Lesson 2 Passion for Fashion
How Fashion Items Got Their Names
Do you know what a ____ is?
It is usually a ____ item that covers your whole body, even your arms and legs.
It is easy and quick to put on and to ____ off.
As the name indicates, the jumpsuit began as clothing for jumping from ____.
Later, designers transformed this functional design into luxurious ____ fashion items seen in fashion shows around the world.
Like the jumpsuit, ____ are other fashion items with interesting stories about how they got their names.
Sneak Up in Sneakers
You have probably owned a pair of sneakers for everyday activities or ____.
They are a type of athletic shoe designed specifically to be worn for physical ____ and sports.
So, ____ are they called sneakers?
The name “sneakers” is derived ____ the term “to sneak up.”
____ to the fact that sneakers’ soles are mostly made of rubber, they make little noise when people walk.
This allows people who are wearing ____ to sneak up on others.
Before rubber, leather was used for the ____ of shoes.
Traditional leather shoes ____ a lot of noise, and it is easier to hear the person wearing them.
However, with sneakers, you can quietly sneak up on your friends and surprise ____.
Blue Jeans from Genoa
Whether they are loose fit or slim fit, most of you have at least one pair of blue ____.
They were named “jeans” because they were made of jean, a sort of tough cotton ____.
The word jean is a ____ of Gênes, the French name of the Italian city of Genoa.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Genoa was a major center for ____.
Sailing ____ from Genoa traded their goods throughout Europe, particularly in England and France.
One of the items that ____ Genoa famous was a strong cotton cloth, ideally suited to making tough work clothes.
The cloth was most likely colored ____.
French was widely spoken in ____ at that time, 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 opera, ____ parties, or awards shows.
The tuxedo likely got its name from Tuxedo Park, one of the ____ gated communities in New York.
In the late 19th century, men usually ____ jackets with long tails that reached their knees on formal occasions.
____ evening, a man showed up with a short black jacket without tails in Tuxedo Park.
The male guests who stayed there were fascinated by the new jacket and ____ to wear the same style.
Later, more people asked their tailors to make ____ a jacket “like the one worn in Tuxedo Park.”
At first, this style of jacket was considered less formal than one with long ____.
As more and more men wore the shorter style, it eventually replaced the longer ____.
Now men’s formal ____ is the tuxedo.
Isn’t it ironic that the tuxedo was not originally considered very formal, but now it is the most formal clothing ____ wear?
Flip-flops, Flip-flop
On beaches and at pools, everyone seems to wear simple shoes with a band across the top of the ____ and between the big toe and second toe.
____, they are one of the oldest shoes in history.
Ancient ____ paintings show they were worn around 4,000 B.C.
Due to the ____ that they have such a long history, they have different names all around the world.
The Japanese ____ them zories.
New Zealanders ____ them jandals, which is a shortened form of “Japanese sandals.”
However, in the USA, these shoes are ____ “flip-flops.”
Just walk around in a pair of them, and you can ____ guess why they got this name.
The rubber soles hit the bottom of your feet as you walk, making a 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 other fashion items that have as interesting name origins as ____ introduced here?