📘 Part 3: Clothes

This episode's vocabulary

Personal presentation – how someone chooses to present themselves to others, especially visually. → Clothes are part of personal presentation.

Well-dressed – wearing smart or stylish clothing. → Being well-dressed sends a message about suitability.

Professional (appearance) – looking appropriate for a work or formal setting. → Appearing professional might be very important.

Materials – the fabric or substance clothes are made from. → Probably the materials and quality differ.

Perception of quality – how good something is thought to be, regardless of the actual quality. → It could be linked to the perception of quality.

Economically viable – something that is affordable or cost-effective. → Cheaper clothes are more economically viable for some people.

Disposable wealth – extra money people can spend on non-essentials. → With €20,000 in savings after covering all essentials, Lena used part of her disposable wealth to invest in a design course and new equipment.

Display of social status – showing one's position or rank in society through appearance or possessions. → It could be a display of social status.

Religious garments – clothes worn for religious purposes. → There’s a variety of religious garments.

Pious – very religious or devout. → People might see you as pious.

Go the whole nine yards – to do something completely or thoroughly. → If you go the whole nine yards with religious clothing.

Tuned in (to something) – aware of or responsive to current trends. → Younger people are more tuned in to fashion trends.

Hyper-social – extremely social or interactive, especially among teens. → Teens tend to be hyper-social.

Fashion sense – an individual’s ability to dress in a stylish or appropriate way. → Older people might have a different fashion sense.

Convenient – easy and quick to use; causing little trouble. → Online shopping is more convenient.

Fast fashion – inexpensive clothing produced quickly to follow trends. → Fast fashion is popular but raises environmental concerns.

Tailored – clothing that is custom-fitted or very well-fitted. → He always wears perfectly tailored suits.

Brand-conscious – very aware of and influenced by brand names. → Teens are often brand-conscious when choosing clothes.

Capsule wardrobe – a small collection of essential, timeless clothing items. → Some people prefer a capsule wardrobe over trendy fashion.

Impulse buy – something bought without prior planning. → Online shopping often leads to impulse buys.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Why do some people care so much about their clothing?

Rory: Why does anyone care about anything? They'll have assigned some meaning to it for a variety of reasons. The most obvious in my mind is just personal presentation. Clothes are some of the first things we see and think about when we look at a person. So presenting ourselves in the light we want to be seen in makes them a big part of that. It could be something like going on a date where being well-dressed sends a message about suitability as a partner, or a business meeting where appearing professional might be very important.

Maria: What are the differences between cheap and expensive clothes?

Rory: Other than the prices, I don't know. Probably the materials and quality. Generally speaking, I suppose the higher the price, the better the quality. Or the perception of quality, since it could just as easily be linked to the brand name, probably.

Maria: And which is better, do you think, cheap clothes or expensive clothes?

Rory: Surely that depends on the kind of person you are. If you have the money to burn, then buy expensive clothes. But if you are a poor person or someone who's not terribly well-off, then less expensive options will be more economically viable.

Maria: Why do many people prefer to buy rather expensive clothes?

Rory: We already talked about the issue of quality and its perception. They might think they're getting a good deal out of paying more, since it's less likely to fall to pieces quickly. It could also be a cultural thing. Displacable wealth can convey respect to people. If someone has invited you to a party and you want to show you care about them by dressing in a way that shows respect. In the same context, it could also be a display of social status. Like a way to convey that you're better than or equal to others, since you can afford better or similar things.

Maria: Do you think people would use clothing to show their identity?

Rory: Oh, absolutely. There's a huge variety of religious garments out there. From things like headscarves to turbans and, I think, all the way down to special kinds of shoes that get worn inside religious sites. Especially ones that are religiously significant. That can show who you are in terms of, well, obviously, religious affiliation, but also in terms of how pious you are as a person. So if you go the whole nine yards and make an effort to do absolutely everything correctly, then people might think that you're extremely good at following the religion, and that's the message you want to send to them.

