The big 100

Today is our 100th blogpost! Wooo, celebration time! Biscuit? Don't mind if I do...Champagne? Oh you are too kind...A speech you say? Well okay then.

We'd like to thank all the people behind the scenes who have worked so hard for this success. The good folks at blogger, the inventors of the internet, the suppliers of such weird and wonderful stories, and of course to you, our fans (and those of you who have stumbled randomly across this page) for helping make this blog so much fun to run.

Not only this, it is now just two weeks to the day until the event of the year, the Company Clothing Industry Awards! With Myleene Klass hosting, a three-course meal at the Park Lane Hotel to enjoy, and dancing for afterwards, it promises to be a great night. If you haven't got a ticket you really have no excuses - click here and get booking.

In honour of 100 posts here is a selection of some of our favourite stories so far:

1. Straw Hat - lead to a blog on the Blackburn Labour website.
2. Flip Flops for drunken revelers.
3. Man smuggles pigeon in pants, leads to musings on ecology and the food chain.
4. The snow family in their underpants.
5. Terrible sport kits.

Here's to the next 100!

What not to wear

What would you wear to the unveiling of a statue? Especially if that statue was the Queen's dear old mum? The press had a bit of a field day criticising the various outfits that were worn - especially Culture Secretary Andy Burnham's wife Frankie - you can kind of see where they are coming from too if you click here. The BBC's Magazine Monitor has given a rounded view on the coverage here, also mentioning the type of jacket the minister himself is wearing - which, for the record, is not a donkey jacket.

Hair today, clothing tomorrow

A Romanian woman has made clothes out of her own hair, having grown it for many years to be able to carry out the work. In total she has made nine garments from the work - including a skirt, raincoat and a pair of gloves - and she says they are all 'comfortable and warm'. While Company Clothing applauds the innovation and the craftwork, you'll forgive us if we find it a little odd and keep human hair and clothing seperate.

Little gold men

So the Oscars have come and gone, in a triumph of red carpets, gowns and awards, and thankfully no tears from Kate Winslet. Incidentally, did any papers go for "Kate Wins-it"? It's what we would use if we covered such events.

The Best Costumer Design went to the The Duchess - that period drama with Keira Knightley - but Slumdog Millionaire was the biggest triumph of the night - they must be raking it in...

Some nice frocks and gowns and so forth where on display too - a gallery of some of them here - we've yet to spot anything resembling a disaster, but no doubt they happened - if you saw any, or have any opinions on what was on show - dresses or films - let us know using the comments button below!

Stop the press

It is Friday, and we don't wish to raise too many hackles, but this BBC article, how not to design a work uniform, does make it hard to stay calm. It's all very one-sided and fails to bother to take into account the hardworking, creative and ingenious people in this 450 million pound industry. We though, do know about all this work, and this is exactly why we set up the Company Clothing Industry Awards, to celebrate the clever, interesting and sheer brilliant work that goes on, from fabrics to footwear to fashion design. If you haven't got your ticket yet for the awards on March 12 - get a move on!

As a final note in the next issue, with you shortly, we have an exclusive interview with the suppliers to National Express who gave us the full, updated and correct version of both the story including both the history behind the new contract and uniform as well as addressing some of the issues that came out in the national press. It's far more accurate than most of the mainstream media outlets managed. *Places trumpet back on floor, steps down from soapbox*

Enjoy the weekend!

George and students get together

Supermarkets - is there anything they can't do? The next generation of fashion designers have been helped in their learning process by working alongside George at ASDA to help design a range of menswear collections for Autumn / Winter 09.

The brief required the students to focus on the George customer, and to take into account what people look for when buying clothes. Following the backlash from consumers on throwaway fashion contributing to Britain's waste problems, students were required to follow the George attributes of quality, style and value as the main focus of their collection.

Sue Walton, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Design at Nottingham Trent University, said: 'George at ASDA is focused on delivering affordable fashion to real people. This project will help students to realise the importance of designing for people during these tough economic conditions, when they are looking for uncompromising quality and style but at a price they can afford.'

Andy Burns, Menswear Design Manager for George, said: 'The £19 men's Perfect Fit Suit, which was launched earlier this year, is a firm favourite with our customers and so we're looking for something practical but stylish that will have the same appeal to the ASDA shopper.Through this link-up with Nottingham Trent University, we can provide the students with the opportunity to work for one of the largest volume fashion retailers in the UK. We can also strengthen our links with up coming talent to potentially find the next big thing in tailoring and keep our global design team filled with the very best from the fashion world.'

