Fashion

Some people follow fads and keep up with the latest trends while others walk around mismatched and clashing. Yet others make great sacrifices to make sure they are always dressed to the nines and sporting the latest styles by the most distinguished designers. Whether you resemble a model sashaying their way down the runway, or you're an antiquated old fart with one suit in storage that smells like mothballs, well then this episode is for you. I'm too sexy for my love, too sexy for my love, love's going to leave me. We'll find out all about fashion on this week's episode of FYI. 

Transcript

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some people follow fads and keep up with the latest trends While others walk around mismatched and clashing yet others make great sacrifices to make sure they're always dressed to the nines and sporting the latest styles by the most distinguished designers whether you resemble a model saching their way down the runway or you're an Antiquated old fart with one suit in storage that smells like mothballs well then this episode is for you I'm Too Sexy For My Love Too Sexy For My Love Love's going to leave me we'll find out all about fashion on this week's episode of FYI welcome to for your INF English you got it you got[Music][Applause][Applause][Music] it hello hello hello and welcome to this another exciting edition of FYI your weekly topic based show and if you haven't heard a topic you'd love to hear about please let me know reach out as the song goes reach out I'll be there to give you all the English you need all right well if you haven't heard that episode on music remember we're always learning from music movies pop culture and culture in general it's how we learn our own languages well today we're not here to talk about music although music is a part of fashion you can't take fashion and music away from each other some of the most fashionable people we've seen throughout the years are rockars and we'll be taking a look at some of the most fashionable icons out there and David Bowie is on our list but let's kick off with the intro as always I started out by saying some people people follow fads and I know you know the word trend from a trending topic but a fad is another way to say a trend and they want to keep up with the latest trends and to keep up with is to keep that Rhythm that pace it reminds me of the idiomatic expression keeping up with the Joneses that means always trying to one up your neighbors so my neighbors got a BMW Series 3 well I've got to get get the series 4 and that's where the show title Keeping Up with the Kardashians came from it's from the idiomatic expression keeping up with the Joneses which in theory is the neighbors because Jones is a very common surname in the United States or I should say in the English-speaking World in general so which one are you are you somebody who follows fads and keeps up with the latest trends or are you like me the other side of the Spectrum which is the guy who's walking around mismatched yeah I'm 46 years old and I still haven't figured out how to match things I'm always clashing and when something clashes it means it doesn't match well some really good vocabulary in the intro as always you guys know I like to sprinkle it with Great Expressions that have to do with the topic and awesome adjectives of course and then you've got these people who I call fashionistas or Fashion Victims I'm not sure but these are the people who make great sacrifices to make sure they're always dressed to the nines and there's an idiomatic expression that means to be dressed really snazzy very sharp looking great and it's true when you look great you feel great generally but I would never sacrifice comfort to look good I mean I always love these women in these ni nice high heels they look great but then when they take them off and you see that they've got blisters all over their feet and bunions I ask myself is it really worth it maybe flat shoes are better again but that's a choice that everybody makes some people feel it's a right of passage you have to suffer if you want to look good think about corsets back in the day and we're going to take a look at the history of fashion as well some very interesting trends that have come up throughout the Years also remember every week There's a bonus episode where you can get awesome stuff idiomatic expressions that have to do with the topic fun facts today we'll be taking a look at those things as well as faux Paws things you should not do we'll also take a look at fashion and pop culture such as movies and celebrities we'll take a look at the little black dress this is a staple a staple is F we'll talk about Barbie and of course the dark side of the Fashion World all that and much more in the bonus episode and if you guys would like to get that bonus episode every week all you have to do is join me on patreon you've got tons of different options from €3 a month to €60 a month and for€3 a month you'll get some work sheets every week you'll get an extra episode as I said the bonus episode plus you'll be a part of a community check it out it's all on patreon.com Alberto Alonso and I want to send a shout out to all my patrons especially my super duper students Mara Javier and Bako they have access to all the stuff I said before the bonus episodes the PDFs with all the vocabulary and a weekly class with me and don't forget about my Interstellar students they have a weekly class with me and a monthly class with me the weekly class is a group class the monthly class is a private class so it's up to you how deep you want to get into it how much you want to improve your English how motivated or driven you are but if you are totally driven then the interstellar level is for you and I want to send a shout out to all my Interstellar students Garmin lenina Issa bako David Jose Maria Patricio and Edgar you guys rock keep up the wonderful work and if you guys want to join the community you can join us over on patreon.com Alberto Alonso so going back to the intro what kind of person are you are you somebody who keeps up with the trends are you somebody who has no idea how to match colors like me you're literally fashion illiterate or are you one of these people who would rather die than be out of fashion out of style that's an easy one to be in style de mod to be out of style means no deod we'll take a look at more vocabulary associated with the topic in the bonus episode and I said the word over here sporting to sport the latest Styles well that's another way of saying to wear and remember wear is an irregular verb we wor worn then I said whether you resemble a model and to resemble is to look like and careful with the pronunciation it's