Fashion and Shopping (1)

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Georgina…

And I'm Neil.

In this programme, we're talking about buying

clothes and only wearing them a few times before buying more clothes!

This is something known as fast fashion – it's popular,

it might make us feel good, but it's not great for the environment.

Which is why lots of people this year are pledging – or promising publicly - to buy no new clothes.

I for one am wearing the same shirt I bought seven years ago.

You're certainly not a fashion victim, Neil! But first,

let's test your knowledge of fast fashion with a question.

Do you know how many items of clothing were sent to landfill in the UK in 2017? Was it…

a) 23 million items, b) 234 million items or

c) 2.3 billion items What do you think, Neil?

I'm sure it's lots, but not billions, so I'm going to say 23 million items.

I shall tell you if you're right at the end of the programme.

Let's talk more about fast fashion, which is being blamed for contributing to global warming.

And discarded clothes – that means ones that are thrown away - are also piling

up in landfill sites, and fibre fragments are flowing into the sea when clothes are washed.

It's not great – and I've heard the average time someone wears something is just seven!

So why is this, and what is driving our desire to keep buying more clothes?

I think we should hear from fashion journalist Lauren Bravo,

who's been speaking on the BBC Radio 4 programme, You and Yours.

She explained that clothes today are relatively cheaper than those from her parents' days…

A lot of clothing production got outsourced - offshored over to the developing world,

so countries like Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and China are now responsible for making the

vast bulk of all the clothes that are sold in the UK. And with that, we've seen what

we call ‘chasing the cheapest needle' around the world, so the fashion industry constantly

looking to undercut competitors, and with that clothes getting cheaper and cheaper and cheaper.

Right, so clothes – in the developed world at least – have become cheaper

because they are produced in developing countries.

These are countries which are trying to become more advanced economically and socially.

So production is outsourced – that means work usually done in one company is given to another

company to do, often because that company has the skills to do it. And in the case of

fashion production, it can be done cheaper by another company based in a developing country.

Lauren used an interesting expression ‘chasing the cheapest needle' – so the

fashion industry is always looking to find the company which can make clothes

cheaper – a company that can undercut another one means they can do the same job cheaper.

Therefore the price of clothes gets cheaper for us.

OK, so it might be good to be able to buy cheaper clothes.

But why do we have to buy more – and only wear items a few times?

It's all about our obsession with shopping and fashion.

It's something Lauren Bravo goes on to explain on the You and Yours

radio programme. See if you can hear what she blames for this obsession…

Buying new things has almost become a trend in itself for certain generations. I think

that feeling that you can't be seen in the same thing twice, it really stems from social media,

particularly. And quite often people are buying those outfits to take a photo to put on Instagram.

It sounds illogical, but I think when all of your

friends are doing it there is this invisible pressure there.

Lauren makes some interesting points. Firstly,

for some generations, there is just a trend for buying things.

It does seem very wasteful, but, as Lauren says, some people don't like to be seen wearing the same

thing twice. And this idea is caused by social media – she uses the expression ‘stems from'.

She describes the social pressure of needing to be seen wearing new clothes on Instagram.

And the availability of cheap clothes means it's possible to post

new images of yourself wearing new clothes very regularly.

Hmm, it sounds very wasteful and to me, illogical – not reasonable or

sensible and more driven by emotions rather than any practical reason.

But, there is a bit of a backlash now – that's a strong negative reaction to what is happening.

Some people are now promising to buy second-hand clothes, or ‘vintage clothes', or make do with the

clothes they have and mend the ones they need. It could be the start of a new fashion trend.

Yes, and for once, I will be on trend! And it could

reduce the amount of clothes sent to landfill that you mentioned earlier.

Yes, I asked if you knew how many items of clothing were sent to landfill in the

UK in 2017? Was it… a) 23 million items,

b) 234 million items or c) 2.3 billion items

What did you say, Neil?

I said a) 23 million items.

And you were wrong. It's actually 234 million items – that's according to

the Enviro Audit Committee. It also found that 1.2

billion tonnes of carbon emissions is released by the global fashion industry.

Well, we're clearly throwing away too many clothes

but perhaps we can recycle some of the vocabulary we've mentioned today?

I think we can, starting with pledging - that means publicly promising to do

something. You can make a pledge to do something.

When something is outsourced,it is given to another company to do,

often because that company has the skills to do it or it can be done cheaper.

And if one company undercuts another, it charges less to do a job than its competitor.

The expression stems from means ‘is caused by' or

‘a result of'. We mentioned that rise in fast fashion stems from sharing images on Instagram.

And we mentioned this being illogical. So it seems unreasonable - not sensible,

and more driven by emotions rather than any practical reason.

