Lesson 2 Passion for Fashion
How Fashion Items Got Their Names
Do you know what a ____ is?
It is usually a single item that covers your whole ____, even your arms and legs.
It is ____ and quick to put on and to take off.
As the name indicates, the jumpsuit began as clothing for ____ from planes.
Later, designers transformed this functional ____ into luxurious women’s fashion items seen in fashion shows around the world.
Like the jumpsuit, there are other fashion items with interesting stories ____ how they got their names.
Sneak Up in Sneakers
____ have probably owned a pair of sneakers for everyday activities or sports.
They are a type of athletic shoe designed specifically to be worn for physical activities and ____.
So, why are they ____ sneakers?
The name “____” is derived from the term “to sneak up.”
Due to the fact that sneakers’ ____ are mostly made of rubber, they make little noise when people walk.
This allows ____ who are wearing them to sneak up on others.
Before rubber, leather was used for the ____ of shoes.
Traditional ____ shoes make a lot of noise, and it is easier to hear the person wearing them.
However, with ____, you can quietly sneak up on your friends and surprise them.
Blue Jeans from Genoa
Whether they are loose fit or ____ fit, most of you have at least one pair of blue jeans.
They were named “jeans” because they were ____ of jean, a sort of tough cotton cloth.
The word jean is a modification of Gênes, the French name of the Italian ____ of Genoa.
In the ____ and 18th centuries, Genoa was a major center for trade.
Sailing ____ from Genoa traded their goods throughout Europe, particularly in England and France.
One of the items that made Genoa ____ was a strong cotton cloth, ideally suited to making tough work clothes.
The ____ was most likely colored blue.
French was widely spoken in Europe at that ____, so the cloth was called “bleu de Gênes” (the blue of Genoa).
This is how the pants ____ with “bleu de Gênes” became known as blue jeans in English.
A Man in a Tuxedo in Tuxedo Park
People wear tuxedos when a formal dress code is required, like for the ____, dinner parties, or awards shows.
The tuxedo likely got its name from Tuxedo Park, one of the first gated communities in New ____.
In the late 19th century, men usually wore jackets with long ____ that reached their knees on formal occasions.
One evening, a man showed up with a short black jacket without ____ in Tuxedo Park.
The male guests who stayed ____ were fascinated by the new jacket and started to wear the same style.
Later, more people asked their tailors to make them a jacket “like the one ____ in Tuxedo Park.”
At ____, this style of jacket was considered less formal than one with long tails.
As more and more men wore the shorter style, it ____ replaced the longer version.
Now men’s formal ____ is the tuxedo.
Isn’t it ironic that the tuxedo was not originally considered very formal, but ____ it is the most formal clothing men wear?
Flip-flops, Flip-flop
On beaches and at pools, everyone seems to wear simple shoes with a band ____ the top of the foot and between the big toe and second toe.
Amazingly, they are ____ of the oldest shoes in history.
Ancient Egyptian paintings show they were worn ____ 4,000 B.C.
Due to the ____ that they have such a long history, they have different names all around the world.
The Japanese call ____ zories.
New ____ call them jandals, which is a shortened form of “Japanese sandals.”
____, in the USA, these shoes are called “flip-flops.”
Just walk around in a pair of ____, and you can easily guess why they got this name.
The rubber soles ____ the bottom of your feet as you walk, making a flip-flop, flip-flop sound.
The sound ____ the name of the shoes, flip-flops.
Whatever origins these fashion items have, they are being worn by more and more people in ____ places around the world.
Why don’t you look for ____ fashion items that have as interesting name origins as those introduced here?