Intro
Okay,Americans could use a little help when it comes to style.We wear shirts and jackets that are much too large for us.We wear pants with pleats and tapered legs. We deck ourselves out in drab colors.Most of us have no sense of style.This lesson is for my countrymen as much as it is for you folks in places far away from Portland,Oregon.
Listen to John and Dave about one bad trend in fashion:pleated pants.
Dialogue
John: You're looking pretty dapper today.
Dave:Yeah, thanks a lot. You know, I try to be trendy when i can.
John:Yeah, what's going on with those pants there? Are they, ah, are they pleated or flat front?
Dave:Flat front. You know, I was reading this article about fashion tips and pleated pants are not the way to go.
John: No,it's definitely better to have flat pants these days. I was out wiht, ah,some of my friends and some girls were teasing one of my friends who still had pleats on his pants.
Dave: Oh yeah.
John: Yeah, but, I mean, I'd say 85% of guys still have pleats on their pants.
Dave:It's amazing. In Japan, the director of the school I worked for, she said,"You should wear pleated pants." And,it just wasnt going to happen.
John: Yeah, because it was more conservative or something?
Dave: Yeah. I dont know what, I dont know what the addiction is with pleated pants.
John:Yeah. I dont see them as being so bad, but it's definitely the c ool thing to do to have flat fronts.
Dave: You wont see any metrosexuals in, in pleated pants.
John: No, you wont. They're a different breed.
Dave: They are!
Discussion
An old American tv commercial said,"You never get a second chance to make a first impression." This means that when someone sees you for the first time, that is how they will always remember you. If you're looking to snazzy up your style, check out these sites:
For men:
http://men.style.com/gq
For women:
http://www.uktvstyle.co.uk/
http://www.dailyfashion.com/
Vocab
trendy
Definition
adj. cool, hip or popular
Examples
Some of the trendy restaurants in Los Aangeles charge way too much for their food.
conservative
Definition
adj. supporting tradition rather than change in political views; politically caustious
Examples
George W.Bush is a conservative president.
addiction
Definition
n. feeling that you need something; feeling that you cannot live without something
Examples
I have a really bad chocolate addiction. I have to eat chocolate after every meal or I get really angry.
Metrosexual
Definition
n. a trendy or fashionable person who lives in a big city
Examples
Not many of my friends are metrosexuals. They all live in the suburbs.
Pleats
Definition
n. folds on the front of pants, going around the hips
Examples
Did you see him?He's wearing pants with pleats!
tapered
Definition
adj. getting more and more narrow; becoming smaller and smaller toward one end
Examples
These pants are so ugly. They're tapered at the bottom
deck
Definition
v. dress up or wear; _used with "out", as in 'deck out'
Examples
She's going to deck herself out in this old cowgirl costume for Halloween.
different breed
Definition
n. unique or different from others
Examples
Actors are a strange and different breed.
drab
Definition
adj. boring or plain; depressing or gloomy
Examples
The sky looks really gray and drab today.
dapper
Definition
adj. fashionable or stylish
Examples
He looked really dapper in his new suit.
