Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Dan. |
Let me just sit down. Ah! And I’m Neil. |
Neil, are you wearing high heels? |
Hang on. Ah! Not any more! |
How did they feel? |
Agony! How do women do this? |
Why on earth are you wearing them? |
Well, I wanted to look fashionable and cool! |
Everyone knows that high heels are the height of fashion – on the street, at work and at parties. |
I’m ready for anything! |
I’m not so sure you’re right there, Neil. |
Our topic for this 6 Minute English is about the rise in popularity of the comfy shoe. |
However, before we step into that, let’s have our quiz question. |
Which famous sports clothing company’s first pair of running shoes was inspired by the square pattern on a waffle-making machine? |
Was it: a) Adidas b) Nike, or c) Puma? |
Well, I have no idea, so I’m going to say Adidas because that’s got marks. |
We’ll have to wait until later to find out. |
So, what do you think of when I say comfy shoes? |
Well, comfy is an adjective which is an informal way of saying ’comfortable’. |
So, I suppose we’re talking trainers. |
But I was always told that trainers weren’t appropriate for everywhere, like work and many formal or social places, such as parties, bars and clubs. |
Well, that certainly used to be the case, but that may not be as true any more. |
Victoria Moss is the Senior Fashion Editor at the Telegraph newspaper in the UK. |
Here she is speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour about why trainers are considered more fashionable these days. |
Is it something that’s happened very recently? |
Well I think it’s been, sort of, coming on for a while. |
And I think one thing in fashion in the last 10 years has been a, sort of, mass casualisation of everything. |
And there’s been a big streetwear trend, which has filtered through. |
So, is it something that’s happened very recently? |
Apparently not, no. |
She said that there has been a mass casualisation of things over the last 10 years. |
Casualisation here means ’the process of becoming less formal and more relaxed’ – ’more casual’. |
Yes! Society has relaxed its idea of what is considered formal or appropriate. |
In addition, we’re told there has been a big streetwear trend. |
Streetwear is a style of casual clothing worn especially by young people from urban settings – that’s the city. |
This trend has filtered through. |
If something filters through, it appears or happens gradually over time. |
So, presumably, the trend for streetwear filtered through from its specialised area into mainstream fashion until everyone was following it. |
Well, that explains why trainers are more fashionable these days, but it doesn’t explain why people are wearing them more. |
Not everyone follows fashion, you know. |
Yes, Neil I can see that when I look at you. |
But you’re forgetting the comfy part. |
Emma Supple is a podiatrist – a foot doctor - who also spoke on Woman’s Hour. |
Here she is explaining why being comfy is so important. |
What are people doing more these days that they weren’t before? |
So what we’re actually talking about is, actually, people, for wellness walking more and doing more… |
and they’re not going to do that in a lot of high heels… so trainers are changing the materials. |
There are now a lot of fabric trainers and if you’ve inherited foot problems, then that kind of fabric… they’re wrapping around knobbly bits, and knobbly bits hurt. |
What are people doing more? |
They’re walking more and they’re doing it for wellness. |
Wellness is the state of being healthy. |
As a result, trainers have had to change their materials to fabric to make themselves more comfortable. |
Not only that, but if you have any foot problems, these fabric, or cloth, trainers are better at fitting to the shape of your foot. |
That means if you have any knobbly bits, they won’t hurt as much, which makes trainers more comfortable for everyone! |
Knobbly is an adjective that means ’lumpy’ – ’having many raised areas on the surface’. |
So, it’s the combination of a change in fashion and a change in materials that’s made trainers and other comfy shoes more popular than ever, right? |
Exactly! |
And hard on the heels of that revelation, we can reveal the answer to our quiz question. |
Earlier I asked which famous sports clothing company’s first pair of running shoes was inspired by the square pattern on a waffle-making machine. |
Was it: a) Adidas b) Nike, or c) Puma? |
Neil, you said? |
I said Adidas. |
Sorry. The answer is Nike. |
In 1971 their co-founder Bill Bowerman was having breakfast when he saw the waffle machine and it inspired the design of Nike’s first running shoe. |
Let’s hope it was comfy one. |
Aha! It must be time to review our vocabulary! |
So, first we had comfy – an adjective which is an informal ways of saying ’comfortable’. |
Then we had casualisation. |
This describes the process of things, such as fashion or behaviour, becoming less formal and more casual. |
Next was streetwear. |
That describes a style of casual clothing that is worn especially by young people who live in cities. |
Then we heard filtered through. |
If something filters through, it appears or happens gradually over time. |
For example, has it filtered through to you yet, Neil, that high heels were a mistake? |
Yes it has! |
They didn’t do anything for my wellness, I can tell you, which means’the state of being healthy’. |
And lastly, we had knobbly. |
This adjective means ’lumpy’ or ’having many raised areas on the surface’ - like skin when it gets cold. |
Do you have anything knobbly on your foot, Neil? |
Probably! My feet are killing me! |
I think we’ve found your Achilles heel! |
However, it’s time to go. |
But we will be back. |
In the meantime, you can find us in all the usual places online and on social media, just look for BBC Learning English. |
Bye for now. |
Goodbye! |