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Written by IELTS Mentor

IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.

Describe an item of clothing you purchased that you didn’t like.

You should say:

• what type of clothing item it was
• from where and why you purchased it
• what colour and style it had

and explain why you didn’t like it.

Model Answer 1:
I am not really too particular about my dress up or the clothing item I choose to wear. So, I try to buy any kind of clothing items as long as they look good. But unfortunately, this “look good” thing didn’t exactly work for me when I bought a full sleeve shirt.

Yes, as you may have rightly guessed that I didn’t like that full sleeve shirt which I bought about a year ago from a local market. The shirt seemingly looked nice with its light grey colour, matching buttons and a couple of nicely designed chest pockets. It also fit me real nicely with its perfect waist length. Made with linen-cotton fabrics, I thought that the shirt was a perfect bargain for me since it was sold to me at a much lower price.

By the way, I purchased that shirt from a local market, mainly because I wanted to help out a relative of one of my friends who had opened a new clothing store there. But, up and until that point, I have never really bought anything from that market because, to tell the truth, I thought that most of the clothing items there were of poor quality.

I should also mention here that the shirt wasn’t made by any of the famous clothing brands of my country, but I still bought it because I thought that every clothing company, famous or not, should be a fair chance to prove their worth to their customers. After buying that shirt, I even used it for a couple of weeks randomly without any trouble. But after that, I stopped wearing that shirt, apparently because I didn’t like it anymore.

Anyway, I didn’t like the shirt anymore, mainly because its colour seemed to have faded away a bit too soon for my liking, and that too only after a couple of regular detergent wash. I didn’t like it also because it wouldn’t remain polished and smooth even after ironing it for a long time.

Sample Answer 2:
Well, that’s an interesting topic to talk about. A few months ago I purchased a tie that I’ve never used and did not like it just after I brought it home. I bought this tie from a street market near the city shopping mall and it cost me around 7 dollars. In my office, we are allowed to wear casual dresses on Thursday. However, we are required to wear complete formal dresses on Monday and Tuesday and tie is mandatory on these two days in office. I purchased the tie specifically to use it in my office.

It was a blue colour tie with vertical white stripes all over it. I have had three ties and none of them had any stripes on it. I thought the striped tie would add some variations to my tie collection but unfortunately, I did not like it at all. Surprisingly I liked it when I picked it from the shop but as soon as I tried it at home, my disliking grew for it.

Since I bought it from a street market, I did not have the chance to try it before purchasing. I chose it as it was and after I wore it at home, I found that it was shorter in length than usual. The making of the tie was poor and the stripes did not match me at all. After that, I thought to return it but it was quite impossible as the street market sellers often change their locations. Honestly speaking, I liked the colour and style of this tie but the poor making ruined it all.

I still have this tie at home and I have no intention of wearing it ever again. This purchasing experience taught me a valuable lesson – never purchase an item of clothing too hastily and without actually trialling it first. I will perhaps never buy a tie from a street market.   

Sample Answer 3:
Recently my trip to Singapore was a great one and I had the chance to shop in the traditional street markets of the country. I bought a pair of jeans pant from a market there but that appears a bit faulty now.

In fact, I went to Singapore with my family to pass the Christmas vacation and meet some other relatives living in the country. To celebrate Christmas, my dad took me to the street markets and bought me a couple of clothing at a moderate price. But before the purchase, he told me to check the item I am to buy as often the items appear faulty. He was right. I found a small hole in both of the pants and they are in the hip pocket. It seems that the holes have been made by any insect cut. When I wear them, they look really unpleasant and brings a sense of discomfort to me.

Singapore is a popular tourist destination in Asia. Besides, some of my intimate relatives are there. In fact, my dad migrated to the USA from Singapore while my grandparents are still living there. So, whenever we have any vacation, we move to Singapore and we do not miss the events like Christmas. We moved to Singapore on December 23 and my dad took me shopping on the next day. He prefers the street markets as those are the place where one can have the best things. But you are to select the pieces carefully as the sellers often try to deceive the customers about the price. From the Chinatown Street Market, I bought the pair of jeans pant. The seller asked for a higher price than the usual one but after a lot of bargain, he agreed to sell the pants after my price.

