I don't understand the "meter"part. she lost her hair,didn't she?
Bobbed hair was shocking, irreversible, and, on the whole, grudgingly accepted. Only by means of the most absurd ruses did women get their families to tolerate the new style. Thus Colette, in order to appease her in-laws, pretended that she had accidentally overturned an oil lamp onto her loosened hair. But in sacrificing, at the instigation of her husband. Monsieur Willy, tresses measuring some 1.58 meters (about five feet), she involuntarily anticipated fashion by at least a decade. This was in 1903. when, in the company of a similarly coiffed Polaire and an opera-hatted Willy, her appearance in a theatre box created a scandal, causing Willy to be known along the boulevards as "the man with two monkeys."]

what does "tresses measuring some 1.58 meters (about five feet), "mean?

Question

I don't understand the "meter"part. she lost her hair,didn't she?
Bobbed hair was shocking, irreversible, and, on the whole, grudgingly accepted. Only by means of the most absurd ruses did women get their families to tolerate the new style. Thus Colette, in order to appease her in-laws, pretended that she had accidentally overturned an oil lamp onto her loosened hair. But in sacrificing, at the instigation of her husband. Monsieur Willy, tresses measuring some 1.58 meters (about five feet), she involuntarily anticipated fashion by at least a decade. This was in 1903. when, in the company of a similarly coiffed Polaire and an opera-hatted Willy, her appearance in a theatre box created a scandal, causing Willy to be known along the boulevards as "the man with two monkeys."]

what does "tresses measuring some 1.58 meters (about five feet), "mean?

Answer

The word 'tresses' is a word used to describe very long hair.
'Meter' is a unit of measurement of 100 centimetres.
A 'foot' is a unit of measurement of 12 inches.
So her hair was over 150 cms long.

What's unusual here is that the author has used the American spelling of 'meter', yet the British spelling of 'theatre' (unless of course, it's a typo!).

Hope this helps :)

Answer

It's transcribed slightly wrong. Pay attention to the punctuation:

"But in sacrificing, at the instigation of her husband Monsieur Willy, tresses measuring some 1.58 meters (about five feet), she involuntarily anticipated fashion by at least a decade."

The "at the instigation of her husband Monsieur Willy" part is a separate clause, which you can remove. This gives you "But in sacrificing tresses measuring some 1.58 meters (about five feet)..."

She sacrificed (cut off) her tresses (locks of hair) that were over a metre and a half long, or five feet long (using imperial measurement).

Answer

It means she had hair that was about five feet long.

Answers · 4

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