Clothing English Listening Practice (All Levels)

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My favorite outfits.

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Hi, Vickie Kelty here with another episode of the Language Learning Report Card Podcast.

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Let’s talk about our favorite outfits.

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I’m going to tell you what I typically wear and where I typically wear it.

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Let’s get started.

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So pajamas are definitely one of my favorite outfits.

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I’m wearing them right now to record this episode.

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So it’s very typical for me to wear my pajamas with my fuzzy slippers at home.

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I like to wear comfortable clothes around the house and my cats love my soft pajamas.

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When I have a special occasion, I wear dresses.

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But I don’t wear heels.

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Heels aren’t very comfortable and I prefer

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my outfit to have comfortable shoes.

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But dresses are nice to wear for a nice meal or to go to church.

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And it’s always fun to wear something extra special.

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When I want to have a lazy day at home, I wear sweats.

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Sweats are really nice to relax at home.

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And sweats for me are a sweatshirt and sweatpants.

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When I wear my sweats for running errands, like going to the grocery store to get some food or going to

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the convenience store to get something I need, like a cat toy, very important, then I also wear some tennis shoes.

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But it’s a very casual outfit.

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It’s also normal for me to wear a t-shirt and jeans when I run errands.

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Yes,

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The same type of errands like going to the grocery store or to the convenience store.

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When I have a relaxed lunch with my husband or even when I’m working from home, t-shirt and jeans can be a good option.

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It’s pretty comfortable and I have a lot of t-shirts.

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Usually I wear tennis shoes or flats with my t-shirt and jeans outfit.

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When I’m in a rush, I wear a tank top and leggings or a t-shirt and leggings or a sweatshirt and leggings, a comfortable outfit with a pair of tennis shoes.

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This outfit is good for appointments like a doctor’s appointment or taking the cats to the vet.

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And it’s also a great outfit for my workouts.

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And yes, it’s a good outfit for relaxing at home or running errands.

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This is my go-to outfit for all occasions.

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An outfit I don’t typically wear is a nice shirt with a skirt and a nice jacket like a blazer and maybe some short boots or heels.

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That’s not my typical outfit these days.

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I prefer something less formal.

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That outfit is good for a more formal situation.

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Maybe an interview would be a good moment to wear a blazer with a shirt and skirt.

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So those are all my outfit choices.

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What about you?

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It’s your turn to tell me what outfits do you wear most often and where do you like to wear your outfits?

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Want more listening practice?

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You can find it at VickieKelty.com.

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That’s all from me.

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Catch me in the next episode.

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Bye-bye.

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Let’s accessorize.

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Hi, this is another episode of the Language Learning Report Card podcast.

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I’m Vickie Kelty, and I teach English online, mostly focused on speaking.

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So, let’s get to talking about what accessories

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I’m going to add to some of my favorite outfits to complete the look.

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All right, so if I was going to wear my lovely sweatsuit with my sweatshirt and sweatpants, to make it even better, I would add a nice little backpack because that holds

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everything that I’ll need when I’m out on a walk.

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And I’ll pair it with a nice baseball cap.

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I usually prefer my Friends TV show baseball cap.

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It’s clearly the best complement to that look.

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Perfect package.

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What would you add to that outfit?

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Now, if I wanted to be, quite a bit dressier with my dress and heels, I would keep it simple and add some jewelry and a purse.

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What jewelry, you might ask?

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Well, maybe a nice bracelet or a necklace.

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And why not, a pair of earrings too.

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And if I’m feeling extra extravagant, I would even change my nose ring to something a little more shimmery.

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Back at home after a long day of wearing a dress and heels, I would change into my cozy pajamas and add my robe and some fuzzy socks.

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because I already have my cute bunny slippers.

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So fuzzy socks are the perfect complement to that charming sit-on-the-sofa outfit.

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Moving right along, let’s get dressy again.

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Go to a business meeting with your blazer, your shirt, and your skirt and boots.

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Just nice little ankle boots.

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Nothing

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too extravagant.

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And with that outfit, I guess I would just add some subtle complements like a handbag and a watch.

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But maybe not my sports watch, maybe a nicer watch to keep it professional.

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What do you think?

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And after a day in the office,

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It’s time to go get some groceries at the supermarket.

