FASHION

Vocabulary Find the "odd one out".

 There may be more than one answer. Give your reasons.

FASHION

Fashion forms a key part of many of our important industries, especially those involving design, such as cars, computer printers and clothing. In the world of machines, changes in design often accompany technical improvements.

However, new design in clothing is more commonly motivated by fashion. Differences in the climate from season to season and the tendency to equate each new year with a new look provide textiles companies with frequent opportunities to renew their sales.

These marketing opportunities are often realised by associating products with people. Fashion models are highly paid to provide appropriate images of good health, comfortable life-styles, success and beauty.

Fashion is usually regarded as fun and provides the focus of many popular magazines. However, controversy occurs in some instances. The image provided by the fashion model may shock, it may fail to have any connection with the product itself or it may endorse a product such as a fur coat which some people find offensive.

FASHION Dialogue

A: In my opinion, fashion is a complete waste of time, money and resources.

B: I disagree entirely. The world would be a very boring place without change.

 A: Fashion doesn't only involve change. It's a very dishonest form of marketing based on artificial images which never translate into reality. 

B: But everyone understands that the images are there to capture attention. People find them fun. Haven't you ever looked through a fashion magazine?

A: Only at the dentist's. 

B: What about the glossy magazines which you get when you buy a Sunday newspaper? They're full of fashionable advertisements. 

A: That's true, but don't you think they're a terrible waste of paper. How many people throw them straight into the dustbin? 

B: A lot of people must read them and they don't add to the cost of the newspaper.

A: There're two points here. Firstly, the cost to the environment. Think of all the rain forests. Secondly, the advertiser may pay, but the costs are passed on to the consumer. 

B: That isn't strictly true. If a company can sell in bulk, prices can be brought down. You can't expect to sell unless the consumer knows the product exists. 

A: I wouldn't mind publicity if it told you something about the product, but by getting fashion models to market clothes and even cars, you are hiding the truth.When I buy clothing, I want to know if it's comfortable and how long it's going to last. 

B: That may be your reason, but some people buy clothes because they want to look nice. Perhaps they have a special date or engagement. People have always liked dressing up. 

A: That may be so, but traditional costumes were made to be worn more than once. What worries me is today's throw-away society where some people waste the world's precious resources while other people go without. 

B: Well I don't see why you should blame the fashion industry for social injustice.

Assignment 2: Select one of the topics below and prepare a brief oral presentation with your partner.

FASHION Discussion questions

Have you ever bought something because it was fashionable? If so, what?  

Does the fashion industry exist mainly to persuade people to spend money on things they do not really need?

Do you plan your spending according to a budget, or buy things on impulse?

Is fashion selfish in a world where many people have not got what they need? 

Do you think fashion models should be used to sell products such as cars? 

Some fashion models refuse to advertise products involving animal cruelty such as cosmetics and fur coats. Would you buy such products? 

Do you think modern society is too materialistic? Why (not)? What encourages materialism?

In your opinion, which countries have the best and worst fashions in clothes? 

Which products advertised on TV in Britain/USA/Australia and in your country represent (a) women's fashion (b) men's fashion ?

YOU ARE WHAT YOU WEAR

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.--Mark Twain

As developed in our discussions[1] of the body self, clothes make the person.  Here, in the context of presentations of self, we consider how clothing communicates individuals' positions within status hierarchies and their claims to social power and the deference of others.  Clothing also can carry political messages, such as when Gandhi pushed the production of unrefined cloth (see https://askasia.org/frclasrm/lessplan/l000079.htm) or khadi, to symbolize the idea of Indian swadeshi, or self-reliance.

CLOTHES MAKE THE PERSON

The greater the social control the greater the body control expected. The scope of this maxim extends beyond controlling biological processes (e.g., either hiding them, as in the case of copulation or excretion, or, as in the case of eating, covering them with etiquette) to the clothing that we wear. Dress is a language. Throughout history, clothing fashion has been used as means for differentiating people, reaffirming the differences between elites and non-elites, between children and adults, and between men and women.  In medieval times, clothes denoted one's place in a strict, inherited social hierarchy.

In the 1990s, hundreds of Iranian women have been arrested by morals police for dress code violations. In 1995, Navy Admiral Jeremy Boorda committed suicide, perhaps to remove any chance of scandal surrounding his wearing of two Vietnam combat decorations

Assignment 3 Do the following activities and insert the activities in your Personal File 4 :

1. Advanced and Intermediate:

Answer the following questions concerning change (about 100 words):

a.       Why do people need/ fear change? How do people make changes in their lifestyles or image? Have you ever done something which involved a major change? If so, what?

b.      What do you think has been the major change during your lifetime? Why? How has your life been affected by it?

2.Advanced level: Access this Internet address: https://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/Issue-March-1997/finkelstein.html

and read   Joanne Finkelstein's "Chic Theory" article. Write a summary of the text. For further information on writing summaries see the following links:

https://www.ccsn.nevada.edu/english/sumguide.htm

https://wwwfac.worcester.edu/owl/teacher/writing_summaries.htm

3. Intermediate level Read the text on   Bodies of Culture and create a list of 15 questions based on it.

Source: https://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/exhibits/online_exhibits/body_modification/bodmodintro.shtml

When most people think of body painting, the image that comes to mind is more likely to be that of a "wild" person such as the New Guinea woman pictured at left as opposed to that of "wild" American men shown at right. Yet body painting is worldwide, the most ancient and direct method of corporeal decoration. We all paint our bodies for reasons of identification, ritual, or beauty. For the New Guinea woman, body painting is a means of conveying social messages about her identity with a group.

In much the same way, the designs on the faces and chests of this year's World Cup fans are clear signals about their loyalty to Team USA. Their body painting has a ritual component and serves as a form of identification.

