Read and translate the text. During World War II, the dominance of Paris as the only setter of fashion ended

During World War II, the dominance of Paris as the only setter of fashion ended. Paris was occupied by German forces from the summer of 1940 and, although the fashion houses con­tinued to produce new seasonal styles, almost no news of fashion developments could be gotten out. In London, the clothing industry was taken over by the government and, from 1942 the "Utility" program came into force. It laid down regulations about how much material could be used in a garment and what the trimmings could be. The wartime economy was so restricting that most women got used to "make do and mend", recycling old sweaters and making clothes out of curtains. The cycle of fashion stopped for about five years. With so many people wearing military uniforms, fashion, such as it was, followed the trend. Tailored, military-style suits, with short skirts and broad shoulders were widely worn in Britain. In the United States the restric­tions were far less severe. Smart, simple, rather draped styles were popular, with an emphasis on stylish leisure wear.

After the war, in 1947, Paris designers launched the "New Look". It was an extrava­gant reaction to wartime austerity. It featured softly rounded shoulders and bodices, three-quarter length skirts with a billowing hem­line, and big pockets or drapes, which empha­sized the hips. The couturier Christian Dior even put 50 yards of fabric into one skirt. The Paris look caused a great scandal because its designs demanded what seemed an excessive amount of fabric, but within a year or two the style was modified and worn all over the Western world.

During the 1950s, however, rival sources of style began to develop. Younger generations, particularly in the United States and Britain, began to reject the fancy Paris designs, turn­ing to fresher, younger, and more comfortable clothing. Teenage girls took to short white socks, casual skirts, and cardigans. Jazz fans and art students, both men and women, wore corduroy, big mohair sweaters called "sloppy Joes", and, in Britain, duffel coats. Women adopted flat shoes, wore little make up and had long, loose hair. Many young people drew their inspiration from the Beat poets of Amer­ica and Paris intellectuals. Jeans and black leather jackets were beginning to catch on among a small minority.

These were liberating clothes and their influence can clearly be seen by the early 1960s in the work of the next generation of fashion designers. Mary Quant was shorten­ing skirts in London in 1958. By 1965, the mini-skirt was everywhere. In Paris a new generation of young designers, most notably Courreges and Ungaro, sent models down the catwalk in space-age pant suits and silvered mini-skirts. Hard synthetic fabrics were dec­orated with geometric patterns, often in black and white. The fashionable age dropped to 16.

Reaction to these futuristic styles set in dur­ing the late 1960s and 1970s. Clothes from all over the world, either in their original or adapted forms, were pillaged by the fashion­able young. Peruvian knitwear, Afghan coats, Indian cotton prints, and Mexican ponchos were all popular, worn with ethnic jewelry Loose, layered shapes with much longer skirts took over from the minis and there was a grow­ing interest in "unisex" dressing. Young men and women often deliberately dressed to look the same, with flared trousers and loose tops. The increasing popularity of denim jeans throughout the 1970s and 1980s increased the general uniformity.

In the 1980s there were two conflicting styles in fashion. One came from the great design houses in Paris, London, Tokyo, Milan, and New York. By the mid-eighties a wide-shouldered, short-skirted, very feminine look, with narrow waist and high-heeled shoes, was the rage. The influence of the popular Amer­ican TV series Dallas and Dynasty spread these styles all over the world, in their hard, bright colors and shiny surfaces.

The rival look came from the city streets, particularly of London, where young, often unemployed people rejected these clothes and wore their own designs. The most influential were the "Punks" of late 70s Britain, with their torn, black plastic and leather clothing, elabor­ate, brightly colored Mohican haircuts, and heavy black boots worn by both sexes.

The start of the 1990s saw much discussion about environmental issues and the future role of fashion within this context. Anti-fur and anti-ivory campaigns were active, while the use of coral and polluting manufacturing methods in the textile industry were all being questioned. Second-hand clothes and re­cycling of old fabrics became popular.

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