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So I’m going to put on my t-shirt and jeans, pair it with my nice comfy flats.

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And if I want to add a little more to that ensemble, then I could pair the outfit with a belt for my jeans

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or my favorite, and also Chandler Bing’s, is a nice little cardigan.

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I guess he likes sweater vests, but it’s really the same difference.

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So a cardigan is, for me, one of the best things to add to any outfit because they’re just low-key enough that they are

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great with jeans and a t-shirt, but they are still stylish enough that they could go with a dress as well and look a little fancier.

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And they are perfect for these seasons that are not too hot, not too cold.

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They’re just right for all weather.

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Okay, fine.

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If it’s winter,

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you need more than a cardigan.

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But I would say that my favorite thing to add to an outfit is a cardigan in general.

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What about you?

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What’s your favorite thing to add to your outfit to complete the look?

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Lastly, we have a tank top and leggings, another

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great outfit for yoga or going for a walk.

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And again, if the weather is cooler than you expected, you could throw on a hoodie and maybe you want to be a little incognito for your walk.

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So put on a pair of sunglasses too.

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Those are all the different ways that I might

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change my outfits for different seasons or different moments that help to make them more fun or more versatile.

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All right, tell me what would you pair with these outfits and what are your favorite accessories?

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Remember, you can find more listening practice at vickiekelty.com.

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That’s all from me.

00:06:13 Bye now.

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Let’s talk wardrobe. Hi, Vickie Kelty here. This is the Language Learning Report Card podcast. I teach English online, mostly focused on speaking, which is what I will be doing today. Speaking. So I’m going to tell you some

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wardrobe malfunction stories, but I’ll also spin in a few stories about just some wardrobe, let’s call them successes. I guess you can be the judge of that. During the pandemic, we made a last-minute decision to visit my in-laws. And this was after Spain had allowed people to leave their houses. So it was completely allowed.

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And it was at Christmas time. So it was well after they had, quote, unquote, freed us from the lock-in and they, or the lockdown. I can’t even remember the terms from back then. And that’s okay because I would not like to relive them. But we decided to celebrate Christmas with my in-laws. And so it

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was, or was it New Year’s? Oh my gosh. Well, as I said, I don’t even really want to go back and remember it. So Christmas or New Year’s, potato, potahto. I just remember that what I chose to wear for the celebration, which I’m thinking now that it must have been New Year’s, because this makes a lot more sense, was that we went to

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have the grapes and say Happy New Year. And I went in my dun dun dun, Hello Kitty pajamas. Yep, I was super fancy. Okay, do you consider that to be a wardrobe malfunction or a success story? I think you probably know which way I’m leaning. And if you said success, you would be agreeing with me.

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All right, my next story is the time that I went to a KISS concert. Yes, the band KISS, rock on people, in my old shoes that I had found. When I say old, I mean from high school. And I was well past university age at this point. So high school plus university plus adult, that is many years of these shoes

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having survived. So thankfully, the mishap occurred before we left for the concert. We were walking out the door and I took a couple steps and realized that half of my shoe had not come along with me. They had become unglued. So I freaked out.

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but luckily had a pair of flip-flops. And I went to the KISS concert in a lovely pair of black flip-flops that thankfully went perfectly with my black and white dress. So I feel like I was still in KISS gear because their main colors are black and white, aren’t they? Isn’t that the makeup that they wear? So

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I don’t know, you be the judge. Was this a mishap? It was definitely a mishap. It definitely, was a wardrobe malfunction, but maybe it was still a success. Moving right along, we have a story about how sweats are, in my humble opinion, the very best thing to wear as the base for your Halloween costume. Now, I

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didn’t have as awesome of a costume as my sister, I will point out her costume since it was so amazing. She had an orange sweatsuit. So we’re talking sweatshirt and sweatpants, orange sweats, head to toe, and black electrical tape around the sweatpants. Can you guess what she was?