Zip it

Ahh, the humble zip. Zzziiiiiip! It's so satisfying to zip a zip, so quick and easy. So a garment that is made from...120(!!!) zips, is certainly something. The 120 zips can be moved around to make a variety of garments, such as a belt, a dress or a top. Of course, sometimes though, all you really need is one zip(py).

Food for thought

Here's a tasty story for you: nut necklaces. These delicious looking items are part of Fairtrade Fortnight and will be on display, in portrait form, at the Eden Project in Cornwall. They look great, but surely you'd end up snacking on them until you were just wearing a piece of string around your neck - like those sweet braclets you used to buy as a child? All this talk of food has made us hungary - off to lunch!

Flower power fashion

Going green has been taken to new extremes by this collection of clothing made from flowers and other assorted garden regulars that aims to make clothing from truly natural ingredients.

Designer / creator Nicole Dextras from Vancouver in Canada, said 'I use mainly plentiful local plants. I need many leaves and flowers, so I look for plants where I can get at least a hundred.'

It looks amazing, but isn't there a risk of it being eaten by assorted wildlife who fear their usual food is walking away from them?

It must be love, mustn't it?

Oh, beautiful reader, how we admire your beauty, worship at your feet in awe of your wit and beauty. If we were to compare thee to a summer's day it would be...yadda yadda yadda. Yes it's Valentine's Day tomorrow and we here at Company Clothing are feeling the pangs of romance (are we? - Ed). Although today is Friday 13 which is meant to be unlucky. Touch wood, nothing has happened so far, but we're not superstitious anyway.

Clothing is of course a massive part of the Valentine's day massacre, charade, rituals, with lingerie a popular choice. Although more normal, straight-laced (rather than frilly-laced) clothing can also make a nice gift. Although probably not woolly gloves or wellington boots - then again maybe so? Anyone got any good / funny / embarrassing stories to share - you can stay anonymous if you want.

And to finish a nice little rhyme:

An ode to clothing

I love you I love you I love you all mighty
I wish your pyjamas were next to my nighty
In case you're mistake,
In case you're misled
I meant on the washing line and not on the bed.

Have a good weekend!

Fame at last, or sorts

During the snow dump of last week we blogged about the hat fashion of Jack Straw - as you can see here - and today we discovered the very constituency that Mr Straw is from, Blackburn, have written a blog about a blog he wrote about the stick he got for wearing...the boots! Oh it's all so confusing.

Still, it's nice to see we're reaching the key movers and shakers in Westminster. Now if only they'd change our name to Company Clothing, rather than just the more powerful sounding, but incredibly vague, Company, we'd be on to a real winner!

Plus don't forget - it's one calender month today until the awards - if you haven't got a ticket for the event of the year, host by the lovely Myleene Klass, what on earth are you waiting for? The moon on a stick?! Go here, now!

Cute animal story

A cat has been caught stealing clothes, which makes him a cat burglar. Too obvious.

Apparently the cat, called Skittles (aw, that's a nice name), likes to target people's washing lines for his thieving, probably finding the allure of garments blowing suggestively in the wind too much for his little cat brain to ignore.

Animals and clothing are a regular topic on this here blog, probably because whenever animals and clothing (the preserve of humans) come together it is invariably very cute. Do you have any nice stories about animals and clothing? If so, post below!

Pants

Using underwear to make a protest point is an unusual tactic, but in India this weekend, they are going to be used as part of a demonstration against people who are accussed of attacking women who were drinking in a bar because it's "not acceptable". Bah. So as a result those who like living in 2009 are going to use underwear to protest and make their point, especially with Valentine's day approaching. Good for them.

Slip up

So you've impounded a cargo ship to search it for drugs. You've found none, but laws or customs, mean you have to keep the ship impounded for five months. Fair enough. Except...the ship is full of bananas. Can you imagine what a cargo ship full of bananas would smell like after one month, two months and on?

In fact it's so bad, as you've probably just imagined, that crew on the ship have been issued with nuclear bio-hazard suits and respirators to protect them against the "toxic rotting bananas". Valery Osipov, head of a local ecology group, said: "We are now
raising this with the SBU, the port authority and the regional
environment department. "They need to understand the situation and release the crew from this 'banana prison'."

Bizarre world this isn't it?

Shredded suits

It's been revealed that the high-tec cycling suits worn by the incredibly successful Team GB cycling squad are to be shredded to stop rivals getting their hands on them and discovering what makes them so good at helping the riders so damn fast! Clearly sports kit is now at a level where the tiniest change or alternation can have a massive impact on the performance and some have called for this rise to be halted to stop the constant breaking of world records.

It's doubtful this will happen but as the drastic action by Team GB has shown you never know who could be going through your bins so it's better to destory the evidence than take a risk. And if that means more gold medals at London 2012, then it will be worth it!

