📙 Part 2: Describe a person who you think wears unusual clothes

This episode's vocabulary

Snappy dresser (noun phrase) – someone who dresses in a stylish and attractive way. → He's a snappy dresser who always looks sharp at events.

Out of the ordinary (phrase) – unusual or not typical. → Her outfit was a bit out of the ordinary, but it suited her.

In circulation (phrase) – still being published or available. → That magazine is no longer in circulation.

Experimental (adjective) – trying out new ideas or styles. → She's experimental with her fashion and often wears bold colours.

Dress sense (noun) – someone's ability to choose clothes that look good. → He has a great dress sense and always looks put together.

Encrusted (adjective) – covered with a layer of something, often decorative. → The jacket was encrusted with rhinestones.

Rhinestone (noun) – a small imitation diamond used in costume jewellery or decoration. → Her hat sparkled with rhinestones.

Pinstripe (noun) – a very thin stripe, especially in fabric like suits. → He wore a navy pinstripe suit to the meeting.

Run-of-the-mill (adjective) – ordinary, not special or unusual. → That outfit is anything but run-of-the-mill.

Par for the course (phrase) – normal or expected in a situation. → Dressing conservatively is par for the course at that company.

Accessories (noun) – items like jewellery, bags, or hats added to complete an outfit. → She wore gold accessories with her dress.

Waistcoat (noun) – a sleeveless piece of clothing worn over a shirt and under a jacket. → He added a colourful waistcoat to his suit.

Fur (noun) – the thick hair of animals, sometimes used for clothing. → She wore a coat made of synthetic fur

Denim (noun) – a strong cotton fabric, usually blue, used for jeans and jackets. → He was wearing a denim jacket.

Fashion editor (noun) – a person who oversees fashion content in a magazine or media outlet.

Questions and Answers

Maria: You should say who this person is, how you knew this person, what his or her clothes are like, and explain why you think his or her clothes are unusual.

Rory: Well, my mum is a pretty snappy dresser, I think, even if some of her choices are a bit out of the ordinary at times. When it comes to how I know her, well, it's my mother, so obviously I've known her my whole life. She's a former fashion editor for a few magazines in my country, though I don't think most of them, or any of them in fact, are in circulation anymore. And people in that line of work tend to be a bit more experimental with their dress sense, don't they?

In terms of what she wears, oh well, the sky really is the limit in this case. It's everything from fake fur to real fur to things encrusted with rhinestones like something Dolly Parton would wear. And that goes for everything from the shirt and jacket she wears right down to the shoes and what she accessorises with. I think she was wearing a denim and fake fur waistcoat over this black shirt with black and white pinstripe trousers the other day. So that should give you an idea of what it's like. Even in her 60s, she's still experimenting with things like that and pushing boundaries of fashion choices. I'm hoping, based on what I just said, it should be clear why I think her choices are not exactly run-of-the-mill. But if I have to go into more detail about it, I would say that these things aren't, um, well, first of all, worn in my country by the vast majority of people, and secondly, they aren't exactly par for the course for the average person in her late 60s. Despite this, she pulls it off flawlessly, and I think she looks pretty good in them. Of course, I would say that, I'm her son.

If she didn't dress like that, it would be hard to imagine what she might be like, to be honest. Um, she would be almost a completely different person.

Discussion

Maria: So, dear listener, an interesting topic. Describe a person who wears unusual clothes. Unusual clothes. Something not usual, dear listener. If you don't have this person, you need to imagine this person, or you can steal Rory's story, and you can talk about a woman who wears unusual clothes.

Rory: So, you could talk about Maria!

Maria: Yeah, you can talk about me, but actually, I don't wear unusual clothes. Yeah, my clothes are stylish, right? But it's nothing extraordinary.

Rory: I always say, like, unusual for whom? Because I don't think a lot of my friends are, or have the same sense of style. So, you could just say they're actually not ordinary for me because my friends do not dress in a similar way. Or most of the people in my life don't do this.

Maria: Yeah, and like, what do we call unusual clothes? Like, what is unusual clothes? Seriously.

Rory: Well, this is it. Who decides this kind of thing, eh?

Maria: Yeah, but usually, if we mean unusual clothes, then we mean some bright colours, or something that stands out from the crowd. Like, you notice this person.

Rory: And of course, you're going to explain why it's unusual anyway, so it doesn't need to be anything too drastic.

Maria: Rory told us about his mother, and his mother is a pretty snappy dresser. Snappy is informal, and is usually used about clothes, modern, and stylish. So, she's a snappy dresser. She's modern and stylish. And you can say that, like, I'm going to talk about my mom, or my friend Bob, who is a pretty snappy dresser. Some of her choices, some of her clothes choices, are a bit out of the ordinary. Unusual, or out of the ordinary. Extraordinary. Like, how do you know this person? Well, it's my mom, so I've known her all my life.

Rory: Oh, I should say though, this is something interesting that I noticed with a couple of students that I teach, and maybe it's a bigger problem. We don't say for a whole life, or for the whole life. It's always the pronoun and whole life. So, if you talk about yourself, then it's my whole life, for all the time you were alive. Or if it's about someone else's life, her whole life, his whole life, and many people, their whole lives as well.

