📙 Part 2: Describe a fashionable person

This episode's vocabulary

Fashion-conscious (adj.) - interested in the latest fashions and in wearing fashionable clothes.

Outfit (noun) - a set of clothes worn for a particular occasion or activity.

Flawless (adj.) - perfect or without mistakes.

Rise from/through the ranks - to be moved up from a low-level position in an organization to a higher one.

Impeccable (adj.) - perfect, with no problems or bad parts.

To rub off (phrasal verb) - if a quality or characteristic that someone has rubs off, other people begin to have it because they have been with that person and learned it from them.

Colour-coordinated (adj.) - arranged so that the colours, etc. match or look attractive together.

Bits and pieces (idiom) - small things or jobs of different types.

Uncanny (adj.) - strange or mysterious, often in a way that is slightly frightening.

Wardrobe (noun) - all of the clothes that a person owns.

Well-dressed (adj.) - wearing attractive and stylish clothes.

To stand out (phrasal verb) - to be very noticeable.

To complement (verb) - to make something else seem better or more attractive when combining with it.

Presence (noun) - a quality that makes people notice or admire you, even when you are not speaking.

Prosperity (noun) - the state of being successful and having a lot of money.

Hard-pressed (adj.) - experiencing a lot of difficulty.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, are you ready?

R: Yes.

M: Fire away.

R: Whenever the idea of fashion comes to mind. I always think of my friend Maria, who I co-host the podcast I work on with. I think of all the people I know, she's the one who's the most fashion-conscious and has an excellent sense of style. We first met about seven years ago, and I think she's had on a different outfit every day since then. I never see her wearing the same thing twice, so heaven knows how many different sets of clothes she has. Regardless, the look is always flawless. Originally, she was an English teacher like me, but rose through the ranks to become a CELTA trainer and a manager at the company in schools we worked for. She was and still is very respected as near as I know. Not in the least because of her impeccable taste. It's even rubbed off on me a little bit. Every time I see her she has a different look with colour-coordinated shoes, accessories, and other bits and pieces that even I don't always know the names of. It's not just high fashion or expensive brands either. She has this uncanny ability to make really good choices from what must be the seemingly endless collection she has in her wardrobe. While it is quite normal for Russian ladies to be well-dressed, Maria always seems to stand out from the crowd in this respect. And this complements her excellent sense of humour and thorough knowledge of English. While the looks are important, it's good to know that there are brains to go with them too. As this is definitely the case for Maria. If I hadn't run into her, my life would be very different and probably much less interesting than it would have been otherwise. I imagined that I would still be, well, where I was working with the same ridiculous clothes that I used to wear. She even pointed that out publicly one time, actually. And certainly wouldn't have the presence and prosperity that I do now. I'm very fortunate in that way. Thanks to her. I'm much more fashion and English conscious myself, and much more fashion and English aware too.

M: And what about your friends? Do they think this person is fashionable?

R: I think they'd be hard-pressed to think otherwise.

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Discussion

M: Yay. Now, dear listener, you know all the truth about me and my fashionable styles, and just my charisma and the sense of fashion and... Thank you, Rory, that was lovely.

R: Thank you.

M: That's such a nice story.

R: It's not a story. It's facts. It's your Christmas present.

M: Oh, cute, cute. Yeah, so dear listener, fashionable. So what is a fashionable person? Well, pretty much...

R: Look at a picture of Maria and you will see it.

M: Yeah, if you haven't seen our pictures, you can go to our YouTube and check out my outfits. Check out my earrings. And yeah, pity you can't see the shoes really. Yeah...

R: There must be some pictures where you've got your shoes there.

M: Yeah, on Instagram. Yeah. So go and check out our social media. So a fashionable person, a stylish person. And again, you can make this person up. Right? Can our listener talk about some celebrities? For example, like Angelina Jolie or Jennifer Lopez? Or, I don't know, Rihanna.

R: You could. Yeah. But why would you do that when you can talk about Maria?

M: Yeah. So, Rory started this talk by whenever the idea of fashion comes to mind, I always think of Maria. Yes, so I always think of someone. So when I think about fashion, I think of my friend Rory. And then we go with she's the most fashion-conscious person, right? So if the person is fashion conscious, they know about fashion, so they are aware of the style, of some fashionable trends. And this is the person with an excellent sense of style. Right? So a stylish person. And he or she has an excellent sense of style. So we first met seven... Oh, seven years ago. Really, Rory?

R: It must have been about seven years ago. 2015.

M: Wow, ages ago.

R: So much has changed.

M: Wow. Look at us. And when you talk about clothes, you can say that this person has a different outfit every day. So an outfit means clothes, like a set of clothes. So she has a different outfit, or her outfits are all different. And she doesn't wear the same thing twice. And she has many different sets of clothes. Yeah? So a set of clothes, like this kind of all like a complete look. Right? With the shoes, and I don't know, a dress, earrings. Her or his look is always flawless. So what does flawless mean?

R: It means without any flaws, any problems.

M: Yeah, so the style is flawless. Or the look is always flawless. You see, dear listener, we're using a lot of adjectives. Yeah? So fashion conscious, an excellent sense of style. Her look is always flawless. And then a little bit of history. So, Rory, you told us how we met, and you told us that I rose through the ranks.

R: But that's just an expression for getting promoted.

