If the shoe fits...

Buying shoes is a love it or hate it event. Mostly, cliches in use, women love it and men hate it. But of course, life is far more multi-layered than that. However, an interesting survey of some 2,000 people has shown that around four out of 10 women often buy shoes in the wrong size, and 17 percent of men do as well.

Quoted in the article Lorraine Jones, from the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, said: "Many of us find it hard to resist a bargain and the latest fashion must-have, but it's important to remember that by buying ill-fitting shoes, you're not only going to end up in discomfort, but you are also putting your health at risk."

Sample comments, justifying wearing ill-fitting shoes, include this piece of honesty: "Yes, I have worn shoes that hurt, just because they were beautiful. Gorgeous shoes make you feel better, complete an outfit and give you a special "buzz". It is only afterwards that your feet hurt - badly."
Wildmint, Liverpool

Shoes for a night out are one thing though, but at work good fitting shoes are surely a necessity to help people do their jobs correctly and stay comfortable throughout the day. Particularly important if you work in a shoe shop as well.

The right look?

A woman with a prosthetic arm has been awarded £8,000 after winning an employment tribunal against clothing giant Abercrombie and Fitch. She claimed she was "diminished" for not fitting the "look policy" at the Savile Row store in central London.

We've often looked at the importance of having the right look for customer facing staff in high-street stores, after all they're representing a brand and need to convey a certain look. However, as this case shows, sometimes it can go too far. It would be hard to imagine that any shopper would really be so turned away from a shop by a worker with a fake arm. The thing any clothing company should be worrying about, from the smallest one-off shop to worldwide multi-nationals, is the quality of the clothing. Wouldn't you agree?

Whiter than white

When you've got a tan the best thing you can possibly do, to annoy those who remain white as a sheet at least, is wear a white shirt. Showing off your healthy, glowing skin (you've sun creamed and after-sunned correctly, etc) is augmented with a nice crisp white shirt.

And, perhaps that's why one shirt seller has reported a massive 50% increase in the sales of white shirts in 2009. Others though, suggest it's a way to appear professional (or go unnoticed) during these tough economic conditions. But other shops have reported no sharp increase. So why has this happened? Any ideas fair readers?

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.

Back to school

Okay, so Company Clothing doesn't cover children's clothing, as they don't work, but news that ASDA is to sell an entire 'back to school' wardrobe for £4.75 is certainly blog worthy.

Yet again, low prices are sure to be met with questions of 'how can they afford to make it so cheap?' But, for cash strapped parents in the middle of a recession, it's likely the sound of the packets hitting the bottom of supermarket trolleys will be taking place up and down the country.

Hoodwinked

Not one to go seeking controversy, but we were also slightly disappointed to see a PR company use the misfortune of Danielle Lloyd as a cheap way to get some promotion for their hoody range that she was seen wearing on leaving the hospital.

Shop floor

We've been very busy lately, especially with a lovely bank holiday cropping up, so the blog got a little neglected. Sorry blog.

As a peace offering we bring you this link to the experiences one Guardian writer had working on the shop floor of a M&S store. Her line about the uniform being 'black nylon two piece' has that air of the dismissive fashionista assuming all uniforms are of such bland, lifeless design - when we know of course nothing could be further from the truth. Is the M&S uniform nylon? If you know let us know below.

Back tomorow, we promise.

Lifeguard hoodies to be pulled

Long-term readers of this blog may remember we wrote about the problem with hoodies in Cornwall that mimicked the design and look of offical Lifeguard clothing. This led to many people demanding the shops in question stop selling these garments, claiming they endangered beaches users who may believe more people were on patrol on a beach than there was in reality.

As a result the first shop that sold these hoodies has confirmed it will stop selling them in order to ensure 'they are working with the RNLI, not against them.'

Stories

Kevin Pietersen's good at cricket and now his wife has been signed up as the face, or more accurately, body of Tesco's new lingerie range. Nice work if you can get it.

News today showed that Twitter has grown in numbers by an amazing 1689%. Company Clothing has been on there for about a month now and is certainly enjoying it - a great way to keep the world updated. If you're on and don't follow us yet - click here and do!

And finally...if you have ever, or are planning to, hand in your leaving notice, you'll never do it with as much style, or just plain fun, as this guy. Okay, on a cake isn't clothing related, but it's too good to not pass on.

George announces fashion design winners

You may remember that some weeks ago we ran a story about George asking students to design a fashion range and now the winner's have been announced - pictured right (click to enlarge).

Students at Nottingham Trent University were asked to create a range of menswear collections for Autumn/Winter 09. They then had present their work - which included men's tailoring and casualwear - to a panel of George representatives, before the results were announced today.

Lucinda Bennett, Tahlia Goodwin, Liz Logue, Amy Tydeman and Jenna Harvey, all based in the university's School of Art and Design, claimed the top spot in the competition.

The group's collection included durable but lightweight waterproofs, tailored coats, twisted jeans, and a jacket with a fully-functional rucksack that emerged from a zipped pocket on the back. Using a directional but commercial colour palette of rusted oranges and steely silvers along with core colours of navy and charcoal, the collection incorporated aspects of protection and reinforcement which were used in both garment and print design.

Andy Burns, Menswear Design Manager for George, said: 'All the students approached our brief with a high level of creative professionalism and market focus. They produced finished packages that any final-year-student would be proud of, which is a huge compliment to the calibre of the course and the talent it is producing.'

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.'

