Intermediate
English dialogue
Slaves of fashion?
Are you a "brand slave"?
Designer
brands, such as Nike, Calvin Klein or even Virgin, are a
major part
of modern
life. Many brands are global names. But why do some people think
that
brands are important, while others could
not care
less about them?Here a group of British teenagers talk about the importance - or unimportance - of wearing designer clothes.
MIKE:
Yes, I think that brands
are quite important. When I buy
clothes, I tend to go for good
brands, like Nike or Gap,
'cos you know
they're good
quality.
TESSA:
Well I think that's stupid, I really do. The only time I ever buy Nike
or things like that is in the sales,
when they're cheap.
Otherwise, designer brands are a complete rip-off
as far
as I'm concerned. I can't
afford
to pay twice as much as
I need to, just to have Nike or CK. It's a total waste of money!
MIKE:
But it isn't,
is it?
I mean, you know you're getting good quality if you buy a well-known
brand.
TESSA:
Maybe, but that doesn't mean the opposite's true,
does it? I mean,
when you
buy a branded baseball cap or something, you're really paying about
forty
quid just
to wear the logo! You can get perfectly good quality for half the price
without wasting your money on designer stuff, can't
you?
MIKE:
Sometimes, yeah; but you can't be sure, can
you? I mean, if you buy a pair of Nike trainers, you know
you've
got a good pair of shoes, and everyone else knows it too.
TESSA:
Do they? I think that's just silly! Frankly, I don't go
round looking
to see what
shoes
people have got on; and I certainly wouldn't judge a
person by their
clothes.
SARAH:
It's
not a matter of judging people by their clothes.
But I think, like,
you feel better if you know you've got good clothes on.
Not necessarily things like Gap, but anything with a reasonably good
label..
I mean, lots of people wouldn't
be seen dead wearing stuff from Littlewoods
or Marks &
Sparks — it's just so un-cool.
MIKE:
Yeah, it's all about image,
isn't it?
TESSA:
Exactly, you've
hit
the nail on the head,haven't
you? It's just image. I mean, you buy designer brands just
because
of the image. Not for any real reason at all. Just image, or
imagination.
You imagine people think
more of
you 'cos you're wearing
Armani jeans or something like that.
MIKE:
Well they do. That's why people wear them, isn't
it? I mean, when you go anywhere, people judge you by what
they
can see, don't they? If you're wearing crap
clothes, no one's
going to think much of you at all!
TOM:
I think you're missing the point there, Mike; after all it's not a
question
of choosing between designer clothes and crappy
clothes,
it's a matter of choosing between good expensive clothes with a posh
label, and cheaper good clothes without one. You can perfectly well
wear
good clothes that don't have some fancy
name. I mean, look
at me!
Are you going to look down
on me,
'cos there aren't any trendy
labels on any of my gear?
SARAH:
No, not really, but if you had on a Calvin Klein sweatshirt or
something,
I might think you were cooler.
TOM:
Oh that's really gross!
TESSA:
I call it juvenile.
SARAH:
But it isn't! Like Tom said, people do judge you by what they see, and
if they see you're wearing good clothes, they'll be more likely to get
a good impression of you.
TOM:
But the things I'm wearing are perfectly good, aren't
they?
SARAH:
They're O.K?..
TOM:
They're perfectly good, and good quality too. I can't see what makes
Mike's
sweatshirt any better than mine, just 'cos it's got GAP
written on
it. Besides, half of
designer
branded stuff is made using sweatshop labour
in Asia. You know there's kids of ten
years old working in factories
in places like Cambodia, making cheap designer stuff for famous
brands.
There was a documentary on TV the other day.
TESSA:
Yes, like, you buy a pair of super trainers for £100 here,
and the
people who actually made them were being paid 50p an hour or something.
Your posh expensive trainers really cost about £5 to make.
It's no
wonder that big fashion companies can
afford all their expensive
advertising, no wonder their bosses are millionaires.
SARAH:
Yeah, maybe, but it's the same for everything, isn't
it? It isn't just the big names that are exploiting people
in poor countries,is
it? They're all doing it. I mean look at your shoes, Tom.
Where
were they made?
TOM:
I haven't a clue.
SARAH:
No, so how do you know they weren't made using child labour too? You
don't, do
you?
TOM:
No: but even so,
two wrongs
don't make a right. And it doesn't make any difference to
the fact
that lots of designer brands use sweatshop labour in Asia, does
it?
MIKE:
Frankly, I don't see what I can do about it, since you can't go round
asking where
everything you buy was made .
It's just not practical. And wherever they're made, I still like
wearing
good clothes. I don't feel good in crap outfits.
SARAH:
Nor me neither.
Brand: designer name - can't afford to: don't have enough money for -'cos: because - could not care less: are not at all interested -crap, crappy: poor quality - factory: industrial building - fancy: posh, compicated - gear: clothes, equipment - go for: prefer - go round looking: spend time looking - gross: bad, awful - it's not a matter of: it's not a question of - Littlewoods & Marks & Sparks: Littlewoods and Marks & Spencer, two famous British clothes shops - look down on: have a poor opionon of - no wonder that: not surprising that - posh: high class - quid: pounds - rip-off: extorsion - sales: when shops sell articles cheaper than usual - slave: prisoner, captive - - stuff: things - sweatshop labour: people working in very bad intensive conditions - they'll be more likely to: they will more probably - think more of: have a better impression of - trendy: fashionable, popular. Note: pay particular attention to the phrases and expressions highlighted in blue.
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Student Worksheet
Slaves to fashion : Are you a brand slave ?
1) Tag questions
Note the use of tag questions in this dialogue. Tag questions are a very common feature of conversational English. Now add the appropriate tags that might have followed the following sentences used in the dialogue.
► To learn all about using tags, see Linguapress English grammar: Tag questions
1.
You
know they're good quality
2. It's just a waste of money,
3. Well they do
4. You can perfectly well wear good clothes that don't have some fancy name .
5. People do judge you by what they see,
6. There was a documentary on TV the other day
7. They're all doing it.
2) Explain the following expressions:
You've hit the nail on the head.
People wouldn't be seen dead....
Two wrongs don't make a right.
You're
missing the point there....
3) Creative Writing:
Explain,
in about 200 words, why you like or do not like buying designer clothes.
For teachers:
Teachers: For general techniques for using reading texts in class, see ► Reading texts - a
model lesson plan
Language
Note the expression I haven't a clue. It is one of the rare expressions in which haven't - rather than don't have or haven't got - is used as the negative form of the main verb have. Normally haven't is only used as the negative form of the auxiliary verb have, as in I haven't eaten anything since breakfast.
Grammar - Present tenses
Most of the verbs in this dialogue are in the present tense; most of them in the simple present, but there are some sentences where the present continuous is used. There is also one case where the emphatic present, with the auxiliary do, is used. There are examples of present tense usage in active and passive forms. Use this discussion text to help students brush up on the use of different present tenses. For clear explanations and more examples, check out A Descriptive Grammar of English, section 1.2.
Classroom activity : act out the dialogue
Divide your class into groups of four pupils (gender is not important) and get each group to act out the dialogue. Concentrate on expression; if pupils put no expression into what they are reading or reciting, then they probably do not understand it particularly well; the more expression they can put in, the more they are into the role, and the more benefit they will get out of this activity.
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Revised 2022 . Originally published in Freeway, the Intermediate level
English
newsmagazine.
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