Maria: Do you think young people know more about fashion and are better at dressing up than elderly people?

Rory: Well, they might be more tuned in to shifts in the latest trend, since younger people, especially teens, tend to be hyper-social, so they have access to more information about this. But the latest thing is just one part of fashion. Some trends and ways of doing things can also be preserved over time. And this is probably where older people's greater knowledge base might give them a different fashion sense. I don't think it necessarily makes it better.

Maria: Do most people in your country prefer to buy clothes online or at the street markets?

Rory: I have no idea what the statistics for that would look like. However, if I were to make an educated guess, I'd say they're more likely to do it online, just because it's more accessible than street markets. Which are a lot less common than they used to be. Or at least, so it seems.

Maria: And why do they choose the online options?

Rory: Just like I said, it's more convenient. People do a lot more these days, and so they have less time to spend on single activities, like going shopping, especially at street markets. So if you can get everything at the touch of a button, it makes sense that you would opt for this, so you can spend time doing things which are a bit more fun.

Discussion

Maria: Clothing or clothes? Dear listener, right? Another synonym of clothing, clothes, is outfit or attire. Okay, a very good strategy is to ask a kind of rhetorical question. Like, why does anyone care about anything, you know? Like, why do people care so much about their clothes? Like, why does anyone care about anything, you know? People have assigned some meaning to their clothing, to their clothes. Assign meaning to something, give meaning to something.

Rory: Or find meaning in something.

Maria: Clothes are the first things we see. Careful, dear listener, clothes are. Clothing is the first thing we see, but clothes are the first things we see when we look at a person. So, we present ourselves with our clothes. So, being well-dressed sends a message to people about your personality.

Rory: Yeah, the kind of person you are, your character. Maybe. It's not the only thing.

Maria: Cheap and expensive clothes. And again, cheap clothes are better or worse than expensive clothes. The materials and the quality is different. And you can say that, generally, the higher the price, the better the quality. Okay? So, this is a sentence. There are no verbs here. You just use the articles. The higher the price, the better the quality. Or, like, generally speaking. People who have money to burn prefer expensive clothes. So, people with lots of money are rich, they're super wealthy. So, they have money to burn. Nice idiom. So, they have so much money, they can burn the money.

Rory: Well, yes, it's an idiom. Yeah, they're not literally burning money.

Maria: Yeah. Or you can say the people who are well-off. So, rich people, wealthy or well-off people. Or people who are not well-off opt for cheap clothes. So, people who are poor. But usually, like, poor people, we don't usually say poor people.

Rory: People who are less well-off. People who don't have the money.

Maria: People with low incomes usually prefer cheap clothes because they are economically viable.

Rory: Well, they're affordable. Yeah, people can spend the money on them.

Maria: People prefer to buy expensive clothes. Or people opt for expensive clothes. So, they choose expensive clothes. And this is because of the issue of quality. The higher the price, the better the quality. But not always. People might think that if they buy expensive clothes, these clothes are less likely to fall to pieces quickly.

Rory: Or fall apart.

Maria: Fall apart. Fall to pieces. It's just, yeah…

Rory: You wear them, and then they... As you wear them over time, they lose their quality. Or they start to degrade. Because everything degrades as you use it.

Maria: It could be a cultural thing. So, displays of wealth. Interesting. So, in some countries, wearing expensive clothes means that people display how much money they have. And by wearing expensive clothes, people can convey respect to others. What?

Rory: They can show that they respect them.

Maria: Okay, so I wear expensive clothes, and I show that I respect you?

Rory: Well, you might wear clothes which are... I don't know what's the best choice. You might wear clothes which are fancy, and therefore more expensive. But the idea is that by doing that, you don't dress like you don't care about yourself. And so, because you care about how you look in the presence of the other person, this shows respect. It's like you don't go to a wedding, generally speaking, wearing jeans and trainers and a t-shirt that you paid like $5 for. Unless you do. Do you do this, Maria?

