3.Reading

Fashion Style

The word style was used in our definition of fashion. Sometimes, one hears the words style and used interchangeably（可交换的，可替换的），but they do have different meanings and should not be considered synonymous（同义的）.Style is a particular characteristic or feature that distinguishes one object from an-other.In apparel, a style is a particular characteristic of design or silhouette（廓型）.Skirts and pants are examples of different styles, and each comes in differ-ent designs that may also be considered styles.For example, skirts are designed in many styles, such as A-line（A型裙），tubular（管状的裙），dirndl（德国巴伐利亚州少女民族服饰，紧身宽摆裙），flared（喇叭裙）and pleated（褶裙）.Pant styles include trousers（长裤），Bermuda shorts（百慕大短裤），pedal pushers（长及小腿的中裤）and bell bottoms（喇叭裤）.

Styles remain the same, whereas fashions change. A style is always a style, but it is in fashion only as long as it is purchased and worn by a significant number of consumers.Thedistinctive cut or style of a jacket remains the same, but it will not always be in fashion.Fashion designers reintroduced the miniskirt（迷你裙）in 1987，but the style was not widely accepted by a majority of consumers.Because of the rejection, sales in many stores were lower than predicted, and large price reductions were taken by retailers in an attempt to sell the goods.

Home furnishing（家用纺织品，家纺）also are available in different styles.Basic areas of furniture styles are traditional, country or provincial and contempo-rary.There are variations within each general style.

Style is also used to describe people. Certain individual are said to have style, meaning that they have a distinctive manner setting them apart from others.Some well-known individuals are considered to have distinctive styles.

The word style has yet another meaning within the fashion industry. A manufac-turer uses a style number（款式号）to identify each item in his or her line.When retail buyers order（订购）or reorder an item in a manufacturer's line, the style number is listed on the order form（订单）.Thus in this usage the word style refers not to the particular style of the item but rather to the number given each item in the line.