Footwear stores bitten by Crunch

The next issue of Company Clothing features an overview of some new footwear products available on the market and underlines the innovation and drive of this area. However, the news coming from the high-street is not so good with the announcement that both Barratts footwear and Priceless have gone into administration.

Poll Results:

We asked you: Do you wear Hawaiian shirts? The results were:

Yes, it's all I own - 14%
Never, don't you know who I am? 28%
Only if I was in Hawaii, sipping a cocktail, playing the ukulele would you get me in one of those. 42%
It's a leftover from a party. 14%

So, it seems, you're not fans.

In other news the technical blight which hampered our efforts to bring you blog posts last week looks to be over, so now you can check back daily for your Company Clothing blog fix.

It's a scarf, no it's a dress, no it's a...

Multi-functional garments are always popular - they save you wadedrobe space, can be adapted for the situation, and just seem cool. This one - the scarf that also be used as a dress - is a great example of just how far these inventions can go. It's called, The Magic Scarf. Catchy.

As the image on the right shows, it's so versatile it can be used as a dress or a muff. And don't worry if you don't like the colour, it comes in 100 different options. Phew.

Sweat shops in the UK?

Primark has once again made the news for all the wrong reasons - this time after claims were made that it has been selling knitwear made by a company called TNS Knitwear based in Manchester whose workers earn just £3 per hour working in conditions resembling a sweatshop.

TNS Knitwear have denied the allegations and Primark is looking into the claims and while it does so has agreed to remove all references to its commitment to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI).

Whether the allegations are true or not the story underlines the difficulties of knowing what the reality is between what the label says and what the truth really is. Stories like this not only damage the industry at large but undermine efforts made by genuine, often far smaller companies, to encourage consumers to spend money on clothing that was made by workers being paid a fair wage working in suitable conditions.

Credit Crunch claims another

Womenswear outfit Viyella has become the latest company forced to call in administrators after suffering at the hands of the big crunch. However, as the news story says, they are hopeful new owners will be found for the business.

In other economic news Sainsbury's posted positive growth figures, which included sales of its clothing range Tu, that now owns a 2.3% share of clothing sales in the UK, placing it eighth in the rankings by volume.

Suits you, madam

The Credit Crunch has outstayed its welcome don't you think? It should move on now and let us all get back to normal. However, while it continues to hang around, ASDA have decided to capitialise by producing a women's business suit that costs just £20.

No doubt high-profile tailors, from all sectors, will be rolling their eyes, saying you can't get a good, proper suit, for such low money. But if people are strapped for cash it's going to be a popular choice you would imagine.

However, as we often cover in the magazine, it is important to know where such garments come from, how they are made, by who and under what conditions. Only last year Primark were found to be sourcing clothes from a company that was employing child workers and have since ended their business with them. It is probably fair to assume ASDA are producing these garments ethically but when the cost is as low as £20 for an entire suit, it's not unfair to raise the issue.

Streets of shame?

As regular readers will know a few weeks ago we blogged about the potential use of high-visibility clothing to 'shame' offenders on community service and highlight the work they are doing to the community. Needless to say it drew some debate from several quarters as we noted.

As of yesterday the new scheme which sees offenders in bright orange tabards started and the debate went from hypothetical to reality.

Jack Straw said of the scheme and its goals: 'They're not medieval; it's not to do with the stocks. It's not to do with shaming. The shame the offenders feel is the shame and humiliation of having committed the offence and then going to court and having a criminal record. What this is about is enabling the public to see that justice is being done.'

A strong argument you might think, but clearly some disagree. But what do you think about this? We are an industry involved with high-visibility clothing in its more traditional uses but this is an emotive subject and one could run and run.

Hoodwinked

A pensioner aged 71 was asked to 'take off her hoody' by a security guard in an Aldi supermarket despite it being merely a headscarf (and the fact she was 71)! The store has since apologised and offered to give her some complimentary groceries.

The fact though that a security guard felt compelled to approach a pensioner and ask her to remove what he believed was a hoody underlines the connotations the hoody has and how it has become something of a symbol of some of the perceived problems with youths in Britain. Other garments have reputations too though. High-visibility jackets are synonymous with construction workers or other official roles, for example.

Are there any other garments that bring about such strong opinions?

The importance of staying green

The importance of ethical and environmental sourcing and trading is something that is frequently covered in Company Clothing and more often than not from a positive angle. However, as we noted back in June in a feature Primark had recently been found to still be using factories that were operating unethical working conditions.

As a result of the story – for which journalist Dan McDougall has been nominated for Private Eye’s Paul Food Award for campaigning journalism – Primark has been voted the least ethical clothing retailer in a survey of shoppers carried out by The Times.

It certainly underlines the necessity of following through ethical and environmental practices, especially as it is still an issue that shoppers still deem to be important. Can Primark ever shake this view now? How can they go about improving their reputation? What could our industry teach the high-street about the benefits of ethical and environmental business practices?

Asda overtakes Primark

It has been announced today that Asda has overtaken Primark as the second largest clothing supplier by volume, their figures rising by 6%, to give them a market share of 9.5% while Primark's dropped from 10% to 9.3%. Marks & Spencer maintained the top spot.

The story in The Times also notes, ‘Asda recently sold about 100,000 units of a new £15 winter black coat in less than a fortnight. A £16 copy of a prom dress worn by a star of High School Musical 3 has sold out before hitting the shelves after 20,000 pre-orders'.