Reading

1. Read the following text:

A Brief History of Fashion

The first fashion designer was Charles Frederick Worth, who lived in Paris in the 19th century. Until then, clothing design and creation was managed by anonymous tailors, and fashion was only reserved for the royal family and people living in the court.

However, Charles F. Worth had a huge success, and he began to decide what his customers should wear instead of following their orders. During the 20th century, all the designs originated in Paris travelled to London. Fashion magazines from other countries sent editors to the Paris fashion shows and department stores sent buyers to the Paris shows to buy accessories and copy all the designs.

After the Second World War, the fashion industry suffered radical changes. New designers, like Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent or Pierre Balmain caused a revolution in the world of fashion and spread their designs all over the world. Paris stopped being the city of fashion, and London, Milan and New York became the most important cities in the clothes industry. During the last decades, new styles were adopted all over the world and new designers, like Armani, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci or Dior became kings of the world.

Nowadays, fashion is more than an industry: it’s a way of living. Advertising, fashion shows, the media… Everybody has access to fashion and to wear designers’ clothes. What about you?





2. Are these statements true (T) or false (F)?


1.       Charles F. Worth had a career in London.
2.       Coco Chanel was a revolutionary clothes designer.
3.       Before the 20th century, everybody had access to fashion and luxury clothes.
     4.    Nowadays, fashion is still reserved for the royal family.






3. Read the following text:

Levi Strauss


Levi Strauss was born in Germany in the mid 1800’s and emigrated to the United States as a young man. He lived in New York City, and in 1853 he moved to San Francisco (California, USA). His dream to success came true over the next 20 years as he became a very successful businessman.

Many of Levi Strauss’ customers were cowboys and miners. They needed clothing that was strong and durable. Strauss found a special fabric from France that was comfortable and lasted a long time.

Another man named Jacob Davis bought large amounts of the denim fabric from Levi Strauss. He was a tailor who made pants for men. One of his customers was continually tearing the pockets off his pants. So Jacob Davis decided to put rivets on certain parts of the pants to make them stronger. Jacob Davis had a great success and realised that using rivets was a great business idea and he didn’t want anybody to steal that idea. He decided that he would need to get a patent. But he didn’t have enough money to pay for the patent. He went to the businessman Levi Strauss and told him his idea. Levi Strauss agreed, and the new riveted pant business was called Levi Strauss and Company. Today Levi’s jeans are more popular than ever.


   

4. Answer briefly these questions about the text:

1. What do you think a ‘rivet’ is? Try and give a definition.

2. Why cowboys and miners need strong and durable clothes?

3. Why did Jacob Davis patent his invention?

4. Has Levi Strauss’ business survived? What kind of jeans do you wear?

5. Why do you think Levi Strauss moved to the United States?


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