SHOPPING AND FASHION

Shopping:
Nowadays shopping has become a sophisticated art or science. It is a question of knowing what to buy, where and when. What to buy depends on your purse and you also have to decide, where you want to buy. There are big department stores, where you can buy almost every thing. Department store is a big building with many departures, such as Artist materials, Car-shop, Boys-wear, Girls-wear, Beds and bedding, Electronics, Furniture, China and glass, etc. and it is built in big city. The best known ones in London are Marks and Spencer, Selfridges and Harrods. Food products you can buy in self-service shops and supermarkets, which are bigger and sell also goods from the chemists and ironmonger. On contrary there are specialised shops:


Greengrocery – fruit and vegetables
Butchery – meat
Bakery – breads and cakes
Tobacconist – cigarettes and tobacco
Confectioner or sweet shop – sweet and ice cream
Fishmongers’ – fish
Florist – flowers
Newsagent – newspapers and magazines
Men’s wear and women’s wear - clothes and dresses
Lingerie – underwear
Draper – cloths ah bedclothes
Wine-merchant (off licence shop) – alcoholic drinks of all kinds, liqueurs
Ironmonger – metal goods (tools, pots, pans, nails, etc.)
Dairy – milk products and eggs
Stationary – paper and office supplies
Jewellery – gold, silver jewellery
Toyshop – various toys (dolls, teddies)
Deli(catessen) – some exclusive and more expensive food (Saif)
Electrical appliances shop (electronics) – TV-sets, radio-sets, fridges, cassette recorders, etc.
Photographic and cinema articles
Grocery – food (tea, coffee, sugar, flour butter, cheese, eggs, jam, biscuits, tinned food) and kitchen needs such as soap, detergents and polish
Chemist’s (US: drug store)– medicines and ointments, toothpaste, combs, soap, cosmetics, razor blades, sunglasses, films or cameras. It has a counter, where you san buy something to eat or to drink.
Travel agent – trips aboard or inboard
Estate (US: real estate) agent – houses, etc.
Hi-fi shop (US: music shop or CD shop) – hi-fi towers, radios, CD-players, etc.
Chip and fish shop (US: French fries)
Health food shop – soja, wholemeal, full corn bread, musli, low fat food, sugar free
Post office – stamps, envelope, telephone-cards
Record shop (US: music store) – CD, LP, etc.
Shoe- shop – shoes
Boutique – clothes
Sport shop – leotards, tennis rockets, balls, helmets, bicycles, etc.
Optics – glasses
Household equipment shop
Car shop
Bookshop


There are also some other places where you can do your purchase. One of them are corner shops run buy Indian or Pakistani families. Corner shop is a small shop in, or near a street corner. It sells food and newspapers. It is usually opened until late evening and on Sundays too. Another place is street market, where you can buy a very cheep. There stalls with vegetables, clothes, things for house, records, jewellery and so on. It is held usually once a weak by people from surrounded villages, some towns has a special place where are stalls every day. In a town there is usually a high street (in Hodonín it is Národní třída), where are lots of shops. The high streets in big towns look almost the same. This is because they are full of branches of big chain stores. One of the best-known chain stores are Marks and Spencer (in GB), Mana, IKEA and McDonalds (in CZ). Special kind of shop is Charity shop. People go here and give here things, which they don’t want any more. It is a kind of second hand shop, but there is a difference. All money from purchase goes to charities. So you can buy cheap and also help to others.
Big shops use self-serving, that means that you go around the shop and choose what you want. It is more economical for them and faster for customers. But at the small shops you buy everything at the counter, where you also pay for the goods you have chosen. You can pay by cash, by credit cards or by cheques. Credits cards are very widely accepted in Great Britain but unfortunately we are not used to use them in our country very much. I think it is better use credit card, because using them can limit the amount of pickpockets and disappointed customers. In bigger cities, especially Prague, the shops accept foreign credit cards, such as Visa Cards, American Express etc. But the most spread paying in our country is to pay by cash. Our currency is one crown and it has hundred hellers. In GB they have ponds and one pound has hundred pennies, in US they have dollars and one dollar has hundred cents. So if you want to buy something, you must have money, nothing is free. Money you can earn, inherit, win, lend, borrow, win in a bet or steal but stealing money is not legal. You also can ask your bank to make regular payments from your bank account.
An average Czech family goes shopping every day to local self-service shop for necessary food. Once a week they usually do one bigger purchase for the weekend and from time to time they have to buy clothes, shoes, household utensils and equipment. People from villages go for shopping to the towns. A real shopping fever starts before Christmas when people try to buy mice and unique Christmas presents. Sometimes the use a catalogue for choosing things and buy them by ordering form and gets them by post. In south Bohemia there is a new established service. Post office “purchase into bag”, that means that old people can list the food and necessary things and put it on Friday to the post delivery clerk and on Saturday it is delivered to their homes in a shopping-bag. Purchase into bag is not very expensive and it depends on the distance from the shop.
Fashion:
There is a Czech proverb and sometimes it is true. First, nobody wants to be naked. This is one big difference between a man and an animal. We wear many various clothes for various occasions. I wear jeans and a sweatshirt, when I go to school but when I go to the theatre I wear dress and a cloak. Nowadays we have a bigger choice than in the past. The fashion is also different, but some elements came back after some time, for example wide trousers or short skirts or high boots with high thick heel. But to be true I am not very concerned about fashion now. Even if I would I would not been able to fellow it, because it needs a lot of money. Designer clothes are very expensive. Sometimes, when I see my nice-dressed classmates I think that it is a pity that we do not wear uniforms in the school as it is normal in Britain. Uniform usually consists of dark coloured skirt or trousers, white shirt and cravat. It would clean the differences between a rich child and a poor child but it has some disadvantages too (lost identity). But I can wear what I want, better to say for what I have money. I do not buy clothes in expensive boutiques and I never have them made. I buy them in ready-made clothes or in street stalls or my mother sews them for me. Maybe you say that in street stalls there are clothes of poor quality but you can choose there also some good after a proper test (pulling, squashing, watching, tearing buttons). Sometimes I also buy clothes in second hand. But fashion it is not only the clothes, that is also jewellery, belts, shoes, handbags, hairstyle and haircut, glasses, umbrellas and of course material, pattern and colour.