Straw hat

There's been some heated discussion in the Company Clothing offices of late about the merits of hats - heated discussion to keep us warm you see. The cold weather has no doubt seen people digging out anything that might keep them warm - gloves, ski socks, bulky jackets, and of course hats. But just because it's cold does that excuse bizarre choices - can you eschew fashion for the sake of warmth?

Jack Straw certainly made a bold choice when he wore a 'shapka' as he emerged from Number 10 the other day, but we were split as to whether he had a certain "sartorial elegance" or whether he looked "a bit of a berk". Well, we knew who could settle this for us: our readers, who know what's hot and what's not: so what do you think? Hat or no hat?

Myleene Klass confirmed as hostess of awards

Here it is then, the news you have been waiting for. The fantastic celebrity fashion icon hostess of our awards is...Myleene Klass.

Her CV is endless and impressive. The star of Ten Years Younger on Channel 4, a model for M&S, former member of Hearsay, an author, a pianist, host of the Classical Brit Awards 2008, and she knows a thing or two about fashion - a bit talented this one. So if you haven't got your ticket to the Event of the Year™, then now really is the time to do so - click here. Now!

Not only that the latest issue of Company Clothing should be with you soon. They're all out there, making their way around the postal system, being loaded into lorries, cars, bicycles, and post bags to arrive, in pristine condition, chock full of fascinating features and interesting articles. Such as Colombian charity manufacturing, branded workwear and some behind the scenes reporting from our award judging. A very pleasent way to pass an hour or two for the purposes of business.

Are we good to you or what?

There's a pigeon in my pants!

Man caught with pigeon down his trousers. There's a sentence you don't type or read very often. But it's true and it shows the lengths people will go to when they try to BREAK THE LAW! Don't break the law, it's not a good thing to do. In fact it's illegal.

The hapless man in the story was found with many items upon his person: pigeons, eggs, seeds and an aubergine. Bizarre. He potentially faces up to 10 years in prison, underlining the seriousness of attempting to smuggle wildlife to a country. You can seriously upset the balance of an ecosystem by doing so - like in that episode of The Simpsons when Bart brings a frog in and they ravage the crops - it's fictional and a cartoon but it makes a serious point.

Anyway, we've gone off remit here. Trousers with pigeons in, haha, *shakes head*, news eh?! Crazy.

More Snows

In the next issue of Company Clothing - which should be with you shortly - we have included a news story on the Snow family (snow being a word that's popular right now) in their underpants as part of their support for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

They will front a high profile campaign throughout March in M&S stores across the UK as part of the retailer’s partnership with The Prostate Cancer Charity (TPPC). Presenter Peter Snow, his son Dan and Peter’s cousin, Channel 4 News anchorman, Jon Snow, were selected to front the campaign to highlight the fact that a man’s chances of developing prostate cancer are two and a half times greater if a close relative, such as a father or brother, is diagnosed.

You can read the rest of the news story in the latest issue, but for now we thought the picture of these fine news-reporting fellows would give you something to admire and appreciate in anticipation of the latest issue arriving in the post.

Don't pop it!

Balloon fashion is not something you've probably heard of. Company Clothing hadn't and we pride ourselves on trying to keep up with every market from fashion to footwear or body armour to beret's. But when we came across this website we were amazed to see some of the designs on display. They are incredible!

As you can see from the two images we have selected, they range from the elegant to the fun and really show what a little imagination, and a lot of huffing and puffing, can achieve.

The website has a vast array of designs and it only takes a few minutes to be blown away by the clothing on show. The only danger we can see though, is what happens if someone starts popping them. Imagine if someone came to a fancy dress party as a cactus and you came in these balloons? Chaos!

Snow is falling...

Yes, it's snowing...Company Clothing has, like most of the country, been forced into Plan B mode and so is working remotely, using the modern wonders of the internet, email, blogs, and twitter to get its daily work done. Outside the streets are covered in snow, children are hurling snowballs at one another, and there is no bread in the cornershop. A magical time.

Which brings us to snowmen, those lovely rogues who turn up once a year with their bewitching eyes of coal, delicious carrot noses, old hats dug out and placed atop their fine heads, an old, mangy scarf draped around their neck for an air of sophistication. Dressing the snowman is an art on par with its construction. So what's your favourite method for dressing? What's the must have? The carrot, the coal or the hat? The arms made of twigs? Buttons? Perhaps a monocle? We'd be delighted to hear your thoughts on this snow filled day!

Right, we'd best make anothet cup of tea, and get back to this remote working malarrky.

Also we hope this didn't happen to you today.

Above: The invasion force was unstoppable.