Friday 31 July 2009

Under the cover of darkness

Some Friday fun as it's Friday.

A powercut in Lincolnshire has been blamed on underwear that was carried into pylon's on helium balloons. The underwear - a thong if you want to be specific - was attached to the balloon and then must have floated up into the transformer. The local polo club's summer party is thought to be the most likely place of origin for the offending article. Polo players are always the ones to blame aren't they?!

What a bizarre story. Have a nice weekend.

Wednesday 29 July 2009

Drowning, not waving

We've covered swimsuit technology before, and the problems it's causing for the sport of swimming as it helps swimmers smash world records they might not otherwise have broken, and now, with the swimming world championships taking place, the debate has reared out of the water once again.

An in-depth piece on The Guardian underlines the extent of the problem, and the sports governing bodies indecision as to how best deal with it. It's hard to know which side to fall on. In many ways the evolution of technology is as much a part of sport as rule changes and nutritional improvements. If the suits are available to all then surely it's still a level playing field? But, then again, if the suits give an unnatural advantage against the very element that is supposed to make the sport what it is, then the essence of the sport, the competition and, at a basic level 'fair play' is scuppered.

It seems as if the suits will be scrapped for 2010, meaning the next Olympics will not be involved in this dispute. However, it seems unlikely, given the regularity with which this topic is covered, that 2010 will see all the problems simply washed away.

Tuesday 28 July 2009

Hello hello hello

The importance of the correct clothing for those operating on behalf of the public is one Company Clothing has looked at before - from traffic wardens to police officers. However, while the correct PPE or right image if important, so too is it important to respect customs and beliefs of those you wish to talk to and engage with.

Consequently Avon and Somerset Police have provided their female officers with head scarves that will allow them to enter Mosques and talk to Muslims, without the risk of offence.

They have already been issued to eight PCSOs and seven police officers, including Assistant Chief Constable Jackie Roberts. Ms Roberts said, quoted in The Telegraph: "Producing head coverings for our officers and staff to wear in places of worship is part of our commitment to engage with all our communities. It recognises and respects the cultural and religious practices of our communities."

The Muslim response was such (again, from The Telegraph): Rashad Azami, Imam and director of the Bath Islamic Society, said: "It is highly pleasing to see that the Avon and Somerset Constabulary is introducing specially designed head coverings for female officers as part of their police uniform. This will go a long way in encouraging a trustful relationship between the police and the Muslim community."

The importance of the correct clothing once again being highlighted.

Monday 27 July 2009

The return

Hello all. You may have noticed a lack of updates on the blog for the last two weeks or so. This was due, of course, to a summer holiday. Even bloggers have them. Hopefully you too have been off sunning yourselves in foreign climes.

The blog will resume regular daily updates, and we're still as keen and interested as ever to hear what you have to say about it all, so don't forget to use that comment button below!

Friday 10 July 2009

Caught on camera?

Technology and clothing go together a lot as we cover on both this blog and in the magazine on a regular basis. This latest story from the BBC News website underlines this with the potential for clothes being able to take photos a possibility.

Of course such technologies are only in the development stage and before any tangible end uses were discovered we'll have all aged several years. But it's a fascinating concept to consider: Police officers would have images of criminals, you'd never miss a perfect photo opportunity. The only problems is - where would you store everything?

Tuesday 7 July 2009

15 love?

Did you notice that when Roger Federer recieved the Wimbledon trophy on Sunday (for the sixth time...) he had a gold 15 on the side of his jacket? He must have been presented with it before the match by Nike in case he won. Which he did. Just.

As you can read in the link above, some people have seen this as a sign of arrogance, but if he was given the jacket and had it tucked away in his bag, to only be shown if he won, then it's hardly that bad, is it?

What do you think? Is a man who's won 14 grand slams allowed to preempt another possible victory, or would it be better to just be happy enough with another win, another title, another massive pay cheque, and leave it at that? Let us know below.

Monday 6 July 2009

Building a future

While economic conditions continue to be uncertain, some good news came from the government recently with the announcment that a £1.5bn building scheme would go ahead.

The news will be welcomed in the construction industry and in turn by clothing companies who provide all manner of garments and PPE in to these industries, ensuring future turnover. With many fearing public spending will be cut back in future years to pay back the government's debt, areas such as construction risked seeing budgets cut, but if the £1.5bn scheme goes ahead as planned, it should provide some much needed support.

What do you think? Is this enough, or is more need to safeguard industries such as construction - and in turn the sectors that provide to them - in the midst of the current climate.

Friday 3 July 2009

UnBAAleviable

Sheep are shrinking?! What the Dickens. IS there no END to this madness in the world right now?!

With sheep shrinking wool shortages will become common, knitting will become a dark art, practicsed underground by knitting junkies looking for their next hit of wool to weave;, needle abuse will have a whole new meaning; nice thick jumpers to keep out the cold will become mythical, like a golden fleece, and we'll all be freezing.

Or maybe we won't, who knows.

Thursday 2 July 2009

Under the skin

A New Zealand airline company has hit upon an ingenious way to make the flight safety video a little more entertaining: present it in the nude! But, while having the uniforms painted on to look as if they are wearing clothing. Confused? Take a look here



As you can see those in the video can barely contain their laughter and it's testament to some clever camera work that more intimate areas are not exposed. But you have to say, the ties and scarves are certainly well done; they do look quite real.

Wednesday 1 July 2009

Hot Hot Heat

My word it's hot out there. Almost unbearably so. Have you got any tips for staying cool?

We were interested note a little article in the Metro today about calls for office workers to be allowed to wear shorts to work in such hot conditions - we were interviewing people about the pros and cons of this style of office wear just last issue; don't ever say we don't follow trends!

And not only that, but on the way to work this morning, we spotted someone wearing those weird looking feet glove flip flops (see post below), and have to say in reality they look a little better than they come across on just a blank image.

What do you think? Are shorters and the like an acceptable dress code in the office in such hot conditions? Or are wearers being too quick to find any excuse to subvert dress codes? Let us know using the comments form below.