Clothes: jeans, trousers, pants, jacket, blazer, socks, knee socks, shirt, suit, tie, waistcoat, bow tie, cravat, blouse, T-shirt, polo-neck sweater, sweatshirt, cloak, rain coat, fur coat, winter coat, costume, skirt, stockings, underwear, panties, bathing costume, bra, pyjamas, nylon tights, dress, knitted suit, trouser-suit, cardigans-suit, jumper-suit, handkerchief, jacket, gloves, short-sleeved shirt, mid-calf length skirt, vest, culottes , leggings, beret, scarf, head-scarf, blouse, trunks, bikini, swimming costume, swimming suit, swimming trunks, goggles, bathing cap, gown, swimming gown, blanket, cap, hat, anorak, overall, apron, leisure suit, track suit, top, muffler, hood, mittens, bowler hat, buckle, wedding clothes, pullover, leotards
Jewellery: earrings, rings, bracelets, chains, brooches, necklace, pin, semi-precious stone
Materials: nature - leather, suede, denim, cotton, velvet, corduroy, sateen, muslin, linen, wool, fur, silk; man-made fabrics – rubber, nylon, polyester, fur fabric (fake-fur), poly-cotton; lightweight, fabric, terry cloth
Colours: bright, garish, pastel, dark, light, white, yellow, orange, red, green, blue, brown, black, navy blue, canary yellow, purple, pink, scarlet, beige, whitish, creamy, khaki, maroon, waterproof
Patterns: spotted, dotted, geometric, flowered, striped, checked, plain, printed, laces
Shoes: heel, sole, laces, top, upper, lace-ups, sandals, trainers, plimsolls, ski shoes, clogs, pumps, high boots, rubber boots, pull on, slip on, mules, stiletto-high-heel-shoes ankle boots, outdoor, indoor, slippers,
Vocabulary: make-up, lipstick, varnish (the nails), mascara, eyebrow pencil, cosmetics, complexion, shadow, powder, perfume, cologne, shampoo, tailor, sewing machine, hairdresser, curlers, fashion accessories, be in fashion, be out of fashion, clothing industry, footwear industry, thread, knit, sew, embroider, crochet, garage sale, sew on, needle, needle work, kilt is made of tartan, discard, smart look, clean, dirty, dry-cleaners, ornament, patch , fold, pleat skirt
Length: mini, maxi, mid-calf,


Wearing in summer, autumn, winter, spring…
Favourite clothes…
Describing clothes…
Clothes for everyday work…
Clothes for wearing in theatre, school, wedding, sport…
English proverb: Manners make the man. X Clothes make a man.
Favourite colour…
Wearing at home…