Maria: No no…

Rory: So, it's not about the money. It's what the money or the spending of the money shows to people. It shows that you care about how you look for their special day.

Maria: But sometimes cheap clothes are beautiful, and they're clean, good quality, and these clothes suit you. So, you know. That's true.

Rory: That's why I said it could be and can convey respect. Because in other contexts, that might not necessarily be true. Although I hear in some areas of India, not all, but some, people actually will wear clothes which are made of gold in order to convey some kind of message about themselves as well.

Maria: Wow.

Rory: That sounds very uncomfortable, but it's not my style.

Maria: So, expensive clothes could be a display of social status. Like, for example, bags or different accessories, right? Like a watch or a Louis Vuitton bag or a Hermès bag. So, it's a display of social status. Hermès. You know, these bags for like three million dollars. Crazy. And clothing could show people's identity.

Rory: Who you are as a person.

Maria: Yeah, like your culture, the country you come from. These days, actually, culturally unique patterns are quite popular and fashionable. For example, in Africa, they have unique patterns, some embroidery materials. So, people wear them to show their identity, to show where they're from. And all over the world, people just started wearing their traditional clothes or some parts of their traditional clothes. It's actually quite... It's getting more and more fashionable now. So, religious garments. Garment is another word that means clothes, dear listener. So, we have an outfit, attire, clothing, and a garment. C1 word. A piece of clothing. So, religious garments, religious clothes. Like headscarves or turbans. Very common questions are about young people versus elderly people. And young people or younger people might be more tuned into fashion.

Rory: Maybe.

Maria: Yeah, maybe, maybe not. They might know more about fashion trends, and they might be more tuned into shifts. The latest trends, like the freshest trends, not the last, the latest, shift like changes. Especially teenagers, like teens, tend to be hyper-social. So, they're super social, they talk to each other, they talk to other people, and they tend to follow the latest fashion trends. They have access to more information about fashion.

Rory: Well, they might or rather they tend to. Very important not to overgeneralise. So, we avoid this by saying what people tend to do or what they might do.

Maria: Yeah, the same as in IELTS essays, we're cautious, careful. We speak like politicians, right? Not just like young people always know things about the recent fashion trends. No, they might know. Perhaps they know they are more likely to have more information on this than the elderly. And older people have knowledge about the fashion trends that never change. For example, some fashion trends…

Rory: Are timeless.

Maria: Timeless, exactly, like a small black dress.

Rory: What fashion trends do you think are timeless? This is interesting.

Maria: Yeah, like a small black dress. Pearls, for example, pearls. Pearls have always been awesome. And now even men wear pearls. We can buy clothes or clothing online or at the street markets, or in shops. So, we opt for online shopping, like we choose online shopping or offline shopping. And here Rory used his favourite strategy. When the examiner asks you, do most people, do many people? Like, we don't know how many people. So, you say, like seriously, how many people? Like, I don't have the statistics, all right? But use it once. Dear listener, use it once. So, I have no idea what the statistics for that look like. Statistics look like. Statistics are confusing, okay?

Rory: And then I said, if I were to make an educated guess.

Maria: Yeah, so if I were, if you asked me, like an imaginary situation. So, if I were to make or if I made an educated guess, or you can say, if I had to guess, I'd say that… So, pretty much like, I don't know, but if I imagined, I'd say that. If I were to make an educated guess, to sound like an educated native speaker, I'd say that more people are likely to buy clothes online. Because, then you give a reason, it's more accessible. It's more convenient to buy everything online these days. But actually, I don't see how it's convenient to buy clothes online. Like, what about your size? I don't know.

Rory: Well, it's convenient from the perspective of access and time saved. It's not convenient from the perspective of trying on the clothes and seeing what they look like.

Maria: Yeah, that's why, people, we combine online shopping with offline. You try it on offline, and then you buy it online. Yay! And spend so much time on this. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our new episodes. All right? Bye!

Rory: Bye!

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