2019年经济学人 和着装风格斗争(2)

 

But dressing¹ in the morning is quick and easy.

但是早上穿这些衣服又快又容易。

Steve Jobs was famous for wearing the same outfit—black polo neck, jeans and trainers—every day.

史蒂夫·乔布斯以每天穿同样的衣服而闻名——黑色圆高翻领衫、牛仔裤和运动鞋。

But what works well for men does not translate as easily to women.

但是适合男性的却不太适合女性。

Karl Stefanovic, an Australian television presenter², wore the same blue suit every day for a year and no one noticed.

澳大利亚电视节目主持人卡尔·斯特凡诺维奇一年来每天都穿同样的蓝色套装，但没有人注意到。

By contrast, his female co-presenters received constant remarks on their appearance.

相比之下，他的女同事们则不断收到关于她们外表的评论。

Even the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, gets snarky comments when she wears the same clothes twice. 

就连剑桥公爵夫人凯特·米德尔顿也会因为两次穿同一件衣服而受到尖刻的批评。

Women's workwear seems to have become less formal over time.

随着时间的推移，女性的职业装似乎变得不那么正式了。

A survey by Euromonitor found that sales of women's suits fell by 77% in America between 2007 and 2016.

欧睿的一项调查发现在2007年到2016年间，美国女性套装销量下降77%。

But many women worry that they will be judged as unprofessional (unlike their male colleagues)

许多女性担心如果她们的衣服被认为太过邋遢或太暴露，

if their clothes are deemed to be too scruffy³, or too revealing. It can also be hard choosing clothes that are suitable for both indoors and out.

自己会被认为不够专业（和她们的男同事不同）。要挑选既适合室内又适合户外的衣服也很困难。

Air-conditioning systems in offices are often designed to suit the male metabolic⁴ rate, which can cope with colder temperatures than the female body.

办公室的空调系统通常是为适应男性的新陈代谢率而设计的，相比女性，男性可以应对更低的温度。

The result may be that women have to bring an extra layer to wear in the building.

结果可能是，女性不得不在大楼里多穿一件外套。

As for formal meetings, while men have abandoned the tie, many women feel obliged to wear high heels.

至于正式的会议，虽然男性已经不再打领带了，但许多女性觉得有必要穿高跟鞋。

These give some women a sense of empowerment and femininity (not to mention extra height).

高跟鞋给了一些女性一种赋权感和女性气质（更不用说更高的身高了）。

But in health terms, heels can seem like the Western equivalent of the ancient Chinese practice of footbinding:

但就健康而言，高跟鞋就像是古代中国裹脚布的西方版本：

bad for women's feet, ankles and backs and designed to limit their mobility⁵.

对女性的脚跟、脚踝和脚背都不好，还会限制她们的行动。

Britain's Parliament held a debate after a woman was sent home from her job as a receptionist for refusing to wear high heels (it was inconclusive).

英国议会举行了一场辩论，起因是一名女接待员因拒绝穿高跟鞋而被解雇（辩论没有得出定论）。

Companies understandably want workers who deal with the public to look respectable.

公司希望和公众打交道的员工看起来体面，这是可以理解的。

Workers shouldn't wear clothes that wouldn't be appropriate if visiting a prudish⁶ grandmother or a child's teacher.

在拜访守旧的祖母或孩子的老师时，员工们不应该穿着不合时宜的服装。

And yet no one should be expected to turn up at the office as if dressed for a wedding.

但任何人都不应该穿着出席婚礼的衣服现身办公室。

The most important item to bring to work is a dose of sartorial⁷ common sense.

上班时需要携带的最重要的物品是一剂着装常识。

1 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

2 presenter   

n.（电视、广播的）主持人，赠与者

参考例句：

• Most people think being a television presenter is exciting.很多人认为当电视节目主持人是一件刺激的事情。
• The programme dispensed with its most popular presenter.这个节目最受欢迎的主持人被换掉了。

3 scruffy   

adj.肮脏的，不洁的

参考例句：

• Despite her scruffy clothes,there was an air of sophistication about her.尽管她衣衫褴褛，但神态老练世故。
• His scruffy appearance does not reflect his character.他邋遢的外表并不反映他的性格。

4 metabolic   

adj.新陈代谢的

参考例句：

• Impressive metabolic alternations have been undergone during embryogenesis.在胚胎发生期间经历了深刻的代谢变化。
• A number of intoxicants are associated with metabolic acidosis.许多毒性物质可引起代谢性酸中毒。

5 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

6 prudish   

adj.装淑女样子的，装规矩的，过分规矩的；adv.过分拘谨地

参考例句：

• I'm not prudish but I think these photographs are obscene.我并不是假正经的人，但我觉得这些照片非常淫秽。
• She was sexually not so much chaste as prudish.她对男女关系与其说是注重贞节，毋宁说是持身谨慎。

7 sartorial   

adj.裁缝的

参考例句：

• John has never been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰从来没有因为衣着讲究而出名。
• Jeans a powerful egalitarian message,but are far more likely to a sartorial deathtrap for politicians.政客们穿上牛仔裤是传递亲民的讯息，但也更容易犯穿衣禁忌。