1) A non-modern, unfashionable thing: cut and dried – an obsolete, lacking
freshness thing, the one that came out of use, patterned, devoid of originality; the end
of the line – the moment when someone has to stop wearing the model of a dress, shoes
which have gone out of fashion; out of date, old hat – an outdated, old-fashioned and
backward thing; the worse for wear – a worn, shabby thing, in a poor condition;
common-or-garden – a plain and ordinary style.
2) An adherence to old-fashioned traditions, the unwillingness to change oneself:
the old leaven – a man with outdated looks and tastes; a slow coach / a stick in the mud
– a man who is dull and unadventurous and who resists changes, a garden scarecrow;
of the old school / old guard – an old-fashioned man; a back number – a person
or a
thing seen as
outdated or past their prime.
3) Lack of taste in clothes, the manner of dressing which is too brazen and
meaningless: as gaudy as a peacock – to dress like a peacock, a flamboyant man; arty-
and-crafty – an affectedly artistic and bizarre man, dressed in a homespun or rural style;
dolled up / got up like a dog’s dinner – about someone who is wearing clothes which
are inappropriate for the occasion or too formal, to be dressed in a way that attacts
attention; all dressed up and nowhere – to be fully prepared for an anticipated situation
or activity which, nevertheless, fails to occur; to go dressed up to the nines / like a sore
finger get up – to be wearing fashionable or formal clothes for a special occasion, but
to look to effective; to get up regardless of expense – to dress up, despite unjustified
expenses.
4) The desire to shine around the others, to show off: to preen one’s feathers , to
cut a dash / a shine – to be dressed in such a way that everyone around pays careful
attention to how a man is groomed, to swank.
5) Fashion as an element of slave imitation; the dependence of the tastes of a
society on a certain group of people or individuals: to play the sedulous ape – a blind
fashion worship; a social butterfly –a shallow secular beauty; a golden girl – a girl who
is popular, an idol; a man about town / a man of the world / society man – a secular
man, a waster, someone who spends his time engaging in pleasant diversions and
pursue pleasure.
A phraseological unit Beau Brummell merits our special attention because it is
named after a real person George Bryan Brummel (1778-1840), the best-known dandy
in British history. He was a friend of the Prince of Wales and his choice of clothes had
a strong influence on the fashions of the Regency period. So, since then, a dandy, a
fashionable man who cares very much about the way he looks is called Beau Brummell.
It should be noted that there are phraseological units with the main component of
fashion, in which this lexeme has lost its primary meaning «popular style of clothes ,
shoes at a particular time». In such units the meaning «manner, a distinctive or peculiar
and often habitual way of doing something» rises to the forefront: after one’s fashion
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