服装专业英语材料A.docVIP

PART 1 THEORY OF FASHION DESIGN Lesson 1 What Is Fashion? 概述了流行的基本概念和特性。 Fashion，which is as old as time and as new as tomorrow，is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. It influences what we wear，the way we talk，the foods we eat，the way we live，how and where we travel，what we look at, and what we listen to．Fashion is what leads us to discard a product that is still useful but is no longer“in．”①It is also what makes us sometimes wear more clothes than we may actually need, and sometimes less than is needed to protect US from the cold or the sun． The intensity with which changes in fashion are followed by people everywhere on all levels of society is evidence of its social significance and its impact on human behavior．② To be“out of fashion”is indeed to be out of the world． The Language of Fashion Many definitions of fashion have been given by wise and witty or learned men and women．For example, to Oscar Wilde．“fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months．“And according to Ambrose Bierce． “fashion is a despot whom the wise ridicule…and obey．”Thoreau philosophized that“every generation laughs at the old fashions but follows religiously the new．”And Shakespeare wrote that“fashion wears out more apparel than the man．”(3) Fashion Means Consumer Acceptance Among the countless definitions Of fashion, the one from Webster’s latest unabridged dictionary (the Third International) comes very close to what professionals mean when they use the word：the prevailing or accepted style in dress or personal decoration established or adopted during a particular time or season．The most widely recognized fashion authority, the late Dr．Paul H．Nystrom, defined fashion in similar words as“nothing more or less than the prevailing style at any given time．”④Thus，a fashion is always based on a specific style．A style，however，does not become a fashion until it gains consumer acceptance，and it remains a fashion only as long as it is a