38 Clothing and appearance

A

B Actions connected with clothing and appearance

roll up one’s sleeves zip up a jacket The trousers are too short, so let them down.

tie back your hair

Dressing up to go out

The trousers are too long, The children love dressing up. so take them up.

Lottie is telling Alice about a party she went to.

Lottie Most people looked really smart – there were some amazing designer outfits – but there was one man in a weird getup1 with a red wig. It looked as if he thought it was a fancy-dress party!

Alice (laughs) What did you wear?

Lottie Well, to tell you the truth, it was rather a disaster. I wanted to wear my little black dress, but I had trouble getting into2 it. I didn’t realise how much weight I’ve put on over the past few months. I’ll have to let it out3 or else lose some weight! When I’d finally squeezed into it, I looked so awful in the mirror I just took it straight off again and pulled on4 my boring old brown dress. You know, the wool one with the full skirt that I’ve worn a million times.

Alice Oh, I like that dress.

Lottie Well, so do I, but it was all creased and I didn’t have time to iron it, so I just smoothed it down5 with my hands and hoped for the best. I was so late by this time, I didn’t realise till I got to the party that I had the wrong colour shoes on. I was still wearing my sister’s cast-offs6, which go perfectly with my black dress but not with my brown one! But it didn’t really matter because when the music started, I flung my shoes off7 to dance anyway.

1 the particular clothing, especially when strange

4 put on clothes quickly or unusual, that someone is wearing 5 press with your hands in order to make 2 be thin enough to be able to put your clothes on something flat 3 make a piece of clothing wider by removing 6 clothes which have been given to somebody else the sewing from the side edges and then because the first owner cannot use them any more sewing closer to the edge of the material 7 removed very quickly

Tip

Remembering a story and the verbs used to describe the events is a good way of learning a series of verbs at the same time.

38.1

38.2

38.3

38.4

Answer these questions.

1 What other item of clothing can you roll up apart from your sleeves? 2 What else can you zip up apart from a jacket? 3 Do you know the opposite of zip up? (Clue: it is not a phrasal verb.) 4 Can you think of anything else you might tie back apart from hair? (Clue: don’t think of clothing – think of something that might hang down or grow too much.) 5 What other things apart from trousers can be let down or taken up? 6 What do you think you are doing to trousers if you (a) let them out or (b) take them in? 7 What sort of clothes do people put on when they dress up, for example as a famous person, or as someone from another historical age?

Choose the correct word to complete these sentences.

1 I had no time to think about what I looked like, so I on my old jeans.

a) rolled b) pulled c) let d) took 2 Come on – time to up your sleeves and get down to work. a) pull b) zip c) roll d) tie

3 Sienna stood up,

down her skirt and began to address the audience. a) smoothed b) got c) tied d) zipped 4 To my embarrassment I suddenly realised that I my T-shirt on backwards. a) took b) had c) got d) let 5 I ate so much on holiday that I had difficulty into my suit today. a) pulling b) dressing c) getting d) zipping 6 Do we need to up for the party tomorrow? a) zip b) fling c) tie d) dress 7 I was so tired that I just off my clothes and fell into bed. a) rolled b) got c) flung d) let 8 When I was a child I always hated wearing my older brother’s -offs. a) let b) cast c) get d) zip

Complete these sentences with the correct phrasal verb expression from the opposite page.

1 We were surprised when we arrived at the party because the host was wearing a kind of

Superman with a mask, cape and blue bodysuit. 2 My ten-year-old daughter loves getting in my dresses and high-heeled shoes. 3 Now that I’m pregnant I can’t any of my clothes. 4 Those trousers look a little tight around the waist. Shall I a bit for you? 5 (Father to young child) You’d better your jacket . It’s cold outside.

Answer these questions.

1 Who do children often get cast-offs from? 2 Have you ever gone out with the wrong shoes on? 3 Have you ever had difficulty getting into something you haven’t worn for a long time? 4 Do you think a lot about what to put on or do you just pull on the first thing you find? 5 If your jeans needed to be taken up, would you do it yourself or get it done for you? 6 Have you ever had to dress up in fancy dress for a party? If so, who or what did you dress up as?