not model it's model model whether you resemble a model saching their way down the runway and to sasche is kind of to walk around posing kind of Bon you say in Spanish I think you can hear it in the RuPaul song s Shante s Shante don't ask me how I know that well I think it was on the radio all the time when I was a kid and the runway is another way of saying the catwalk you can call it the runway or the catwalk do you recognize that one from a song on the catwalk yeah I do my little turn on the catwalk yeah I'm the catwalk I'm to sexy for my love and that's why I chose the song I thought it was very appropriate so you you can call it the runway or the catwalk and then I said or you're an Antiquated old fart I'm talking about myself there with one suit and that's a true story in storage Ino Al and it smells like moth balls moth balls are these little things that you put in a closet so they keep the moths away here it says b alfor b Naina well a moth is a POA these little butterflies anytime I think of moth balls I think of my grandma's house you know it's the smell of an older person's house so it doesn't matter what side of the spectrum you're on this episode is for you folks because you're worth it PES and fashion is something you either love or hate I don't think there's a middle ground it's like Jose Mourinho people either love the guy or hate the guy as you guys know I am a trend Setter I'm just kidding I'm as I said before you won't find a guy as outdated as me I can't even match jeans in a t-shirt so let's define fashion fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing you can say clothing or clothes Footwear that can be sneakers flip-flops slippers accessories you got bracelets necklaces earrings tow Rings Cosmetics which is makeup and jewelry of different cultural Aesthetics and their mix and match into outfits that depict distinctive ways of dressing Styles and Trends these are signifiers of social status self-expression and group belonging so a lot of people follow fashion because they want to fit in they don't want to stand out it reminds me of an expression when you stand out for the wrong reasons you stick out like a sore thumb why is he wearing a pink hat he's sticking out like a sore thumb as a multifaceted term fashion describes an industry Styles Aesthetics and Trends I'm sure you're all familiar with the French word MO which means fashion well this word dates back to 1482 while the English word denoting something that's in style dates only back to the 16th century so the French were way ahead of us as far as fashion is concerned the etymology of the English word fashion comes from the Latin word fashid which means to make and it describes the manufacturing mixing and wearing of outfits an outfit is the whole package so if somebody says nice outfit they mean nice jeans and shirt nice I like the way you put it together the way you mix and match as we just heard so even if you don't like fashion folks you're going to at least know how to talk about it in English we're going to go over the Bare Bones here now fashion has changed very much throughout the years now we know we have something called Fast fashion they Mass produce it very cheaply in third world countries and obviously we'll talk about that in the dark side later on let's take a quick look at some history historically speaking changes in clothing styles often took place at times of economic or social change and there's evidence of this in ancient Rome and even in eth Century moish Spain supposedly this musician ziria introduced to Cordoba sophisticated clothing styles and these were clothing styles that he took with him from Baghdad and he modified them a little bit but as we said before you can't separate musicians artists and fashion even since the 8th century and you saw a lot of that a lot of different cultures introducing different fabrics and different styles in the 11th century in the Middle East the Turks arrived and they introduced clothing styles from Central Asia and the Far East I mean now you can walk into H&M and you can buy something that resembles something a Chinese person would wear or a kimono but before this was like seeing something from another planet discovering a new fabric imagine the first time you touched silk and in the Western World tailoring has been around since the Medieval Times back then it was controlled by guilds a guild is a trade or a union you say Gro but then with the Industrial Age The Power of these guilds was undermined and before the mid 19th century most clothing was customade or as we say tailor made it was handmade for individuals either as home production or on order from a dress maker or a tailor I know you guys know about this in Spain some of the most famous tailor are Spanish and fashion designers Manolo blanik for example and we won't even talk about Amano Ortega he revolutionized the fashion industry by the beginning of the 20th century with the rise of new technologies such as sewing machines also the rise of global trade and the development of the factory system of production all of this created a boom in retail outlets such as department stores and this is when clothing became increasingly mass-produced and the fashion industry originally developed in Europe and America as of 2017 it is an international and highly globalized industry the clothing is often designed in one country manufactured in another and sold worldwide and all of this at lightning speed for example an American fashion company Tommy Hilfiger let's say they might Source fabric from China they'll have the clothes manufactured in Vietnam finished in Italy and then shipped to a warehouse in the United States for distribution and that will end up in the retail outlets so basically that pair of jeans has traveled more than you again I was just using Tommy Hilfiger as an example I don't know if any of those are true true but you get my point also the fashion industry has for a long time been one of the largest employers in the US but now us employment in the fashion world is beginning to decline considerably let's see if you know why one word folks no three words made in China so most of our production has moved overseas to China and other countries in the East where labor is cheaper and in some cases we found out it's even slave labor but we'll get to the dark side now remember I'm going to say this again I I've already made it very clear but here's your disclaimer I know nothing about fashion so this has been a learning experience for me please feel free to correct me when I'm wrong but the fashion industry consists of four levels one the production of raw materials there's a good vocabulary word principally fiber and textile but also leather and