Unit Six Clothes Make the Man---Uneasy Anne Hollander

1. Unit Six Clothes Make the Man---UneasyAnne Hollander

2. Pre-reading Questions • Pre-reading Questions • 1: What kind of clothes do you like to wear? Is it important what a person wears, especially in public? • 2: What role do you think men's clothes play in social communication? • 3: What is the main idea or gist of the essay?

3. Background Information • Anne Hollander(1930- ) • she is a native of cleveland who was educated in New York City. An experienced observer of and writer on the history of fashion, she again turns to that subject in the essay Clothes Make the Man--Uneasy. Her works include Seeing Through Clothes, Sex and Suits; Feeding the Eye; and Fabric of Vision: Dress and Drapery in Painting.

4. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Paragraph 1 • Questions • 1: What do you know about men's and wmoen's choices of clothes in the 1960s? • 2: Why did the choices men made have an enormous meaning in teh world of men?

5. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Paragraph 1 • agonize: suffer great pain, anxiety or worryintensely about sth. • The woman agonized about her child's safety. • Perhaps he was agonizing over the moral issues involved • sideburns: the hair that grows down the sides of a man's face before ear. • radically: fundamentally; thoroughly, completely, drastically. • radically change/alter/transform • Paraphrase: the idea that one might...a whole generation.

6. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study Elvis Presley with sideburns

7. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: a whole generation had never thought that one might suffer extreme agony about whether to grow sideburns or wear trousers of a completely different shape.

8. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Dramatic: very great exciting impressive • Sartorial: of men's clothes, a way of dressing • He is known for his sartorial elegance. • sartorial preferences / tastesSubtle: not very noticeable or obvious. surface: adj. a surface quality seems to exist in someone or something, but in fact it hides deeper or truer feelings or conditions A surface calm settled over the troubled city. Variation: A variation is a change or slight difference in a level, amount, or quantity. Paraphrase: Before the mid ‘60s whether to wear...surface variation.

9. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study Paraphrase: Before the mid’60s whether to wear a tie was the biggest decision for men to make about clothing: everything else was just trivial, superficial change that was hardly noticeable.

10. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • be accustomed to (doing) sthto be familiar with something and accept it as normalWe were accustomed to working together.fashion: a manner or way of doing sth. • He walks in a peculiar fashion. • The pretty girl is dressed in the latest fashion. • automatically: unconsciously • For most of us breathing is done automatically. • conform: keep to or comply with • We must conform to normal social conventions. • Their deeds do not conform to their words

11. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • If you braceyourself for something unpleasant or difficult, you prepare yourself for it.He braced himself for the icy plunge into the black water... • Financial markets are braced for another turbulent week. • Smith braced himself to deliver the bad news. • Masculine:masculine qualities and things relate to or are considered typical of men, in contrast to women....masculine pride.≠ female • Paraphrase: Women have been so accustomed to…masculine responses.

12. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • Women have been so used to handling extreme trends for such a long time, that they are unconsciously ready for whatever is coming next. For example, they are naturally liable to reject or accept extreme fashion, and they are automatically prepared for all the possible responses from men.

13. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Delicate: slight small subtle • Shade: slight difference in sth • The word can have many shades of meaning. • A range of sth: a series of sth, a selection of sth • Alternative: two or more choices • You can be paid in cash weekly or by cheque monthly; those are the two alternatives. • Absorbing: holding one’s attention • what an absorbing film it is ! • Cut: The way of cutting • Slacks: casual trousers for men or women • Paraphrase:All the delicate shades of significance…plain or wing tip?

14. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study double-breasted:a double-breasted jacket or coat has two front parts so that one part covers the other when the buttons are done up, and two rows of buttons can be seensingle-breasted:(of a jacket or coat) having only one row of buttons that fasten in the middle.

15. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study shoes with plain tipshoes with wing tip

16. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • All the subtle degrees of significance made known or conveyed by the limited number of alternatives were often difficult enough in the past: Which do you prefer, a double-or single-breasted suit? Do you want a sports jacket and slacks or a suit? Which do you like better, shoes with plain or wing tip.

17. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Momentous:very important; serious • a momentous decision, occasion, event • Possibilites: choices • Stamp: mark, sign • She bears the stamp of genius. • His face bears the stamp of suffering. • Their story has the stamp of truth • Identify: to recognize, establish the uniquemess of. • The light was too dim for me to identify her. • he identified the coat as his brother's. • Paraphrase: The choices men had had to make… to female judgment.

18. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • The choices men were obliged to make never seemed very significant to women who had been used to a formidable range of personally acceptable things, but the choices men confronted meant a lot in their own world, for they served as a characteristic mark which helped to establish a man’s identity but which women usually were unable to understand in terms of judgments.

19. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Invisible: that cannot be seen; not visible • distant stars that are invisible to the naked eye, • Shun: to avoid, keep clear of, keep away from • The country did not want to shun the war. • She tries to shun publicity. • imperceptible: Something that is imperceptible is so small that it is not noticed or cannot be seen. • Brian's hesitation was almost imperceptible. • imperceptible change in temperature • Paraphrase: A hat with a tiny bit of nearly…oxford-cloth shirts.

20. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • A hat with a little bit of hardly discernable feather was absolutely differentiated from a hat with no feather at all, and white shirts decorated with white patterns, which were nearly subtly complex in weave, were totally avoided by those who preferred to wear white oxford-cloth shirts.

21. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Mystify: confuse, bewilder, baffle, puzzle • Her mystifying disappearance puzzled us. • Ferocity: Violence ,fierceness • The lion attacked its victim with great feorcity • Our fighters resumed their attack against the enemy with the greatest ferocity. • Pity:feel pity for (sb) • Pity the poor sailors at sea in this storm!

22. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • padding: soft material used to fill out things. • The padding feels soft and touches smooth. • cuff: the end of a coat or shirt sleeve at the wrist. • Attach importance to:to believe that sth is important or worth thinking about • I attach great importance to this research. • Paraphrase: Women might remain mystified…an inch of trouser cuff.

23. Paragraph 1 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • Women might remain bewildered by the fact that men should feel so strongly and support so vigorously these very small differences. And probably women might feel contemptuous pity for men who have such a conservative view of fashion that even such trivial variations as half and inch of padding in the shoulders or an inch of trouser cuff could make them excited.

24. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • Paragraphs 2-5 • Questions • 1: What can you infer about masculine fashion in the 1960s? • 2: Why did the writer say that the difference between men's and women's clothes used to be an easy matter from every point of view?

25. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • Seductive: tending to seduce, charm or tempt sb; attractive Incorrect:not according to accepted standards; improper. • with respect to sth: concerning sth • This is true with respect to English but not to French. • Parents often have little choice with respect to the way their child is medically treated • flavor: taste, strong suggestion • visiting this rural area, you can enjoy the full flafor of English country life.

26. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • connote: imply or suggest • Smoke connotes fire. • Terrorism connotes killing of innocent people. • bonding: becoming emotionally attached to • male bonding: The formation of a close human relationship, as between friends. • Paraphrase: Even imaginative wives and mothers…sort of male bonding.

27. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • Even wives and mothers full of imagination could finally learn to say “No”to all attractive but improper choices concerning tie fabric and collar shape, because such choices might give strong suggestions of incorrect mental attitudes, the low level of education, or the inappropriate sort of male intimacy.

28. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • double standards:If you accuse a person or institution of applying double standards in their treatment of different groups of people, you mean that they unfairly allow more freedom of behaviour to one group than to another. • Hindrance:(to sth/sb) thing or person that hinders • Some kitchen gadgets are more of a hindrance than a help. • Flourish: be very successful, very active. • No new business can flourish in the present economic climate. • stick to: keep to, adhere to • Paraphrase: It was a well ordered world…he might look ridiculous.

29. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • It was a well organized world where people were strictly classified; the double standard, i.e., the rule or principle applied more strictly to some people than to others, was observed fully and successfully, and no man who adhered to the rules ever found it necessary to suppose that he might look unusual.

30. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • erupt: break out suddenly and violently • Violence has erupted on the streets. • The demonstration erupted into violence. • accelerate: quicken, hasten • disconcert·ing:making you feel worried, confused • a disconcerting habit/tendency • throw light on: to make it easier to understand, because more information is known about it.A new approach offers an answer, and may shed light on an even bigger question. • Paraphrase: Suddenly, and for the first time … steady old arrangements.

31. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • All of a sudden, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the rate of change in masculine fashion speeded up violently, giving a new interpretation of all the former arrangements that had remained unchanged for ages.

32. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study look on: be a spectator at an event or incident; watch sth without taking part in it oneself discomfiture: a state of being disconcerted or baffled; a state of being thwarted The discomfiture in the ruling party was well known to the public. Our fondest dreams ended in discomfiture. conspicuous: easily seen; noticeable; remarkable you're walking along a badly-lit road at night you should wear conspicuous clothes.

33. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study Nipped-in: taken-in pinched-in squeezed-in tur·tle·neck: a high neck that folds over on a SWEATER bell-bot·tom:Having legs that flare out at the bottom: bell-bottom trousers. Comfy:(comfier, comfiest)comfortable a comfy armchair / bed anonymity:the state of remaining unknown to most other people: Names of people in the documentary were changed to preserve anonymity Paraphrase: Paying no attention …follower of the old order.

34. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • Turtleneck nipped-in waistline bell-bottom trousers

35. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • If one ignored such fashions as nipped-in waistlines, vivid turtlenecks, long hair with sideburns, and bell-bottom trousers, he could not comfortably remain unnoticed; on the contrary, he would be marked as a die-hard follower of the old customs.

36. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study A look in the mirror…hopelessly unliberated. • Chain: (length of) connected metal links or rings, used for hauling or supporting weights or for fastening or restraining things • Shackles:either of a pair of metal rings linked by a chain, used for fastening a prisoner's wrists or ankles together. • Chains and shackles:METAPHOR, referring to outdated clothes which made the man so uncomfortable as if he was wearing a straightjacket.

37. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study • Paraphrase: • Seeing his own image in the mirror, a man suddenly realized that he was obviously wearing old-fashioned clothes which were binding him to the old order, thus having no hope of ever catching up with the new fashion.

38. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study turn out to be:it is discovered to be that thing. Cosgrave's forecast turned out to be quite wrong. fix on sb/sth: decide to have sb/sth; choose They've fixed on Ashby as the new chairman. Have you fixed on a date for the wedding? tend: to take care of, look after when his wife was busy with housework, he had to tend their baby. Look at his carefully tended moustache.

39. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study strain: worry / anxiety Their marriage is under great strain at the moment. These repayments are putting a strain on our finances. multiple: having or involving many individuals, items or types a multiple crash on a motorway, ie one involving many vehicles person with multiple injuries, ie with many cuts, broken bones, etc Paraphrase: It seems too much... like women.

40. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study Paraphrase: It seems too much of an effort to dress ourselves for various complex purposes, just as women do.

41. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study plumage: feathers covering a bird's body the brightly coloured plumage of tropical birds have a thin `time (of it): be uncomfortable or disappointed The team's been having a thin time (of it) recently -- not a single win in two months. prerogative :/ prɪˈrɔgətɪv/ n right or privilege, esp one belonging to a particular person or group Education was once the prerogative of the elite.　 Arriving late is a woman's prerogative . overriding: more important than anything else an overriding concern for fairness Paraphrase: The creative use...precise identification.

42. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study Paraphrase: For centuries, men who attempted to dress themselves in such a way as to make prominent their masculine features have had a difficult time. The reason is that such practice was the privilege reserved for some distinct social groups since the primary purpose of male dress had been recognized as marking a man;s social identity.

43. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study thinkable : able to be imagined or considered possible: He had done everything thinkable to put things right. ruffled: Something that is ruffled is no longer smooth or neat. Her short hair was oddly ruffled and then flattened around her head. Association: mental connection between ideas What associations does the sea have for you? He has a shelf full of things, each of which has associations for him. Paraphrase: No stepping over...the wrong sex.

44. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study Paraphrase: Nobody was expected to go beyond the boundaries---ruffled evening shirts were appropriate for them, but they were not suitable for me; men's strongest emotion about clothes was the anxiety that their clothes would cause wrong associations,and it was not at all the fear that their clothes would be associated with the female sex.

45. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study sort out: to separate into categories It is not difficult to sort out the goodies form the baddies in a movie. It took us quite a while to sort out our luggage. Davina was sorting out scraps of material... How do we sort out fact from fiction? curl: a small bunch of hair that forms a curved or round shape: Her hair was a mass of curls. The baby had dark eyes and dark curls. Paraphrase: When long ago...sexually appropriate.

46. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study bifurcate: (of roads, rivers, branches of trees, etc) divide into or have two branches It might be possible to bifurcate the beam of light. The stream bifurcated into two narrow winding channels. gaudy trimmings: tastelessly showy ormaments or decorations for clothing. disguise:to change your appearance so that people cannot recognize you The hijackers were heavily disguised. She disguised herself as a boy. They got in disguised as security guards. Paraphrase: So universal was...never the issue.

47. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study Paraphrase: It was a usual phenomenon that women wore skirts and men wore trousers. This fashion was so widespread that a woman wearing men's clothes was completely disguised, and those who had long hair or those who wore clothes with gaudy trimmings were identified at a glance.

48. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study exemption: ~ (from sth) official permission not to do sth or pay sth that you would normally have to do or pay She was given exemption from the final exam. exemption from customs duties He obtained exemption from customs duty. sanction: permission or approval for an action, a change, etc The king could not enact laws without the sanction of Parliament. = approval

49. Paragraphs 2-5 Detailed Study perpetual: continuing all the time without changing or stopping = continuous the perpetual noise of the machines 　a little girl with a perpetual smile incur: If you incur something unpleasant, it happens to you because of something you have done. The government had also incurred huge debts. She wondered what she'd done to incur his displeasure this time.

50. Paragraph 6 Detailed Study Paragraph 6 Questions 1: Why do men secretly hate fashion risks? 2: What do you know about the men referred to at the end of the text?