шифон

clientele –клиентура

crewel-worked – тонкая шерсть (для вязания)

conceal – скрывать, маскировать, прятать

cut – крой, кроить, резать

expanse – экспансия, расширение

exotic –экзотичный, иноземный

eloquent – красноречивый, выразительный

embrace – зд. воспользоваться

ethic – этический

fabric – ткань, изделие

genuine – подлинный, настоящий

hooded – в виде капюшона

jeweled – отделанный драгоценными камнями

knitting – вязание, трикотаж

omnipresent – вездесущий

peak – вершина

plunder – грабить, воровать, расхищать

print – зд. набивной

sequined –отделанный блестками

shawl – шаль, платок

thread – нитка, нить

turquoise – бирюза, бирюзовый (цвет)

Text IX Fashion and bohemian designers

Turkish-born St Martin’s graduate Rifat Ozbek often uses the fez hat, harem trousers, the star and crescent moon of the Turkish flag and coin decoration in his work. His autumn/winter 1992 collection was inspired by indigenous Americans, featuring silk-velvet tunics, with clusters of coloured feathers at the hips. Also from this collection is the luxurious, full-length, white-wool coat. This takes elements from Russian military clothing and illustration from fairy-tales. It is trimmed with ikat braiding, which is widely used on Central Asian clothing.

Shirin Guild, who presented her first collection in 1993, was born in Iran and is a self-taught designer. Her cut is derived from Iranian and Japanese clothing tradition, while fabrics and yarns are sourced exclusively from British mills. Capaciously cut Kurdish trousers, and sweaters that enfold the body, have become Shirin Guild signatures. Two striped linen kimono jackets are combined with a linen vest and trousers. The distinctive front panel on the trousers was inspired by the dress of Iranian peasant women, who wear skirts over their trousers for warmth.

Fashion’s appropriation of ethnicity and historical styles is selective, often romanticized and irreverent in its application. Original garments, as well as paintings, engravings, sculpture and decorative ceramics are frequently used by designers as references sources. Pleated garments, originally part of classical antiquity, have consistently inspired artists, dress reformers and bohemian fashion designers. Painters and sculptors have long-exploited classical drapery, which accentuates the contours of the body and is timeless in its appeal. To members of the Dress Reform Movement, it presented a healthy alternative to the prevailing corseted and cumbersome fashions. The classically inspired clothes of Venetian designer, Mariano Fortuny (1871-1949), attracted clients who were both unconventional and fashionable. Fortuny’s name has become synonymous with intricate, pleated, silk garments. In 1907 he introduced his columnic, delphos dresses, named after the world-famous classical statue of a charioteer, found in Delphi. These dresses were painted in subtle colourings, hand-pleated according to his secret method, and weighted at the hem with tiny glass beads.

Ian Cooper and Marcel Aucoin, working as fashion designers Ian & Marcel, acknowledged their debt to Fortuny, having seen an exhibition of his work at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery in 1980. For ten years, Ian & Marcel created exquisite hand-crafted special occasion wear, and bequeathed a significant collection of their work to the V&A. This included one of their very finest ensembles, dating from 1985 – a silk caftan evening coat, with painted, classical vine design, teamed with a pleated, delphos-style dress, in hues of purple and blue. Lady Holly Rumbold remembers, Ian & Marcel reminded us of medieval knights, whose quest for beauty’s perfection. They consecrated their lives to their art and the realization of their ideals, with the same single-mindedness and fervour of Parsifal in pursuit of the Holy Grail.

The appeal and universality of pleats is manifest in the work of Charles and Patricia Lester, who are based in Abergavenny, Wales. Charles trained as a textile physicist and Patricia is self-taught. The creation of their garments involves meticulous craft skills and is highly labour intensive: each metre length of silk takes eight hours to pleat before being baked and hand-dyed. Their exquisite colourings reflect the drama of the Welsh countryside, faded Renaissance textiles and exotic jewels. Charles and Patricia Lester’s ‘poison apple’ pleated silk lauder dress, with a silk-velvet devore (an acid burn-away technique) jacket. In addition to pleing silk, the duo also create sumptuous, deep-pleated silk-velvet evening coats, as well as textile furnishings. Prestigious clients include HRH Princess Michael of Kent, Shakira Caine and Bette Midler.

Gnuyki Torimaru – who formerly worked as ‘Yuki’ and is still informally known as such – has been inspired by both Japanese clothing traditions and by classic pleating. Yuki works in an utterly modern idiom, using polyester fabrics and hoop structures to create flower-trumpet shapes at the sleeves and hems of his pleated garments. Many other British designers, including John Flett, Helen Storey and Lezley George, have also featured classically inspired pleats in their collections.

The textile-led fashion company, Helen David English Eccentrics (previously known as English Eccentrics), draws on a colourful pot-pourri of historical, artistic and multicultural imagery. The textile design, which dates from 1994, has bold heraldic lion and unicorn motifs, in a rich rust colour, inspired by the clothes worn by Tibetan monks.

The British are devoted to original period and ethnic clothing. These garments are valued for the individuality they accord the wearer and the quality of workmanship. Loving a bargain, the discerning can often discover an exquisitely made and elaborately decorated piece at a give-away price.