Figure 3 Face painting at a block party, suburban Philadelphia, 1998

Americans often paint each others' faces at community gatherings. Visit a block-party or fair in the United States and you're sure to see at least one person painting children's faces.

The Tlingit of southeast Alaska used face painting at gatherings.

These face stamps

(pictured left), carved with the emblems of clans, were dipped into paint and pressed onto the cheeks of women before going to a potlatch, a type of annual community feast. At the feast, it was easy to identify the clan a woman belonged to by looking at her face.

The most common form of body painting in America is also the easiest to overlook: cosmetics. A daily ritual for most women and the envy of small girls, wearing cosmetics is undoubtedly the most prevalent type of body painting in the world today. It's a multi-billion dollar industry -- with an increasing male market as well. On the surface, makeup is used to mask or disguise unsightly pimples, scars, or what seem to be unflattering natural features. But on a deeper level, there are other reasons for using makeup. For example, some would argue that the current makeup mania in American society is a byproduct of the media, and that American men and women, constantly presented with attractive images of models, movie stars, and musicians, inevitably want to imitate the way they look.

For centuries, people all over the world have used makeup to enhance their natural features. In India, in addition to makeup for the eyes and lips, a dot on the forehead of women is included in the daily beauty routine.

Makeup was an important facet in the daily lives of ancient Egyptian men and women. Their cosmetics were made from various minerals and included henna, ochre, and kohl. It could be applied to the living as well as to mummies. The detail (left) from a funeral stele displayed in the Museum's Egyptian gallery shows a seated woman, traveling to the Afterlife and taking her mirror and makeup box (beneath her chair) with her on the journey. For ancient Egyptians, one's image was connected to the idea of an afterlife.

Canaanite men and women both wore makeup. The cosmetic palette and cosmetic spoons (above) are from the Museum's Canaan and Ancient Israel gallery.

Cosmetics also served a practical purpose in Egypt and India. Kohl was worn as eyeliner, and helped to cut the glare from the sun. Today, athletes put black (and white) smudges under their eyes for the same purpose.

The most recent innovation in modern cosmetics is micro pigment implantation, which is semi-permanent makeup applied by a process similar to tattooing. Unlike a tattoo, however, the ink will fade in about five years. The process was originally created to cover up unsightly birthmarks such as the dark-red, port-wine marks that some people have. Today it is being used to add convenience to everyday life. A woman can have her entire face made up to save the time of applying makeup each day. For example, she can have eyeliner, lipstick, and blush applied and it will never wash off.

Staining the nails, skin and hair with henna is the favorite way of enhancing beauty among women in the Middle East and is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. Mehndi, commonly referred to as henna, is the powder form. Henna is the dye that comes from mixing the powder with catechu, an astringent substance, obtained from various trees and shrubs. The red powder form of henna can be obtained by crushing the berries from a certain plant. Henna is a popular way to make semi-permanent decorative designs on the skin. There are two types of henna: black and red.

Black henna (saumer) is reserved for the soles of the feet and hands while red henna is used for the tips of the fingers and toes. Red henna involves the additional use of a paste made from powdered lime, nura, and crystal amoniac, shanadah. This makes an orange paste that turns black as it dries, leaving a design on the skin that remains for approximately 20-30 days. Red and black henna can often be purchased at international grocery stores.

In India, henna art was often reserved for special occasions such as weddings. The application of henna can take up to 6 hours. After all the ingredients are mixed and the designs are applied, the painted areas shouldn't be disturbed for 6 hours or more, depending upon the desired richness of color and lifespan of the design. This process, the same in India and in the United States, is lengthy, but is nevertheless seen more frequently in everyday activities.

ACADEMIC WRITING

Giving Examples

Writers may give specific examples as evidence to support their general claims or arguments. Examples can also be used to help the reader or listener understand unfamiliar or difficult concepts, and they tend to be easier to remember. For this reason, they are often used in teaching. Finally, students may be required to give examples in their work to demonstrate that they have understood a complex problem or concept.

Many paragraphs in academic writing show development from general statements to specific details or examples. In most paragraphs, therefore, examples usually come after a more general statement, as in the short extract below.

Many words can often acquire a more narrow meaning over time, or may come to be chiefly used in one special sense. A classic example of this practice is the word doctor. There were doctors (i.e., learned men) in theology, law, and many other fields beside medicine, but nowadays when we send for the doctor we mean a member of only one profession

Examples as the main information in a sentence:

For example / instance, the word doctor used to mean a learned man.

For example, Smith and Jones (2004) conducted a series of semi-structured interviews in ......

By way of illustration, Smith (2003) shows how the data for .....

A classic / well-known example of this is .......

An example of this is the study carried out by Smith (2004) in which .......

X is a good example / illustration of .......

X illustrates this point / shows this point clearly.

This can be illustrated briefly by .......

Young people begin smoking for a variety of reasons. They may, for example, be influenced by their peers, or they may see their parents as role models.

Another example of what is meant by X is ......

Diseases that can result at least in part from stress include arthritis, asthma, migrane, headaches and ulcers.

Examples as additional information in a sentence

Young people begin smoking for a variety of reasons, such as pressure from peers and the role model of parents.

Pavlov found that if some other stimulus, for example the ringing of a bell, preceded the food, the dog would start salivating.

In Paris, Gassendi kept in close contact with many other prominent scholars such as Kepler, Galileo, Hobbes, and Descartes.

The prices of resources, such as copper, iron ore, oil, coal and aluminium, have declined in real terms over the past 20 years.

ASSIGNMENT: Summarize the text on body painting using the functions you have so far studied, i.e. classifying, defining, and giving examples. Put it on a separate piece of paper in your Personal File 4.