Fashion
People have different attitudes to fashion. Some are indifferent, they do not care what they wear, others, especially women are very choosy and particular about what to wear and like to spend a lot of money on clothes. Some people buy ready made clothes, others prefer to have them made to measure or buy them at second hand shops, some have excellent taste in dress and are always dressed perfectly, other are slovenly in dress. There are some people who want to be dressed according to the latest fashion at all costs even if it does not suit them. It seems that it is a hobby for them to follow the fashion magazines and see what a few leading designers in Paris, London or New York present.
Different factors that have influenced the styles of clothing, such as geography, climate, poverty and wealth have played their role. We can also note how rich people altered their clothes with every fancy of their tailor while the poor people´s garmens changed slowly. Then the cheap manufacture of clothes and the invention of the sewing machine brough about a revolution. Ready made clothes have become relatively cheap and now fashionable trends are imitates all over the world.
Fashion concers not only clothes, bud also hair style, make up and accessories, such as shoes, handbags, gloves, belts, hats, scarfs of jewellery and hairdressers need to make money.
Styles, cuts, designes and particularly the length of clothes change very quickly becouse dressmaking has become big business nowadays. Fashions often revert to older styles, what is aut of fashion, funny or ridiculous now may look romantic a few decades later. But the fashions never repeat themselves quite in the same way. There can be a whole range of discinctive features. We could note various types of neckline {hight or low, overall, V- neck , with collar or collariess} , and various cuts of sleeves. The dress may have a classic line, A line or be straight, the waistline may be natural, high or low.
There is also a variety of materials the dress can be made of – traditional natural materials such as cotton, wool, linen silk and the vast collection of new fabrics based on man-made fibres.
The way we dress also depends on our taste, on the season and the proper occasion. We should know what kinds of accessories complement the dress and what colours match each other.
In summer we wear light summer dresses, loose blouses with a low neckline, cropped trousers, shorts and various T-shirts and on our feet we usually pull on sandals. When we go swimming we put on a swim suit {bikiny, one-piece or two piece} or trunks. In winter we need to wear something warm – suits, trousers, jeans, woolies cardigans, sweathers, jumpers, anoraks, winter coats and jackets, gloves and mittens, caps, hoods, hats and of course boots.
On special occasions we like to be dressed properly. When we go to a concert or to the theatre we prefer to be dressed up. We wear an evening dress, which consists of a dark suit, a light shirt and tie, sometimes a dinner jacket and an evening gown.For sports we put on sports wear, such as jeans and T-shirts or blazers, track suits and to the mountains a waterproof jacket or anorak and sports shoes. At home we like to feel comfortable, and so we prefer leisure wear – slacks, jeans, T-shirts and on our feet slippers. To school we wear something practical and plain. The most favourite wear of teenagers includes jeans or trousers, shirts, pullowers and trainers.
Special kinds of clothes are uniforms and costumes. Uniforms are worn particulary by professionals such as the police or health workers.It is still a tradition in some schools in Britain to wear a school uniform. Costumes reflect the style of past time. Apart from the theatre they are not seen very often, only on special occasions. Scotman are well-know for their national costume, which consists of a kilt, knee-length woolen socks, a cap and a sporran {a furcovered bag worn as a purse}. The kilt is made of tartan – a kind of woolen cloth woven in stripes of various solours which cross at right angles so as to form a pattern. Most tartans have eighter green or red as the dominant colour.
Some people do not choose their dress with regard to the latest fashion, they apply a wait-and-see attitude and wear what suits them, what is healthy and what they can afford. The most important thing is that such dressers are neat and clean, they look smart and elegant and they feel comfortable.
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