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Fashion Sense

Curtis talks with Spencer about her sense of style and the clothes she likes to wear.

Curtis: Hi Spencer, I thought we might talk about fashion a little bit. Could you describe to me your style or your fashion sense?

Spencer: Well, my fashion sense has definitely changed over the last decade. I was kind of recently out of uni, and my uni years it was always every night I wanted to look superb. I even dressed up for class, it was, you know, whatchamacallit, a big university, but it was also a very old kind of university where everybody dressed up all the time, very southern, very, you know, let's look good for every kind of occasion. And since graduating from there, I have, you know, entered the real world and I only dress up for work or if I'm going out, which I love dressing up for an occasion. But day-to-day I also love just throwing on a t-shirt and jeans, what about you?

Curtis: I think for me the most important thing is comfort. So my fashion sense hasn't really changed very much. I would still wear shorts and a t-shirt and sandals almost every day if I could. But because of my job I have to dress up for work. But it's not really comfortable and I feel like it's not really me. Occasionally I do like to wear a suit but maybe once in a long while, not every day.

Spencer: Yeah, it definitely after several, you know, weeks of kind of throwing on the same day-to-day comfortable clothes, and you have one occasion that you go out for and dress up for, it does kind of feel like, you know, oh, I'm worth a million bucks like, you know, looking great, one time you're wearing dressed to the nines, wearing all your best clothes.

Curtis: Right. At the same time if I do dress up I want the most comfortable clothes I can get to dress up in, like I want shoes that look nice. But to me, looking comfortable looks nice. If I see people who don't look comfortable in what they're wearing I don't think they look very good. So sometimes I see people with really tall heels for example and people might say, "Oh, this looks so nice." But I just, I feel like they must be painful, it must be really hard to wear and to walk in.

Spencer: That's so true, I hate heels, I cannot wear heels. Half of it's confidence though, like I don't like being particularly taller than a lot of people, it just kind of makes me un-confident. But every now and then like you see a really tall person wearing a pair of heels, and you know, shoulders high like super, super confident and they look great. But also it is painful after several hours of wearing heels if you're walking around a bit.

Curtis: Right. Sometimes I find that with men's dress shoes as well, sometimes they're really narrow and my feet are a little bit wide and so you get these really long and pointed dress shoes that narrow towards the toes. And because of that I have a very hard time finding dress shoes for myself. I have to do a lot of shopping to find a good pair.

Spencer: I got lucky, I have tiny feet, so every time I walk into a shoe store my size happens to be the one that's on display.

Curtis: Oh, I see.

Spencer: And it's really quite good, yeah. Oh, that looks cute, I can just try it on then and there, so yeah, it is good.

Curtis: Yeah.

Answer these questions about the interview.
Audio Lessons about Phrases and Vocabulary

Fashion sense

notesWell my fashion sense has definitely changed over the last decade.

Fashion sense is the way you dress. Notice the following:

  1. He has an interesting fashion sense: a purple hat and yellow shoes.
  2. She has great fashion sense. She always wears nice clothes.

Uni

notesMy uni years.

Uni is short for university. Notice the following:

  1. She studied chemistry at uni.
  2. Back in his uni days, he went out every weekend.

It's not me

notesI feel like it's not really me.

It's not really for me means I don't like it or I don't want to do it. Notice the following:

  1. You can go watch baseball, but it's not really for me.
  2. Chinese food? It's not really for me. I prefer French food.

Throw on (clothes)

notesI also love just throwing on a t-shirt and jeans.

To throw on (clothes) means to get dressed quickly or carelessly. Notice the following:

  1. I just throw on sweat pants and a T-shirt when I go to the store.
  2. He threw on his coat and ran out the door.

a million bucks

notesI feel like a million bucks.

A million bucks is a million dollars. We use this phrase to express that someone looks or feels special and important. Notice the following:

  1. You look like a million bucks tonight.
  2. When I get dressed up, I feel like a million bucks.

dressed to the nines

notesShe is dressed to the nines.

Dressed to the nines means dressed up in very nice clothes. Notice the following:

  1. Nice suit, you are really dressed to the nines tonight.
  2. She's dressed to the nines; it must be a special day.

Vocabulary Quiz

sense • uni • not me
a million bucks • to the nines
  1. For the party I plan to dress .
  2. You look like .
  3. Bill Gates has great business .
  4. I had a lot of fun during my years.
  5. I hate wearing suits. It is just .

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