And I'm Neil.

In this programme, we're talking about buying  

clothes and only wearing them a few  times before buying more clothes!

This is something known as  fast fashion – it's popular,  

it might make us feel good, but  it's not great for the environment.

Which is why lots of people this year are pledging  – or promising publicly - to buy no new clothes.

I for one am wearing the same  shirt I bought seven years ago.

You're certainly not a fashion  victim, Neil! But first,  

let's test your knowledge of  fast fashion with a question.  

Do you know how many items of clothing were  sent to landfill in the UK in 2017? Was it… 

a) 23 million items, b) 234 million items or 

c) 2.3 billion items What do you think, Neil?

I'm sure it's lots, but not billions,  so I'm going to say 23 million items.

I shall tell you if you're right  at the end of the programme.  

Let's talk more about fast fashion, which is  being blamed for contributing to global warming.

And discarded clothes – that means ones  that are thrown away - are also piling  

up in landfill sites, and fibre fragments are  flowing into the sea when clothes are washed.

It's not great – and I've heard the average  time someone wears something is just seven!  

So why is this, and what is driving  our desire to keep buying more clothes?

I think we should hear from  fashion journalist Lauren Bravo,  

who's been speaking on the BBC  Radio 4 programme, You and Yours.  

She explained that clothes today are relatively  cheaper than those from her parents' days…

A lot of clothing production got outsourced  - offshored over to the developing world,  

so countries like Indonesia, India, Bangladesh  and China are now responsible for making the  

vast bulk of all the clothes that are sold  in the UK. And with that, we've seen what  

we call 'chasing the cheapest needle' around  the world, so the fashion industry constantly  

looking to undercut competitors, and with that  clothes getting cheaper and cheaper and cheaper.

Right, so clothes – in the developed  world at least – have become cheaper  

because they are produced in developing countries.  

These are countries which are trying to become  more advanced economically and socially.

So production is outsourced – that means work  usually done in one company is given to another  

company to do, often because that company  has the skills to do it. And in the case of  

fashion production, it can be done cheaper by  another company based in a developing country.

Lauren used an interesting expression  'chasing the cheapest needle' – so the  

fashion industry is always looking to  find the company which can make clothes  

cheaper – a company that can undercut another  one means they can do the same job cheaper.

Therefore the price of  clothes gets cheaper for us.

OK, so it might be good to be  able to buy cheaper clothes.  

But why do we have to buy more –  and only wear items a few times?

It's all about our obsession  with shopping and fashion.  

It's something Lauren Bravo goes  on to explain on the You and Yours  

radio programme. See if you can hear  what she blames for this obsession…

Buying new things has almost become a trend  in itself for certain generations. I think  

that feeling that you can't be seen in the same  thing twice, it really stems from social media,  

particularly. And quite often people are buying  those outfits to take a photo to put on Instagram.  

It sounds illogical, but I think when all of your  

friends are doing it there is  this invisible pressure there.

Lauren makes some interesting points. Firstly,  

for some generations, there is  just a trend for buying things.

It does seem very wasteful, but, as Lauren says,  some people don't like to be seen wearing the same  

thing twice. And this idea is caused by social  media – she uses the expression 'stems from'.

She describes the social pressure of needing  to be seen wearing new clothes on Instagram.  

And the availability of cheap  clothes means it's possible to post  

new images of yourself wearing  new clothes very regularly.

Hmm, it sounds very wasteful and to  me, illogical – not reasonable or  

sensible and more driven by emotions  rather than any practical reason.

But, there is a bit of a backlash now – that's  a strong negative reaction to what is happening.  

Some people are now promising to buy second-hand  clothes, or 'vintage clothes', or make do with the  

clothes they have and mend the ones they need.  It could be the start of a new fashion trend.

Yes, and for once, I will  be on trend! And it could  

reduce the amount of clothes sent to  landfill that you mentioned earlier.

Yes, I asked if you knew how many items  of clothing were sent to landfill in the  

UK in 2017? Was it… a) 23 million items, 

b) 234 million items or c) 2.3 billion items 

What did you say, Neil?

I said a) 23 million items.

And you were wrong. It's actually 234  million items – that's according to  

the Enviro Audit Committee. It also found that 1.2  

billion tonnes of carbon emissions is  released by the global fashion industry.

Well, we're clearly throwing away too many clothes  

but perhaps we can recycle some of  the vocabulary we've mentioned today?

