【英语趣味课堂】对时尚的敏感度-Fashion Sense

Curtis: Hi Spencer, I thought we might talk about fashion a little bit. Could you describe to me your style or your fashion sense?

 

Spencer: Well my fashion sense has definitely¹ changed over the last decade². I was kind of recently out of uni and my uni years it was always every night I wanted to look superb³. I even dressed up for class, it was, you know, that whatchamacallit a big university, but it was also a very old kind of university where everybody dressed up all the time, very southern, very, you know, let's look good for every kind of occasion⁴. And since graduating from there, I have, you know, entered the real world and I only dress up for work or if I'm going out, which I love dressing⁵ up for an occasion. But day-to-day I also love just throwing on a t-shirt and jeans, what about you?

 

Curtis: I think for me the most important thing is comfort. So my fashion sense hasn't really changed very much. I would still wear shorts and a t-shirt and sandals almost every day if I could. But because of my job I have to dress up for work. But it's not really comfortable and I feel like it's not really me. Occasionally⁶ I do like to wear a suit but maybe once in a long while, not every day.

 

Spencer: Yeah, it definitely after several, you know, weeks of kind of throwing on the same day-to-day comfortable clothes, and you have one occasion that you go out for and dress up for, it does kind of feel like, you know, oh, I'm worth a million bucks⁷ like, you know, looking great, one time you're wearing ... dressed to the nines, wearing all your best clothes.

 

Curtis: Right. At the same time if I do dress up I want the most comfortable clothes I can get to dress up in, like I want shoes that look nice. But to me, looking comfortable looks nice. If I see people who don't look comfortable in what they're wearing I don't think they look very good. So sometimes I see people with really tall heels⁸ for example and people might say, "Oh, this looks so nice." But I just, I feel like they must be painful, it must be really hard to wear and to walk in.

 

Spencer: That's so true, I hate heels, I cannot wear heels. Half of it's confidence⁹ though, like I don't like being particularly taller than a lot of people, it just kind of makes me unconfident. But every now and then like you see a really tall person wearing a pair of heels, and you know, shoulders high like super, super confident and they look great. But also it is painful after several hours of wearing heels if you're walking around a bit.

 

Curtis: Right. Sometimes I find that with men's dress shoes as well, sometimes they're really narrow and my feet are a little bit wide and so you get these really long and pointed¹⁰ dress shoes that narrow towards the toes. And because of that I have a very hard time finding¹¹ dress shoes for myself. I have to do a lot of shopping to find a good pair.

 

Spencer: I got lucky, I have tiny feet, so every time I walk into a shoe store my size happens to be the one that's on display.

 

Curtis: Oh, I see.

 

Spencer: And it's really quite good, yeah. Oh, that looks cute, I can just try it on then and there, so yeah, it is good.

 

Curtis: Yeah.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

Fashion sense

 

notesWell my fashion sense has definitely changed over the last decade.

 

Fashion sense is the way you dress. Notice the following:

 

He has an interesting fashion sense: a purple hat and yellow shoes.

She has great fashion sense. She always wears nice clothes.

Uni

 

notesMy uni years.

 

Uni is short for university. Notice the following:

 

She studied chemistry at uni.

Back in his uni days, he went out every weekend.

It's not me

 

notesI feel like it's not really me.

 

It's not really for me means¹² I don't like it or I don't want to do it. Notice the following:

 

You can go watch baseball, but it's not really for me.

Chinese food? It's not really for me. I prefer French food.

Throw on (clothes)

 

notesI also love just throwing on a t-shirt and jeans.

 

To throw on (clothes) means to get dressed quickly or carelessly. Notice the following:

 

I just throw on sweat¹³ pants and a T-shirt when I go to the store.

He threw on his coat and ran out the door.

a million bucks

 

notesI feel like a million bucks.

 

A million bucks is a million dollars. We use this phrase¹⁴ to express that someone looks or feels special and important. Notice the following:

 

You look like a million bucks tonight.

When I get dressed up, I feel like a million bucks.

dressed to the nines

 

notesShe is dressed to the nines.

 

Dressed to the nines means dressed up in very nice clothes. Notice the following:

 

Nice suit, you are really dressed to the nines tonight.

She's dressed to the nines; it must be a special day.

1 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

2 decade   

n.十年，十年期

参考例句：

• Prices have risen steadily during the past decade.过去的十年间，物价一直在上涨。
• The century has rounded into its ninth decade.本世纪已进入了90年代。

3 superb   

adj.高贵的，壮丽的，极好的

参考例句：

• The large bay has a superb backdrop of mountains.大海湾背靠着庄严的山脉。
• The hotel has a large dining room serving superb local cuisine.饭店有一个大餐厅供应上好的当地菜肴。

4 occasion   

n.场合，时机，机会，诱因，理由；vt.惹起，引起

参考例句：

• Her dress was too showy for such a formal occasion.在如此正式的场合，她的服装过分华丽了。
• Her tears were fought back on such an occasion.在这种场合下她忍住了眼泪。

5 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。

6 occasionally   

adv.偶然地；非经常地

参考例句：

• He went on talking,occasionally wiping at his face with a towel.他继续说着，偶尔用毛巾擦一下脸。
• I like playing football best,but occasionally I play table tennis,too.我最喜欢踢足球，偶尔也打打乒乓球。

7 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 heels   

n.高跟鞋；紧随某人；跟捬；飞奔逃跑；（袜子等的）后跟( heel的名词复数 )；足跟；有…后跟的；女高跟鞋

参考例句：

• Her heels clacked on the marble floor. 她的鞋后跟在大理石地面上发出咔嗒咔嗒的响声。
• The dogs yapped at his heels. 几只狗跟在他后面汪汪乱叫。

9 confidence   

n.信任，信托，自信，信心，把握，大胆，厚颜，过于自信，狂妄

参考例句：

• We have full confidence in our victory.我们有必胜的把握。
• I should like to exchange a few words with you in confidence.我想私下和你交换点意见。

10 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

11 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

12 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

13 sweat   

n.汗，汗水，水珠，焦急；vi.出汗，渗出，冒出水气，结水珠，烦恼，懊恼；vt.使出汗，流出，榨出，使汗流浃背

参考例句：

• She was all of a sweat.她一身大汗。
• She is always all of a sweat before the exam.她临考前总是急得不得了。

14 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。