## Step 2 - Reading

#### Fashion

You are going to read two articles about fashion.

- Read the first text, New York more fashionable than Paris and do assignment 1.
- Read the second text, Normal Fashion and do assignment 2.
- Read the texts again and do assignment 3.

Read the text.

#### Text 1

New York more fashionable than Paris New York is officially the world's most fashionable city after taking top spot in the 2014 Top Global Fashion Capital contest. It took the title from London, which won the accolade in 2011 and 2012, but finished third this year, behind Paris. Los Angeles was voted the fourth trendiest metropolis, while Barcelona closely followed in fifth place. Italy's highest-placed city was Rome, in sixth place. Milan, long established as a centre of style and the winner in 2009, finished in twelfth place. Bekka Payack, a New York-based fashion director, told reporters: "New York City has, indeed, earned its Top Global Fashion Capital ranking through its disciplined, methodical yet creative approach to its fashion industry." New York being crowned as the place to be seen coincides with the city's upcoming Fashion Week. The fashion world will descend on the city for a week of glitz and glamour. Top supermodels will set the catwalks alight and parade the latest fashions from leading designers. Ms Payack spoke of how newly-emerging cities around the world are making a name for themselves in haute couture. She said: "This year's rankings also demonstrate the creative energy that is emerging worldwide in terms of fashion as a jobs, income and wealth generator, not to mention the prestige associated with exporting your fashion sense to the world." Cities like Shanghai, St. Petersburg and New Delhi all fared well in the contest. Source: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1402/140208-fashion.html

#### Text 2

Normal Fashion Researchers at the Harvard Business School claim that people who do not follow "normal fashion" get more respect from others. Doctoral student Silvia Bellezza and two of her colleagues examined how we view the social status and competence of people who do not conform to "normal" ways of dressing. They discovered that the more outlandishly people dress, the more respect they get. Participants in the research considered others who had a "weirder" fashion to be more unique. Researchers said that rather than think badly of someone scruffily dressed, many people believe that dressing down is a sign of confidence. Ms Bellezza said: "If you're willing to deviate, there are upsides." Bellezza conducted a number of experiments to test how people reacted to non-conformity. In one, people in different types of clothes shopped at expensive boutiques in Milan. One group wore casual sports clothes, while the other donned expensive-looking outfits. The sales assistants assumed the ones in the sports gear were the bigger spenders. In another test, students rated an unshaven, T-shirt-clad professor above an academic wearing a suit and tie. Bellezza says high-profile entrepreneurs who dress down may be responsible for changing our perceptions. In particular, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's wearing of hoodies and the late Steve Jobs' trademark jeans, sneakers and polo neck tops. Source: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1403/140326-fashion-sense.html

#### Assignment 3

On your own read the texts again, copy and fill in the grid. Discuss your answers in your group.

Use key words to answer the five wh-questions.
| Text 1 New York more fashionable than Paris | Text 2 Normal Fashion
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