I think we can, starting with pledging  - that means publicly promising to do  

something. You can make a pledge to do something.

When something is outsourced,it  is given to another company to do,  

often because that company has the skills  to do it or it can be done cheaper.

And if one company undercuts another, it  charges less to do a job than its competitor.

The expression stems from means 'is caused by' or  

'a result of'. We mentioned that rise in fast  fashion stems from sharing images on Instagram.

And we mentioned this being illogical.  So it seems unreasonable - not sensible,  

and more driven by emotions  rather than any practical reason.

And a backlash is a strong negative  reaction to what is happening.

And that brings us to the end of our discussion  about fast fashion! Please join us again next  

time. Bye. Bye.

Hello and welcome to Six Minute English.  I'm Neil and joining me today is Dan – who  

is weighed down with shopping bags and wearing  something very… strange. What's going on, Dan?

Hi everyone. Well, I was feeling a bit miserable  so I decided to cheer myself up by going shopping!

Well that's lucky because the link  between shopping and mood is what  

we're looking at in this 6 Minute  English – and of course we'll be  

giving you six mood and shopping-related  vocabulary items. But first, our quiz:

Online shoppers in which  country spend more per household  

than consumers in any other country, according  to a report from the UK Cards Association?

a) The USA

b) Norway

c) The UK

Norway seems to come top of lots of lists, so  for that reason alone I'm going to say Norway.

We'll find out at the end of the show.  

Now, Dan, you said just now that you went  shopping because you were feeling down.

That's right – I like a bit of retail therapy.

Retail therapy is a humorous expression which  means going shopping to make yourself feel better.

Oh, I do that all the time.

Yes, I can see. And you're not alone.  According to some research done by the  

website moneysupermarket.com, people are more  likely to buy things they'll later regret  

when they're feeling sad, bored or stressed.

Well I was feeling a bit down in the  dumps. And that's a way of saying 'sad'.

Oh dear, Dan. Sorry to hear you've been down  in the dumps. I only hope you don't also get a  

pang of regret about your purchases when you get  them home – the research suggests that you will.

A pang is a sharp pain. We often  hear it used figuratively to talk  

about strong emotions like guilt, regret and  remorse. You're making me feel worse, Neil

Sorry Dan – it's all for educational purposes!  Our audience will learn from your pain!  

Remorse is like regret – and there's a good  expression to describe exactly that bad feeling  

you get when you realise you don't really need  or want the thing you've bought. Buyer's remorse.

OK, OK, OK enough about me. Let's hear from Sam,  Phil and Catherine from the Learning English team  

to see if their mood affects the shopping  choices they make. Listen carefully. Can  

you hear the three types of things they say  that they buy when they're down in the dumps?

Honestly, I tend to buy food. Anything that  will bring me comfort, so it can be any sort of  

warm drink, hot drink but also anything kind  of warm and cosy – so like a nice jumper.

Definitely, if I've had a bad day at work,  or for whatever reason or I feel terrible,  

tired, I am more likely to  buy something on the way home.

Oh when I'm feeling sad, I probably buy a  little bit of wine and often something to  

wear. I find that a bit of retail therapy when  I'm sad usually does the trick at the time,  

so it makes me feel better. But I do  find that when I look in my wardrobe,  

the things that I bought when  I was sad – I never wear them.

Sam, Phil and Catherine there  from the BBC Learning English team  

talking about what kind of things they buy  when they're feeling down. What were they?

Food, drink and clothes.

That's right. Sam mentioned she buys  food, warm drinks and a nice jumper  

to keep her cosy. That's the feeling  of being warm, comfortable and relaxed.

Catherine also mentioned drinks – this time  wine. And she also said that buying clothes  

does the trick. That means achieves the result  

she intended. She feels down, she buys  clothes, she feels better – it does the trick.

But what's interesting is that  Catherine said she never wears the  

clothes she buys when she's feeling  sad. That's exactly what the survey  

found – people regret the purchases they  make when they're sad, bored or stressed.

Sounds like a case of buyer's remorse.

Indeed. Well, time now for the answer  to our quiz question. I asked this:  

Online shoppers in which country spend more per  household than consumers in any other country,  

according to a report from the  UK Cards Association? Is it:

a) The USA 

b) Norway c) The UK

I said b) Norway.