Maria: And if you're talking about your friend, you can say, I've known him for five years. I've known him since childhood. She's a former fashion editor for a few magazines. Oh, so your mother is connected to fashion. And such people tend to be a bit more experimental in the dress sense. So, my friend is experimental, so he is experimenting with his clothes choices, and he's or she is experimental with their dress sense, how they dress. In terms of what she wears, the sky is the limit. Nice. So, we signal to the examiner that now I'm going to be talking about what she wears. Like, as for what she wears, in terms of what she wears, the sky is the limit. And this is a nice idiom, meaning that there are no limits. Oh, yeah, it's an idiom. The sky is the limit, an idiom, there is no limit.

Rory: Although here I said the sky really is the limit, just to emphasise that there are no limits here.

Maria: She wears everything from fake fur, like, not real fur from animals, but fake fur. Fur is this, like, fluff from animals, to things encrusted with rhino. Rhinestones.

Rory: Yeah, rhinestones. Have you never heard of these before?

Maria: No. Rhinestones.

Rory: Oh, wow. They're like fake diamonds, really. And Dolly Parton is a famous singer who is notorious for having things like that.

Maria: Sure, rhinestones. Yeah, fake diamonds. Yeah. So, if I wear a dress encrusted with diamonds, my dress has diamonds on it. So, the diamonds are encrusted in the dress. If I wear fake diamonds, so then, like, tops, dresses encrusted with rhinestones. And you can say that she wears bright shirts, jackets, unusual shoes, and accessories. Rory's mom has beautiful bags, and if you go to our YouTube channel, and I think the episode is called Bags.

Rory: It is, yes, because I have, like, no bags at all. I have one rucksack, and I've had it for the last 10 years, whereas my mom, I think, must buy new bags every other week. She used to, maybe not now.

Maria: And if you watch the episode, you will see some of Rory's mom's bags, which are really unusual and really, well, interesting. Her bags are of different shapes and colours. So, yeah, like, you can say, like, she wears, or he has unusual accessories, like, bags, jewellery. And some examples of what exactly this person wears. For example, she wears a denim and fake fur waistcoat over a black shirt.

Rory: Well, that's just one example.

Maria: Yeah, like, jeans and fake fur and a black shirt and white pin-striped trousers. So, trousers with lines on them, like white lines. So, she's always pushing boundaries of fashion choices. Like, to push boundaries means to experiment, to wear different things, and to go beyond what is established or expected. Like, usually, people wear these clothes, but I push boundaries, and I'm gonna wear a shirt as a dress.

Rory: Oh, wow, I remember that advert. Oh, I think it's for Dior. And basically, a woman wakes up, and she, I think she can't find something that works with her shirt. So, she just wears the long shirt with a belt, and it works really well. It's a great look, but I can't remember the company it was advertising for. All I remember is it was extremely controversial at the time, but it got a lot of attention, which is what it's for.

Maria: I think her choices are not exactly run-of-the-mill. So, we are talking about unusual clothes. That's why her clothes are not run-of-the-mill. If something is run-of-the-mill, it's ordinary, not special or exciting. So, her choices, her clothes choices are not ordinary, they're not run-of-the-mill. Most people in my country don't wear such things or clothes, but my mother or my friend pulls it off flawlessly. So, that's a nice phrase of work to use. Pull something off. Pull something off to be successful in something. So, for example, she wears unusual clothes like pink jeans with a bright yellow shirt, and she can pull it off flawlessly. Flawlessly, like really well, stylishly.

Rory: With no problems.

Maria: With no problems, yeah, because it's stylish, it suits her, it's unusual. So, flawlessly without any mistakes or imperfections. Her style is flawless. So, she can pull it off flawlessly. She wears unusual clothes and she can pull it off flawlessly. So, she's successful at it. And she looks pretty good in them. Them, dear listener, because clothes. So, she wears unusual clothes, she looks pretty good in them. Clothes are stylish. Please remember it. What helped you to organise this answer, Rory?

Rory: Well, I kind of covered just about everything in the first line again. So, I just gave a little bit of an overview, and then I went into a bit more detail. I should point out, if you are talking about someone that you know or someone, a close friend of yours or a relative, and you give them compliments, then you could just always say, of course, I would say this, I'm their friend or I'm their daughter or their son. So, that's a phrase that can be used for just about anything here. But apart from those things for organisation, I just followed the task. I talked about who the person was, my mum, how I know her. Well, she's my mother. She brought me into the world. Thank you, mother. And then, a lot of detail about what she wears because, of course, there are some very unusual choices. And then, for the explanation, well, again, I didn't think the explanation was necessary. I think it was just obvious from the description. But I said, if I have to give one, then it's because this is very unusual both for my country and for someone of that age.

Maria: You should choose two or three specific words for unusual clothes, and you can google them like unusual clothes 2025. Or, for example, go to pinterest.com, put in unusual clothes and choose two or three phrases. For example, I'm looking at some vintage dresses, vintage handmade dresses. And you can say that like very old, right? And you can say that, oh, my friend Bob usually wears vintage suits or vintage jackets. Rory, hello. Are you still with me?

Rory: I am, yes. We're discussing clothes, your favourite topic. I know. This is why I'm just waiting for it to end now because I don't know about any of these things. And so it's all just washing over me.

Maria: Thank you very much for listening. And we'll get back to you in our next episode about clothes and style. Bye!

Rory: Bye.

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