M: So I got promoted, I rose through the ranks. A nice expression. And I was very respected. And Rory also was very respected. He did pretty much everything. And also about the taste, right? So we say that the look is always flawless. Perfect. And she's got an impeccable taste. Impeccable means also perfect, right? Ideal. Also a very nice adjective. Can I say that he's got an impeccable style?

R: Yes. Or an impeccable sense of style.

M: Also impeccable manners, for example. Yes. Or dear listener, your English could be impeccable. Like perfect. And this impeccable style, this excellent sense of style rubbed off on Rory.

R: A little bit. Not completely. As you know, I'm still not as fashionable as you.

M: Rory saw my style, and then he wanted to kind of to be stylish as well. So my sense of style rubbed off on Rory. So you can say that, okay, so I think this person is really stylish, and her or his impeccable taste rubbed off on me. So I also kind of started paying attention to my style, and started wearing different outfits, different clothes.

R: Clothes that were not falling to pieces.

M: Yeah. What about coordinated shoes?

R: Color coordinated. If you've colour coordinated, it means you've matched it to different parts of the outfit that you're wearing.

M: Yeah, so every time I see the person, he or she has colour-coordinated shoes, accessories. So accessories like different bags, earrings, and other bits and pieces. So what did you mean by other bits and pieces? What bits and pieces?

R: The bits and pieces I don't even know the names of, to be honest with you. Because like you have things on and I'm like I don't even know what that is, to be honest with you.

M: Yeah, I used to wear all the... What do you call it? Like women's tie, for example, or different accessories.

R: You used to? You don't wear them now?

M: Yeah, sometimes, sometimes. For our recordings, for example. It's not just high fashion, or expensive brands. It's just uncanny ability to make really great choices. So first of all, we say high fashion, right?

R: Yes.

M: Couture. What do we say?

R: Couture.

M: Couture. Couture is, you know, like Paris Fashion Week and all this, you know, stuff. So high fashion.

R: But that's like expensive clothes that you know are quite, they're produced by, I suppose, cutting edge fashion houses. But you don't need to do that.

M: Yeah, it's not about high fashion. It's not about expensive brands. It's just about this uncanny ability to make great choices in clothes, in style, and combine different things. So what do we mean by uncanny?

R: It's...

M: Strange and mysterious.

R: Pretty much. Yes.

M: Uncanny. Impossible to explain, there we go. So if something's uncanny it's impossible to explain, it's difficult to explain. Like, for example, Maria's uncanny ability to match different clothes and shoes, or Rory has an uncanny ability to write books, or Rory has an uncanny ability to create these answers for IELTS speaking questions. There we go. And you can say that this person has an endless collection of shoes in her or his wardrobe.

R: But the wardrobe is not just the thing that you keep your clothes in. It's also a way of describing the collection of clothes as well.

M: This person is well dressed. So stylish - well dressed. So they kind of dress well, right? And he or she stands out from the crowd. There you go. You see, this is a phrasal verb for you. Because this person is super fashionable, stylish, so they stand out from the crowd, so people notice them. And also they pay compliments to her excellent sense of humour, or her excellent sense of clothes. And to be honest with you, like I still get compliments from strangers, from complete strangers. In the streets, in the bathroom, Rory. You can't imagine, really. Just random ladies I've never seen before just come up to me and say, this coat is gorgeous. I love your shoes. Seriously. Like still.

R: Well, you should. You put in a lot of effort, clearly.

M: It's so sweet. Yeah, very sweet. Right. Yeah. And also Rory didn't talk about the looks. He also talked about a great sense of humour and also brains. So there are some brains behind these good looks.

R: More than some.

M: Yeah, I've got some brains, hey! And then the strategy that Rory used with a person from a different culture. And here you said that if I hadn't run into Maria, if I hadn't met Maria, my life would be different now. You see? So a very good strategy when you describe people. And now in IELTS speaking part two, we have a lot of topics about people. A fashionable person, a person from a different culture, a person you want to do business with. Like a member of your family. Yeah? So if I hadn't run into Maria, or if I hadn't met, if I hadn't talked to this person, my life would be different now.

R: So a good strategy all around.

M: And if I hadn't run into Maria, my style wouldn't have been... What?

R: Wouldn't have been what it is today.

M: Yeah...

R: I would still be wearing the same drab outfits.

M: Yeah, ridiculous clothes, you said. I would be wearing the same ridiculous clothes, like torn jeans. So I'm very fortunate in that way. You see, so fortunate. And I'm much more fashion-conscious myself. You see. So I've become much more fashion-conscious myself. Yeah? How are you doing, dear listener? Probably if you're not into fashion, and style and clothes and you don't care what you wear and what your friends wear, this question could be a bit difficult, so feel free to talk about me. Or you can turn Rory into the most stylish person you've ever seen. And use some of this vocabulary. Like Rory is the most fashion-conscious person with a great sense of style, and an impeccable taste. Hey! You see, so you can talk about Rory and his black T-shirts.

R: Always.

M: Why do you always wear black, Rory?

R: I think that's about time for us to end the episode, don't you? Bye!

M: Now we should talk about shoes. Let's talk about shoes.

R: Yeah. Let's talk about shoes. Something I'm more comfortable with.

M: Right. Yeah, if you want our shoe stories, you should go to our speaking part one episodes and we've got a video. Like a hilarious video, where I show you my shoes. So go check it out on YouTube, okay? Right, dear listener, thank you very much! So stay tuned, stay in style. And I'm sending some fashion vibes to you.

R: Stay fashionable.

M: And to you, Rory, also. Some fashion, fashion vibes. Bye!

R: Bye!

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