I liked the pants as they were different in colour and style. The jeans pants were the combination of dark blue with a light shade of grey. So, they looked different. Besides, they were skinny. So, I thought they would suit me best. Further, they attracted my attention while they were on display. The sewing, the fabric etc. were fine. So, I decided to buy the pair. But my dad asked me to check for something else. But I argued with him and replied that I liked the colour and style of the pants. Usually, most of the jeans pants come with a zipper but this was a bit different. Instead of a zipper, it had bottoms which I have never used before.

I was so excited that I forgot the advice from my father to check the pants carefully. After returning home, I discovered the holes in the pockets. But now I had nothing to do. The seller would not refund the price and actually, they do not have such refund policies as well. Moreover, the waist size did not match with me. My waistline is 27 inches while the pants come with the waist size 29. They were larger than me and I do not use belts with my pants. So, it was hard for me to adjust to the jeans pants. Hence, I started feeling irritated with the pants. Finally, I had to donate the pants to a charity fund which collected clothing for poor people. Indeed it was a bad buy for me this time.

More Ideas to talk about this Cue Card topic:

Cue Card Topic: Describe an item of clothing you purchased that you didn’t like.

1. From now on, I will consider shopping from street markets as a crime for me. I bought a T-shirt last month and did not like it finally after returning home. I bought the shirt from Chinatown here in Thailand. It was dark blue with the traditional style. But later I disliked it because there were some holes in the back part of the shirt that I did not notice or I was not allowed to notice while purchasing. Due to the holes, I would be unable to wear it. And so, I did not like the clothing.

2. Although I liked the red-coloured skirt, I dislike it later because the colour appeared a bit fade. I bought the skirt from a brand shop in New Delhi. It was pa lain red with some designs on the lower parts. But I did not like the skirt as it came with a lace. In fact, I did not notice the lace on the waist while purchasing it. And when I noticed that, I felt a sense of irritation. Usually, I use skirts with bright colours and initially preferred the red – and when found the colour a bit fade, I did not like it anymore.

3. Riding bikes need a suitable jacket but the one that I bought last month is no longer the one I like! I bought the jacket from a superstore in central Indonesia. It was black in colour with a nice collar. It came with buttons all over it. But I did not like it afterwards because the buttons were distorted after I used it a few times. Even, one of the collar buttons was uprooted. Later, when I took it back to the shop, they refused to replace it. Considering all the grounds, and irritation grew on me for the jacket.

4. White is my favourite colour and I bought a white shirt last month. I bought it from a street vendor here in Sri Lanka. The shirt came with a nice collar and everything was fine. But I was shocked after it was washed. The fabric started shrinking. Actually, after a single wash with clean water, the shirt became shorter! I could not wear them anymore. It happened due to the fabric that was the finest in quality. Hereby, I could not like the shirt at all.

5. Last winter, I bought an overcoat for me. I purchased that from a shopping mall here in Moscow. It was grey in colour and had a belt to fasten around the waist. Everything was right but I missed one point while buying. It came with had no buttons. So, fastening the belts was a bit troublesome for me. I also could not like it because it was too heavy to use. The colour also faded more than it was in the beginning. All the matters generated a sense of dislike for the overcoat on me.
 

Part 3: Two-way discussion

Let's talk about clothes... Singapore with my family to pass the Christmas
1. What kind of clothes do people in your country usually wear?
2. How important is it to wear fashionable clothes in your country?
3. Do older people and younger people wear different coloured clothes?

Now let's talk about spending money on clothes...
1. Are clothes expensive in your country?
2. Do people wear more expensive clothes to work in your country?
3. Do you think people spend too much money on clothes nowadays?

• IELTS Cue Card
• Candidate Task Card

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