And I'm afraid you might need to go  and buy some more stuff to cheer you  

up – you're wrong! The correct  answer is the UK. Apparently,  

UK households spent the equivalent of $5,900  (£4,611) using payment cards online in 2015.

Well, I hope they were happy when  they made those purchases or they  

may feel the pang of regret I'm scared  I might get after today's discussion!

Well, a good recap of the vocabulary  from this programme might do the trick.

Shall we start with the first word? Do you  ever go in for a bit of retail therapy, Neil?

Actually, I try to avoid it. Especially after  reading this survey – I don't think the happiness  

you feel after buying something lasts very long.  In fact, you can end up feeling down in the dumps.

Down in the dumps - meaning sad/unhappy. Yes  and a pang of regret might follow once you  

realise you've spent a lot of money  on something you don't really need.

A pang is a stab – used here  figuratively to mean a sharp pain  

used to talk about strong emotions. And  after the pang can come buyer's remorse.

Hmm, I'm beginning to feel buyer's remorse from  

this leopard skin onesie. Seemed  like such a good idea at the time.

Well it does look cozy –  warm comfortable and relaxed,  

so I think if that's what you  wanted, it does the trick.

Does the trick, meaning  achieves the result you wanted.

OK before Dan heads off to buy even more stuff  he doesn't need, please remember to check out our  

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages. Bye!

Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.

And hello, I'm Rob.

Now, then, Rob, what do you know about unicorns?

Ah, well, the unicorn is a fantasy  creature from history. In our tradition,  

it looks like a white horse with a single spiral  horn coming out of its head. Why do you ask?

Well, funnily enough, unicorns are the topic  of this programme. Before we learn more though,  

a question. What do we call the study of  legendary creatures like the Loch Ness Monster,  

Big Foot and unicorns? Is it: a) Cryptozoology, 

b) Protozoology, or c) Paleozoology? 

Have you got any idea about that, Rob?

Ah, well, I know this because it was the topic  of a 6 Minute English programme a while back,  

in 2008, to be exact. So I think  I'll keep the answer to myself.

OK, well for everyone else, we'll have  the answer later in the programme.  

Over the last few years unicorns have been popping  up all over the place - on T-shirts, in movies,  

as toys and even in political conversations. Why  is this? Natalie Lawrence is a natural historian.  

She appeared on the BBC's Woman's Hour  programme to discuss the topic. Listen out  

for the answer to this question: Why does she  say people used to drink out of unicorn horns?

Those original stories were developed in a time  when magic actually existed in the world. The  

world was still very enchanted … the idea that  the unicorn is a very strong animal and also that  

could achieve magical feats, so unicorn horn  used to be seen as a panacea for all sorts of  

ills and a guard against poison. So people  used to drink out of unicorn horn cups to  

prevent themselves getting poisoned, and  I think that idea of it being magical and  

having magical powers has  still come through today.

Why did they drink from unicorn horn cups?

Well, they were supposed to have magical powers  

so people drank from them so  they wouldn't get poisoned.

Yes, she said they could perform magical feats.  A feat is something that is difficult to do  

or achieve - like recording this programme  without making a mistake, that's a real feat!

Well, we usually do it. It  must just be unicorn magic.

No, just the magic of editing, Rob!  

Now, she also said that unicorn horn was  seen as a panacea. What does that mean?

A panacea is another word for a cure  - something that can protect you from  

illness or help you recover if you are sick.  But is all this true, about the unicorn horn?

Well, seeing as how unicorns  don't and never have existed,  

it's unlikely to be true. She says these stories  come from a time when the world was enchanted.  

This means it was a time when people believed in  magic and the possibility of mysterious creatures  

from mysterious parts of the world. It seems as if  these days people are looking for a bit of magic,  

a bit of enchantment in their lives. The  unicorn has also come to be a term commonly  

used in politics to refer to unrealistic ideas and  plans. Why is this? Here's Natalie Lawrence again.

Because it's such a potent  cultural symbol at the moment  

it's being deployed in one of the  most pressing issues of our time,  

as well, so… and the idea of the UK trying  to be its own special unicorn potentially…

So Rob, what is she talking about here?

Well, we are in a very complicated time  politically in the UK at the moment.  

She says they are pressing times. A term which  means something important but difficult has to be  

done in a very short time. A pressing matter is an  important one that has to be dealt with urgently.