fur I think both of those words are pel in Spanish well leather is like the one on a leather jacket you say unach Chupa and fur is the one that's more like a teddy bear some good vocabulary here number two the production of fashioned Goods by designers manufacturers contractors and others the third part retail sales and fourth various forms of advertising and promotion and we all know how important that is in this day and age not just advertising on TV with commercials and in magazines but now with influencers which used to be called Trend Setters but when somebody sees somebody they look up to using a product Boom the chances of them buying that product shoots through the roof and I think they probably spend more money on Advertising every year year than on fabrics and and designing the actual clothes don't quote me on that but man it seems that way one of the most famous ceremonies all year I should say ceremonies Galas is the annual Met Gala in New York City this is the Premier venue where fashion designers and their Creations are celebrated not to be confused with fashion week and let's see if you know what are the big four Fashion Week weeks okay New York easy Paris easy what are the other two did you say Milan and London oh yeah I'm too sexy for Milan too sexy for Milan New York and Japan I'm a model you know what I mean and I do my little turn I'm the catwalk yeah I'm the catwalk hey I don't like fashion but I do love music and Zoolander man what a great movie Zoolander we'll talk about movies in the bonus episode and we're going to have a lot of fun facts let me give you one right now to wet your appetite did you know it wasn't until the beginning of the 19th century that they started using models to Showcase clothes yes before that they used mannequins hey there's another good movie that has to do with fashion you say Mani we say mannequin nothing's going to stop us now and if this world runs out of lovers we'll still have each other nothing's going to stop us now all right all right I'll stop some of the most influential fashion designers throughout history Coco Chanel Christian Dior please forgive my pronunciation you know[Laughter] Alexander McQueen Vivian Westwood Versace as I said Manolo blanik he's another one in the United States I think there's even a Jay-Z song A hip-hop song where he says her manolos the manolos and I said wait a second Manolo I know that name so I learned about Manolo from a rap song there's that connection again between music and fashion another famous Fashion Designer Michael Kors now I didn't know who he was but I thought it was nice that his first project was his own Mother's wedding dress aw and you know what's crazy he was only 5 years old when he designed it I guess his mother remarried but still a 5-year-old designing a wedding dress this kid was destined for greatness in the fashion world oh and Coco Chanel will talk more about her and the black dress and the perfume as well but also Coco Chanel When I Was preparing this I realized that uh she was involved with some really bad people Nazis so I guess her image was whitewashed but if you just Google Coco Chanel Nazis get ready and we didn't mention magazines as well magazines before the internet before there was Instagram and Tik Tok and all these places where you could sell creams and moisturizer and all that jazz You Had Your Fashion mags a lot of them now have disappeared or at least the print part of it but I remember going to my grandma's house and she would have Vogue you can do it there's nothing to it Vogue strike a pose there's Madonna's song Vogue you say bog we say Vogue you've got Harpers bizaar I mean those are two of the most popular ones and they both both popped up in the 1920s which was one of the most important decades for fashion I guess that's something we should say too there's a whole industry and other smaller industries that revolve around Fashion from periodicals to marketing to my favorite the perfume commercials now are these who please who comes up with these here I'm going to try and make up my own perfume commercial right here on the spot let me get some music okay passion Love Freedom the new fragrance by Alberto Alonso hey that's what they sound like I don't know who's the creative guy and I don't know what he smoked but perfume commercials are just weird I think they're trying to make a short film trying to express their art truthfully they're pretty ridiculous although I do like the models you won't hear me complain about the models let me give you a a couple more fun facts and then we're going to wrap up this part hopefully you'll join us in the bonus episode let's talk about high heels right now high heels were originally worn by men that's right they were a symbol of masculinity in the 16th century and they were worn by aristocratic men now think about why too remember they rode horses so it was easier to get into the stups and it wasn't until the 17th century that women started incorporating heels into their fashion choices so men wore heels a century before women did and there's a similar story with shorts men have been wearing shorts for decades but women were only allowed to wear them in public post World War II and it was for the simple reason that they were rationing fabric during the war so shorts were were more coste effective than pants or skirts and we'll talk more about skirts in the bonus episode but there's something we can say about fashion trends they come and they go but they're cyclical I remember a costume teacher I had in college she said fashion repeats itself every 30 years or so so bellbottoms were popular in the 1960s well guess what when I was a kid bellbottoms were all the r it was around 30 years after so you'll see a lot of styles and Trends from the past often make a comeback now a lot of times they reinvent them or they reimage them for the modern day but fashion like history repeats itself but just because something was a trend doesn't mean it's cool that's why I go against the grain because during the Renaissance period for example it was fashionable to shave off your eyebrows ouch so I guess we don't have to follow every fashion trend out there but I came across this quote and we'll wrap up the episode with this quote here cuz I thought it was quite interesting again this is from somebody who knows nothing about fashion as you can see all you have to do is see the way I dress but Diane von fenberg said style is something that each of us already has all we need to do is find it so everybody's got their their own style the way you dress the way you speak the way you express yourself I hope you enjoyed this episode and I hope you'll join us in the bonus episode of this week's[Applause][Music] FYI