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Yes, that’s right. She was a tiger. And that, my friends, is the best Halloween costume made at home that you can get on a dime. But you don’t have to throw away your juicy sweats that you had from back in the day. You can repurpose them for Halloween whenever you want. Note,

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Costumes do not have to be scary. I know that’s what the Halloween horror movies want you to believe, but as someone who celebrated Halloween for many, many years in lovely Nebraska, I can attest that your costume does not need to be scary to be a successful Halloween costume. Take my word for it and get creative. Okay,

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I don’t think that one was a mishap at all. So if you voted success, then you voted the same as me. Now, I’m going to spoil this one and tell you this was a big mishap, such a wardrobe malfunction coming on in this next story. So I was visiting my sister once when she lived in West Virginia, I think it was. And maybe it’s Pennsylvania. At any rate, we went horseback riding and

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I should specify that the jeans I was wearing, similar to the shoes at the KISS concert that I mentioned before, these jeans have been around for quite a while. And my mom had fixed them up for me a few times because if you’ve had jeans for a really long time, you know that they get worn out.

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So she had patched them up. And as I got onto the horse to go horseback riding, I heard this ripping sound. That’s right. My pants ripped while getting onto the horse. Needless to say, I didn’t bother to ask my mom to patch those up. I said, it is time to let this pair of jeans go.

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I think over a decade with the same pair of jeans is good enough. And that’s incidentally why I buy more than one pair of jeans, like of the same brand that I like, because, well, you want to have a backup for when these things happen while horseback riding, do you not? Yes, plan ahead, people.

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And my next story is another mishap, but not so bad, not so tragic. And this one involved me wearing some leggings that I had bought here in Spain. They’re nice little black workout leggings. And I had never worn this brand before. So the thing was is that they didn’t have a tag.

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in the leggings. So I was oblivious to whether… I didn’t know where the back and the front were of these leggings. Do you see where I’m going with the story? Yeah, that’s right. I wore them backwards. I didn’t know I was wearing them backwards. I just

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basically flipped a coin and decided that one side was the front and one side was the back. And I was told that was inaccurate. So I went into the bathroom, flipped them around, and voila, I had myself leggings put on the correct way. I have to say that I was mildly embarrassed by this. Like,

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turning a little red when I found out that I had been walking around town with these leggings on backwards. But hopefully there were other people who didn’t know. But I don’t know. If somebody like took the time to tell me that they were on backwards, perhaps everybody in town knew. So

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It’s fine. I am grateful that this person told me that they were backwards so that I could go forth and never have to guess which were the front and which were the back of future leggings. And they saved the day for sure. So I now always wear my leggings the correct direction because no, they still don’t have tags on them, which I do not understand.

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So if you’ve ever had this issue, I would just say the little design thing on your left leg, it goes in the front, or at least that’s how mine worked. Moving right along to our last story. And this one, I don’t know, it’s not really a mishap per se. It’s not a mild malfunction. Maybe we could

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put it into that group, you decide. So I had a pair of boots that, ankle boots actually, that I was given by my mom. Thanks, Mom. And they were too big. They were not the right size for her. And it was past the point that you could return them. And so she was like, hey, do you want to keep these boots? Do you want to use them, wear them, love them?

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And I said, sure, why not? But they were too big. So I did what anybody would do. And I shoved some socks into the front to try and make them fit better. It more or less worked. It was not completely successful because even as you’re walking, like your foot tries to push forward. And since the socks are soft,

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your foot is still able to push into them. And so it’s not solid enough to keep your foot from wiggling around in a pair of shoes that are too big. So maybe you have a better solution. I no longer have these boots, so I don’t have to worry about it. But that was my hack for that moment.

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And it’s the best I could do, but maybe you can give me a better hack that I can use for next time. And those are my harrowing, well, not all harrowing, but a few were definitely embarrassing to share. So keep them secret. Don’t tell everybody.

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And be sure to share your own wardrobe mishaps, wardrobe malfunctions, and, why not, your wardrobe successes as well. All right, if you don’t want to share some of the more embarrassing ones, you can keep those to yourself, but you can practice saying them out loud and just

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tell your wall or your cat or your plant all about your crazy wardrobe malfunctions. I hope that you have had a delightful time listening to my stories and that they have inspired you to, well, maybe not inspired you because I don’t want you to invent your story, but maybe they have reminded you of some past wardrobe experiences that you have had in your life.

00:12:36 the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to wardrobe. And that’s all for me. Remember, you can find more listening practice at VickieKelty.com. Cheerio. Have a great day. Bye-bye now.