And a backlash is a strong negative reaction to what is happening.

And that brings us to the end of our discussion about fast fashion! Please join us again next

time. Bye. Bye.

Hello and welcome to Six Minute English. I'm Neil and joining me today is Dan – who

is weighed down with shopping bags and wearing something very… strange. What's going on, Dan?

Hi everyone. Well, I was feeling a bit miserable so I decided to cheer myself up by going shopping!

Well that's lucky because the link between shopping and mood is what

we're looking at in this 6 Minute English – and of course we'll be

giving you six mood and shopping-related vocabulary items. But first, our quiz:

Online shoppers in which country spend more per household

than consumers in any other country, according to a report from the UK Cards Association?

a) The USA

b) Norway

c) The UK

Norway seems to come top of lots of lists, so for that reason alone I'm going to say Norway.

We'll find out at the end of the show.

Now, Dan, you said just now that you went shopping because you were feeling down.

That's right – I like a bit of retail therapy.

Retail therapy is a humorous expression which means going shopping to make yourself feel better.

Oh, I do that all the time.

Yes, I can see. And you're not alone. According to some research done by the

website moneysupermarket.com, people are more likely to buy things they'll later regret

when they're feeling sad, bored or stressed.

Well I was feeling a bit down in the dumps. And that's a way of saying 'sad'.

Oh dear, Dan. Sorry to hear you've been down in the dumps. I only hope you don't also get a

pang of regret about your purchases when you get them home – the research suggests that you will.

A pang is a sharp pain. We often hear it used figuratively to talk

about strong emotions like guilt, regret and remorse. You're making me feel worse, Neil

Sorry Dan – it's all for educational purposes! Our audience will learn from your pain!

Remorse is like regret – and there's a good expression to describe exactly that bad feeling

you get when you realise you don't really need or want the thing you've bought. Buyer's remorse.

OK, OK, OK enough about me. Let's hear from Sam, Phil and Catherine from the Learning English team

to see if their mood affects the shopping choices they make. Listen carefully. Can

you hear the three types of things they say that they buy when they're down in the dumps?

Honestly, I tend to buy food. Anything that will bring me comfort, so it can be any sort of

warm drink, hot drink but also anything kind of warm and cosy – so like a nice jumper.

Definitely, if I've had a bad day at work, or for whatever reason or I feel terrible,

tired, I am more likely to buy something on the way home.

Oh when I'm feeling sad, I probably buy a little bit of wine and often something to

wear. I find that a bit of retail therapy when I'm sad usually does the trick at the time,

so it makes me feel better. But I do find that when I look in my wardrobe,

the things that I bought when I was sad – I never wear them.

Sam, Phil and Catherine there from the BBC Learning English team

talking about what kind of things they buy when they're feeling down. What were they?

Food, drink and clothes.

That's right. Sam mentioned she buys food, warm drinks and a nice jumper

to keep her cosy. That's the feeling of being warm, comfortable and relaxed.

Catherine also mentioned drinks – this time wine. And she also said that buying clothes

does the trick. That means achieves the result

she intended. She feels down, she buys clothes, she feels better – it does the trick.

But what's interesting is that Catherine said she never wears the

clothes she buys when she's feeling sad. That's exactly what the survey

found – people regret the purchases they make when they're sad, bored or stressed.

Sounds like a case of buyer's remorse.

Indeed. Well, time now for the answer to our quiz question. I asked this:

Online shoppers in which country spend more per household than consumers in any other country,

according to a report from the UK Cards Association? Is it:

a) The USA

b) Norway c) The UK

I said b) Norway.

And I'm afraid you might need to go and buy some more stuff to cheer you

up – you're wrong! The correct answer is the UK. Apparently,

UK households spent the equivalent of $5,900 (£4,611) using payment cards online in 2015.

Well, I hope they were happy when they made those purchases or they

may feel the pang of regret I'm scared I might get after today's discussion!

Well, a good recap of the vocabulary from this programme might do the trick.

Shall we start with the first word? Do you ever go in for a bit of retail therapy, Neil?

Actually, I try to avoid it. Especially after reading this survey – I don't think the happiness

you feel after buying something lasts very long. In fact, you can end up feeling down in the dumps.

Down in the dumps - meaning sad/unhappy. Yes and a pang of regret might follow once you

realise you've spent a lot of money on something you don't really need.

A pang is a stab – used here figuratively to mean a sharp pain

used to talk about strong emotions. And after the pang can come buyer's remorse.

Hmm, I'm beginning to feel buyer's remorse from

this leopard skin onesie. Seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Well it does look cozy – warm comfortable and relaxed,

so I think if that's what you wanted, it does the trick.